Each morning, Hanzadeh Dogan-Boyner literally bursts into his office on the fourth floor of a skyscraper in Istanbul with joy, which overlooks the city's historic skyline. She is dressed in a striking red dress and matching shoes, and a radiant smile adorns her face. But amid a complete economic downturn, a depreciation of the currency and the ongoing credit crisis in Turkey, it is not so easy to flourish. But Dogan-Boyner, the founder of Turkey’s largest e-commerce platform Hepsiburada, doesn’t complain, her business is even going well.
Hanzade Dogan Boyner
She is now one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in the world. For many years, her father owned a leading Turkish newspaper company called Hurriyet. She was born in a golden cradle, but if she had not challenged her dad and abandoned the family business, the forty-six-year-old Dogan-Boyner would not have built the Turkish empire Amazon.com.
You can buy everything
Like the e-commerce giant, Hepsiburad is an online retailer of everything from laptops and jewelry to pet foods and toys. Her company completed 2018 with an annual income of seven hundred million dollars, and by the beginning of 2019, sales had grown by forty percent compared to the previous period. Dogan-Boyner is also the founder of the Nesine application, which is one of the largest for performing online sports betting in Turkey. Her companies today are priced at two billion dollars, which is much more than a media conglomerate created by her father Aydin Dogan, a former billionaire often called Rupert Murdoch from Istanbul.
Such a story is hard to find in Turkey. After all, when you are the daughter of one of the most famous billionaires, you are expected to work in the family business, but not the Hanzade Dogan-Boyner. She is straightforward and self-confident. Thanks to her energetic, laid-back manner of behavior, this woman mastered the art of coping with pressure from the family.
Dogan Boyner has its own resources to withstand any difficulties. Last year, Amazon refused to sell its company because of concerns about the Turkish currency, and as a result, today is booming in the Turkish market. Now it shows that it provides its customers with a really good service.
Father Dogan-Boyner
Her father is eighty-two years old today. Back in 1961, he built one of the largest conglomerates in Turkey, which is considered the cornerstone of the country's secular establishment. He had four daughters, but never had a son.
Every evening, the family waited for their father Aydin to come home from work for dinner. But the head of the family was often delayed, as he was engaged in business development. He always sat at the head of the dining table, and when Hanzadeh was small, she often took his place, which he really did not like.
One of the topics for discussion, which sometimes arose during the meal, was the desire of Dogan-Boyner to study abroad. But father was always against this idea. The girl therefore secretly studied English for two years instead of preparing for the entrance exams to Turkish college.
Education abroad
Later, Dogan-Boyner achieved her goal and went to London, first to take an annual course of language training for foreign students, and then to attend a school of economics.She challenged her father again when she stayed in London for another two years after graduating to join Goldman Sachs in 1994 as an investment banker with a focus on communications and media. Everyone expected that the young girl would be put to work by her father, but she herself found such a place.
Back to Turkey
Having received a bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1999, Dogan-Boyner finally returned home to Turkey and joined Dogan Holding's family business, where her sisters already worked. She never doubted that she would eventually be there. But she always had her own ideas.
Dogan-Boyner began to lead the Dogan Online Internet group as part of a family holding, but with difficulty received resources to translate her ideas. She wanted to monitor the transition of newspapers to the digital format, as well as invest in many online businesses, realizing that some of them would work, while others would not. Dogana-Boyner calculated every step she took, she was interested in the budget, forecasts and cash flow.
Relationship with father
Her personal relationship with her father was always very close, but at the same time quite complicated. From early childhood, Hanzadeh was independent and always wanted to make her own decisions. When she worked for her dad's holding company, she always put forward innovative ideas, but the structure of the firm could not accept risky changes at that time.
Dogan-Boyner later opened several of her own offices in Istanbul, and continued to work as the head of the division, which managed small newspapers owned by Dogan Holding and also led the Dogan Online firm. A few years later, Dogan-Boyner realized that her online venture would never work unless she devoted herself completely to it, so in 2008 she left her father’s business.
Hepsiburada Company
For her business, a successful entrepreneur chose the name Hepsiburada, which in Turkish means "everything is here." The main product categories of the company has always been electronics. But later, books, children's toys, and other consumer items appeared among the goods. The largest competitor for many years has been an eBay partner.
I must say that Hepsiburada is constantly introducing all new services, such as cashback, credit card storage, delivery on the day of purchase and so on. Hepsiburada has become a business built in Turkey using e-commerce tools to do what the country's economy needs.
Hepsiburada, among other things, educates women who want to learn how to sell products, and the company also holds digital marketing seminars.
Nesine Company
In addition to the main business, Hanzade Dogan-Boyner has a company that deals with sports betting. Since its founding in 2007, Nesine has become Turkey’s largest online betting center, generating around seventy million dollars in annual revenue. The company adapted faster than its competitors to the mobile platform. It offers streaming videos of most important sports games. One of the key factors is the support of influential people who share their opinions about championships and other sporting events.
Dogan-Boyner and her business are currently targeting international markets where Turkish products are in high demand. It is expanding its services in countries such as Germany, as well as in Russia and in regions like the Middle East and North Africa. Thus, the daughter of an influential businessman created no less successful business than her father, who is currently thriving, despite the difficult economic situation in the global economy. According to Hanzadeh Dogan-Boyner, many pitfalls and obstacles constantly arise on the way, but her father taught her everything necessary to withstand any difficulties.
Was the girl’s success story impressing you? Could you find the strength in yourself to organize such a large and rather complex business. Not everyone would take a chance, and even when loved ones do not believe in you.