As a result of Charbel Hazzouri (pictured left) and Anthony El-Hazouri’s outlook, every project at Revelop leaves a mark. “If someone looks at it from the outside they can say, ‘that’s something Revelop would have done’,” Anthony explains. “We are unique in every project. People are happy that we’re continuing with what we do and how we do it.”
Both Anthony and Charbel studied property economics at university because they intended to enter the property business. When they received a call from someone asking them to finish building a house for them, they took the opportunity.
“We went, we got that job and we essentially built a two-storey house for a client,” Anthony says. “From that job, we formed the company. For the first two years, we did client work, smaller homes, renovations and alterations. Eventually, the company grew and changed direction.” At its heart, Revelop is a family business. “The staff are an extension of our family,” Anthony explains.
“The staff are an extension of our family.”
“We’re young and innovative as well, so we encourage our team to view things in a unique way. We tend to look at everything we do in a way that asks, ‘What’s a better approach?’ Every day is something different. It’s all hands on deck; we’re going to get the job done and it’s our objective each day to grow our portfolio and make sure everyone’s having fun doing it because otherwise there’s no point. That’s always been a big driving force and something we’re both passionate about.”
Revelop’s primary goal is to stand out. “We don’t want to be a run-of-the-mill company; not because we’re trying to encourage clients or investors, we’re not interested in any of that,” Anthony says.
“The reason we want to be different is that we love what we do and if we do it the same as everyone else there is no excitement in that.” “You must love what you do,” Charbel adds.
“We enjoy our work. That keeps us going at the end of the day. When you think about it, a job is what you spend 80% of your time doing. Growth motivates us, but it also comes because we love what we do. As long as we love it, we’ll be motivated and continue to develop.”
The pair take a simple approach to management. If everyone does their work, there’s never an issue. “We’re not sitting here clocking on and off,” Anthony says. “Our philosophy to our staff and to everyone we work with is: there’s a job to be done.”
“One thing we keep in mind is that everyone who works with us has a personal life and we try to accommodate that,” he continues. “But our staff are dedicated and on the job if things come up or if something needs to be addressed. We have a good working relationship and it’s a two-sided one.”
As a property-based business, it doesn’t take much to jeopardise what the company does daily. Anthony and Charbel have tried to learn from others’ journeys in order to make wise decisions.
“We try to observe what’s happening around us and see what’s happened in the past,” Anthony explains. “All our lives we’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by passionate and knowledgeable people. We’ve also seen, in our industry, the good and the bad. I’m fortunate to learn from that, so we don’t make those mistakes ourselves.”
“I know everyone says you learn from your mistakes but in our industry some mistakes are harder to learn and recover from than others. It is necessary to look to other examples, both good and bad, to work out what to do.”
While their job is their passion, Anthony and Charbel understand the importance of work–life balance – their main focuses being work and family. “It’s hard for people to understand sometimes,” Anthony says.
“We’re not your typical guys that have a whole bunch of hobbies. We do love to travel. We love to socialise; we’ve got a great group of friends, and they’re like-minded in terms of what they do and what we do.”
“We don’t look at our jobs as jobs that we need a distraction from,” he continues. “However, we’ll travel, we’ll socialise with friends and family – our families are a big part of our lives so making time to see our extended family is a massive thing.”
“We don’t look at our jobs as jobs that we need a distraction from.”
Anthony says the biggest lesson he’s learned is not to burn the candle at both ends. “It was probably the best advice I’ve ever received and it’s something that we always try to remember. When you have a family and a business, you need to find balance because neither is going to wait for the other. I don’t want to miss out on my kids growing up or miss out on time with my wife. At the same time, our business needs attention too, so it’s about finding a balance between both and I think we’re getting there.”
“The best philosophy is to enjoy each stage,” Charbel adds. “Every part of our lives is a different stage to appreciate. We need to make the most of it because when one moment is gone, it’s gone; you’re never going to bring back time.”
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