Ebru Erturk is the host of Bizbizetalk, the YouTube channel where expats sit down and tell their stories. Her other job has nothing to do with microphones. Erturk is the founder of Elexa car, a rent-a-car company in Dubai. She owns it, and she runs it.
A business she runs herself
Plenty of founders put their name on a company and leave the daily work to someone else. Erturk took a different route. At Elexacar, she stays involved in running the business, not just owning it.
Car rental suits that kind of owner. It's a business of small, constant details: bookings, handovers, vehicle checks, and the customer whose flight lands late and who still needs keys. Problems show up fast, and customers notice how quickly they get solved. It rewards someone who likes systems and doesn't mind being close to the work.
Why car rental fits Dubai
The Dubai car rental market stays busy for a simple reason. The city is spread out along long highways, and plenty of places people need to reach sit well beyond the Metro lines.
Demand to rent a car in Dubai comes from several directions. Visitors want the freedom to plan their own days. New residents often need a car long before they're ready to buy one. Companies need vehicles for short projects or visiting staff. For many people, renting is less a holiday treat and more a practical part of settling in.
The long road to a first company
Erturk's path to Elexacar started early. She began working at 16, kept working through her civil engineering degree, and went on to complete a master's in architecture. She then spent around ten years at a government institution in Istanbul, working across different roles in construction.
In 2019 she moved to London. The plan was an MBA and her own construction company, set up under the Ankara Agreement. Then the pandemic hit, and the plan changed. She stayed in London and took the work that was available, including waitressing and accounting jobs. Over time she moved into digital marketing, rose to marketing manager, and built a wide network of publishers and editors.
After five years in the UK, she received indefinite leave to remain and later became a British citizen. She considered spending time in Türkiye. Life sent her to Dubai instead, and that's where the idea of starting her own business finally turned into a company.
What she brought with her
Each stage of that journey left something useful behind. Engineering gave her discipline and a technical way of thinking. Marketing taught her how customers find a business and decide to trust it. Her jobs in London showed her service from the other side of the counter.
Running a rental company calls on every one of those skills. Managing assets, keeping operations tight, and giving customers a reason to come back each draw on a different chapter of her career.
One founder, two projects
Elexacar and Bizbizetalk look like very different ventures, but they share a root. Both depend on paying close attention to people: what they need, what worries them, and what makes them feel looked after.
For Ebru Erturk, the company is her most practical step into entrepreneurship so far. It's a Dubai car rental business built from experience gathered across three countries, with its founder still at the wheel.
Website: https://elexacar.com
Instagram: instagram.com/elexacar
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@elexacar