Arslán Rinátovich Gabidúllin (rus. Арслáн Ринáтович Габидýллин, born 22 August 1989, village of Biryulinsky Animal Farm, Republic of Tatarstan) is a Russian entrepreneur, founder of the Lifehacker Coffee chain in Kazan, one of the first in Russia to support the idea of self-service coffee shops.
Contents:
Biography
Working with Coffee Like and the pandemic
Creation of the Lifehacker Coffee brand
Self-service coffee shops
Caring for the environment
Biography
Arslan Gabidullin was born in the village of Biryulinsky Animal Farm, Republic of Tatarstan on August 22, 1989. He grew up as an ordinary active boy, crazy about running and jumping, he was fascinated by speed. He wanted to realize his potential in motorsport, but his parents considered the sport not safe enough. Therefore, the adventurous boy splashed out all his energy while playing in the yard. His fun was not always safe, there were falls from cliffs, and abrasions and bruises, but nothing could stop Arslan. Such qualities as courage, enterprise, and the search for a way out of any situation helped Arslan a lot in his adult life.
Since childhood, Arslan dreamed of becoming a significant person for society, eradicating universal evil, and establishing world justice. For this, he even wanted to become the President of the whole world, but soon realized that it would be difficult to achieve any influence without money. This is how Arslan formed his goal: to become an entrepreneur. And he chose a completely peaceful sphere – the coffee business. His plans included conquering the audience in Kazan, and then throughout Russia and around the world. At the same time, he did not forget that money should be spent not only on himself, but also to help his family, to provide a decent salary for his team, and only the rest of the income should be invested in business development. So, entrepreneurship did not make Arslan a selfish and calculating businessman, he remained as honest and fair as he was in childhood.
Arslan graduated from the University of Agriculture and became a specialist in the field of engineering and land management. Quite quickly, he realized that working in his specialty would not bring him the necessary earnings, so he tried quite a few specialties. Among them: work at a construction site, the position of a sales representative of the Kazan Fat Plant and even a taxi. Arslan has shown himself to be a flexible person who can quickly rebuild depending on the situation and always stay afloat. Here is what the future entrepreneur himself said about this: “I got very good money in a taxi: up to 3 thousand rubles a day, about 90 thousand a month. – says Gabidullin. – I kept 30 thousand for living, and the rest I put aside for future business. And finally, after 7 months of sitting behind the wheel of a taxi, I set out for my dream.”
Currently, Arslan Gabidullin is married and has two children.
Working with Coffee Like and the pandemic
In 2014, having accumulated enough funds for doing business, Arslan Gabidullin developed the Coffee Like chain of coffee shops and opened 15 coffee shops in Kazan in 6 years. Among the ten most successful Coffee Like Franchisees.Arslan could have worked in this company for a long time, but ambitions suggested that it was time to start his own business. But the plans were thwarted by a pandemic. Gabidullin admits that each of the 15 coffee houses brought in far more losses than profits. If earlier he was proud of the number of outlets, now they have become a problem for him. Like everyone else, he had loan arrears, he had to resell points and equipment. At the same time, Arslan helped his employees to the best of his ability and continued to provide for his family.
Creation of the Lifehacker Coffee brand
After the beginning of the pandemic, Arslan finally managed to make his old dream come true: he created not just a company, but his own coffee brand. To many, starting their own business in the face of an acute shortage of funds would seem crazy, but Gabidullin had an entrepreneurial flair. He noticed that the pandemic exhausted people, so after removing the lockdown, they rushed to replenish the level of endorphin in the body, namely, to buy coffee and sweets. Therefore, the new business immediately went uphill.
Arslan did not formulate the name of the brand by chance: in order to live this life happily, it will have to be hacked. This is what the man himself did when he moved from a small settlement to a big city and started his own business despite all the difficulties. The brand carries a philosophical meaning, and according to the idea of its creator, it should push people to take decisive actions for the benefit of their future. And a glass of coffee will help them in this.
The pandemic taught Arslan strategic thinking. He began to think about how to reduce the cost of providing services and concluded that the process needs to be automated, and the barista can be completely abandoned. But he also did not like the idea of ordinary vending, because coffee from a vending machine for 30-40 rubles differs only in disgusting quality. Therefore, Gabidullin began to search for alternatives.
Self-service coffee shops
Self-service coffee shops became the solution. They differ from vending in more serious technical equipment and used ingredients. For his network, Gabidullin buys quite expensive sorts of coffee, while one glass of the drink costs the buyer 100 rubles, and the device itself is practically break-even. Arslan’s decision was inspired by his colleagues from the United States, who sent him a video with a similar machine in Starbucks coffee shops. So, in addition to convenience, quality, and cheapness, it is also a piece of Western technology on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Caring for the environment
Caring for the environment is one of Arslan’s priorities, which is why he joined the Green Billion program. The aime of the program is to plant 1 billion trees all over the world. 11.000 have already been planted in Kazan thanks to Arslan and his family. In addition to promoting the program, Gabidullin tries to use recyclable cups for his coffee houses he and suggests his partners to follow this way. Also Arslan dreams on sending all the garbage from the points of sale for recycling (for now he sorts the garbage at home). In addition to the commitment to the idea, Arslan monitors changes in legislation in this area: in the near future, manufacturers and importers may be obliged to pay eco-collection and recycle 100% of the packaging: a corresponding bill was submitted to the State Duma at the beginning of the year. Today, businesses have to recycle only 5–35% of the products and packaging they sell or pay an environmental fee. And while competitors adjust to the new rules, Arslan will be ready for them.