Artigiano’s is likely not the place you’d expect a no-nonsense business interview, but a lack of flashiness suited the subject. Over coffee, Rahim Abdullayev, Business Development Lead at Union Jiu-Jitsu, made the case to me for the fairly un-glamorous job in business: selling.
Rahim graduated with a BA in History last summer 2025 and has since been making his way around different sales jobs in real estate, Moss, and now Union Jiu-Jitsu. It sounds like drifting, and if I ended it there then it’s just the pot calling the kettle black really, but a subtle thread runs through it as every role has been in independent sales. At a time when so many of us are quietly expected to begin a start-up in fintech, there is something refreshing about a graduate who is openly passionate about sales in this environment.
Rahim argues that sales is the most important skill in a high-street business, and he makes a point to emphasise this throughout our chat. “An individual can make a substantial difference in the volume sold,” he said, and what makes the difference is character. Having the ability to be outgoing, building that real relationship with a customer, rather than simply concerned with closing a deal, makes this difference. A good product makes marketing easier, but personality takes it over the finish line. That might seem an odd priority for a gym built on jiu-jitsu, yet Rahim pointed to client retention as the reason it matters. He compares the gym to “a human chess match”, a place to train his brain to solve problems under stress.
An individual can make a substantial difference in the volume sold
His History degree, Rahim said, taught him about people and about selling an argument. During his time at university, he spent far too much time presenting himself, his material, and defending it. He also put his degree to some use, leaning on the Medici Effect, the idea that innovation comes from diverse experience, and eloquently describing this notion of specific knowledge as described by Naval Ravikant. There is this unique blend of traits and life experiences that simply cannot be taught in the classroom. Thus, Rahim made a point of making more time for societies, noting the amount of free time we take for granted now he is out of this environment. ‘’Use this time to meet different people and make new interests.’’ A wider view, he said, makes for better ideas in business, likely because there simply are more threads to pull from.
Use this time to meet different people and make new interests
Physical premises, though, are not always convenient. Rahim was frank about the difficulties of brick and mortar, as high rents, council tax, and even homelessness and anti-social behaviour, all make this endeavour challenging. He thinks councils should try to keep the streets cleaner and pointed to Paris Street, the street with the new cute café’s and bakeries, as an example of the council encouraging business. Small businesses do have a great advantage, he said, and that is the lack of structure. It “provides flexibility”, and flexibility is how he delivers on his aim of warmth with clients, adapting and dealing with new and unique people daily.
Where does he see Union Jiu-Jitsu in five years? Running more classes in its space on EX1 2JB and attracting a fair chunk of the university’s students who are interested in self-development and ji-jitsu, as he describes as an art. Twenty per cent growth, he said, is realistic; forty per cent would be aggressive. The method is constant exposure: “You die out like an ember without any oxygen,” he told me, magically producing a candle from his blazer sleeve (unfortunately he didn’t actually). In his words, the strategy is “being annoying”. Think of Coke in a bar, always the first thing that comes to mind. Union Jiu-Jitsu, he says, should be the same.
Rahim is, by his own account, very proud of the businesses he has managed and says that pride drives him to grow them, taking a liking to the lasting relationships he creates. Students can join Union Jiu-Jitsu for £29 a month, similar to PureGym and the Exeter Sports Park. For someone who sells for a living, that is a hard pitch to argue against.
