Benjamin Arabov Takes Over as CEO of Luxurious Empire Jacob & Co.

Instantly Benjamin Arabov, son of Jacob Arabo, takes over the reigns of the über-luxury empire Jacob & Co, because the model new CEO. When he left the company at age 19 he promised to return once more when the time was correct. And that was 4 years previously, in 2017, when Benjamin took over the social media actions of the company. Jacob & Co’s combined social media presence has grown spectacularly, from 200,000 followers to 2.5 million and it retains rising at a fast tempo.

We sat down with Benjamin Arabov, successfully, in entrance of a zoom meeting like we do recently, and we talked about his youth, rising up throughout the enterprise, and now taking over the enterprise that his father primarily based. Jacob Arabo primarily based the company in 1986, so thirty-five years previously. In 1978, as a boy of solely fourteen years, Mr. Arabo emigrated collectively along with his family from Uzbekistan to the USA. He participated in a jewelry design and fabrication teaching program for immigrants in New York Metropolis, which had led to all of the items that adopted… He started working throughout the jewelry enterprise, he stood out, and started designing jewelry and later moreover watches, nonetheless it wasn’t until 2001 sooner than watches had been added to the Jacob & Co mix. Over the earlier 35 years Mr. Arabo constructed an empire, an opulent empire, as a high-end jeweler, incomes him the title ‘Jacob the Jeweler’.

Instantly Mr. Arabo (who doesn’t use the “v” in his expert surname) in his functionality as Chairman & Founding father of Jacob & Co., nonetheless works on every endeavor, from design to prototype to fabrication by way of to the product sales, promoting and distribution of his jewelry and watches. So the question arises how Benjamin and Jacob will work collectively throughout the agency.

Frank Geelen, MONOCHROME Watches – Benjamin, to begin with congratulations! How do you see your father and your self working collectively throughout the agency?

Benjamin Arabov – My father shall be specializing in product design and managing his group. I want to make sure he has ample time for the bigger picture, the grand imaginative and prescient for Jacob & Co for the next couple of a few years. I am going to focus totally on operations and promoting. When you’re a enterprise proprietor, you placed on many alternative hats. There are belongings you don’t like doing, and belongings you do like, and my father was doing the least bit. He had his hand in all of the items and he was the precept decision maker for lots of points. So with the addition of my assist and help, I can alleviate that accountability, so he may give consideration to the creative and fashionable aspect of the enterprise.

We have to ask, Benjamin, what was your first wrist watch?

For my birthday and my brother’s birthday – my older brother is solely a 12 months older than me – my father would get us a G-Shock watch yearly, as soon as we had been youngsters. That type of started the curiosity for watches. Yearly we would anticipate and look forward to the model new G-Shock, whether or not or not it was a model new model or a singular coloration. After which we would go working throughout the park with our run spherical throughout the park G-Shocks, current it off to our associates. You perceive, they’d this attribute the place you could press the button throughout the middle and it’ll delicate up at nighttime. So these had been the first watches and my brother and I had been large followers.

Do you proceed to private the G-Shocks?

Hahaha, no they lasted decrease than a 12 months after which we would get one different one. We carried out sports activities actions with it, working spherical, … they’d break. We had been youngsters. The next 12 months, for our birthdays we purchased a model new one. Nevertheless I must say that the eagerness started once more then. In actual fact, my father received right here home after work, stuffed with tales about enterprise, designs he was engaged on, every from the jewelry and watches aspect, so every evening time we had these tales and that may slowly assemble as a lot as our passion. That’s how I purchased into it.

Nonetheless, at age 19 you decided to enterprise out and start your particular person enterprise. Why?

I left the family enterprise after I used to be 19. I was working throughout the family enterprise on and off, all through summer season breaks or school breaks. As an example after I used to be in school, that was for 3 days each week, so I was working for 2 days each week, at 18 and 19. So at 19, I decided to go away the family enterprise, that was a extremely strong dialog to have with my father. He’s old school, he’s all about family enterprise and passing it on to the kids. Nevertheless I knew there was solely so much I would research, professionally, contained in the partitions of Jacob & Co. I knew, if I wanted to hold precise price and be revered, I wanted to go available on the market and get precise world experience, and can be found once more, whether or not or not it was after a 12 months, 2 12 months, 10 years or 20 years, with the suitable experience.

So I left the family enterprise and started working for a digital promoting agency in NYC. I found so much and I’m grateful for that. Nevertheless after two years working there, and having been promoted a variety of events, I was not learning anymore. Now my father saved asking after I might start my very personal enterprise. He thinks that if you’ve the means it is best to do that as an alternative of working for others. Alongside along with his push and his confidence, I left the company. I was working and started my very personal enterprise.

Benjamin Arabov primarily based Progress Enrollments with solely $ 1,500 usd and in 2020 the earnings was $6 million usd. He simply recently made the 2021 Forbes 30Under30 document for his work with Develop Enrollments, of which he’s nonetheless the one proprietor.

That was solely six years previously and that was the easiest experience I would ask for! To have the power to check and develop, moreover from fail, and produce this once more to the enterprise. Significantly on the digital promoting aspect, the luxurious home needs so much help and I’m utterly completely satisfied to hold this to the family enterprise.

You’ve got been accountable for the digital home for Jacob & Co. Why is that very important for the mannequin?

A number of the merchandise that we produce have the jaw-dropping impression. We’re producing certainly not sooner than seen issues at a worth that no totally different luxurious watch mannequin is producing. Over the earlier 5 years we’ve launched additional collections than our opponents have in 20+ years. Many people are in awe after they see our watches. Merely take into account the Bugatti Chiron Tourbillon by way of which we developed a copy of a 16-cylinder engine. Or the Swiss music area that performs the well-known melody of The Godfather movie and pairs it with a triple axis tourbillon, contained within the Opera Godfather Model. It’s for that exact motive why digital is so very important to us.

We have so much creativity to level out, we’re capable of’t sit spherical prepared for a commerce current or {{a magazine}} cowl that features our watch. We want the world to seek out the creative genius of my father and there isn’t any increased strategy in proper now’s world to showcase that creativity than on social media.

4 years previously, you arrived once more at Jacob & Co and took the lead in digital. How is that performing?

I took over the social media actions of the company in 2017 and since then, as a bunch, we’ve been able to develop our viewers from 200,000 to 1.8 million followers on our principal Instagram account (we have a variety of). Instantly, our Instagram account is the quickest rising amongst our mates worldwide. That’s how we promote our merchandise. Our creative group works tirelessly to offer the highest-level prime quality of content material materials and as soon as we promote the product on our social media, we get phone calls and orders. A giant share of our enterprise over the earlier 4 years has been generated from the thrill of social media. It moreover helps that the majority of our opponents are producing very comparable merchandise, 12 months after 12 months with small modifications, whereas we’re producing jaw dropping gadgets on a relentless basis. We stand out!

2020 was an attention-grabbing 12 months and as soon as extra confirmed the importance of a strong digital presence in luxurious. When the world shut down and no person was strolling into the outlets, because of almost all of our product sales occurred over the phone, we adjusted in a short while, adapting to full digital (for lots of the 12 months) and had our biggest 12 months however.

What are your targets for Jacob & Co., digitally?

I would love our mannequin to be the strongest and most creative mannequin close to the digital home. I want to create content material materials that caters to each social media channel and I would love our viewers to always look forward to what’s coming subsequent. I want to proceed our very important growth on our Instagram and Fb channels. We’re moreover one in all many just a few luxurious producers verified on TikTok and we are the one luxurious mannequin with over 100k followers there. My goal is to reach one million followers on TikTok by the highest of 2021. What’s very important for us as successfully, is to offer content material materials that our viewers and clientele can benefit from. Too many luxurious producers produce content material materials that is boring to play it protected, nonetheless if you happen to want to crack the code of digital in proper now’s world with so much opponents, you possibly can give the parents what they want. I moreover want to launch our e-commerce.