Online entrepreneurs are a way out for pakistan to improve its economy kjrocker Follow Oct 4, 2018 · 6 min read

5 years ago before the parliamentary elections and moving to the UAE to start my business there, I tweeted PTI’s big wig and today’s finance minister Asad Umar asking whether they have anything in their plans to help out small digital entrepreneurs providing IT services internationally. His response in simple words was no, they didn’t have anything in their plan for a small community of hard working people who were making the most out of the disastrous economy in Pakistan.

Asad Umar, Federal Minister for Finance Pakistan

Coming back to myself, I belong to a small community of digitally educated people who work from their computers, in the comfort of their own homes. A small group of people, who while living in pakistan are working with well known brands all over the world. Some of those being LG, Google, Amazon,Facebook, etc. We bring in a huge portion of dollars into the country, which this country desperately needs right now. So I’m a pakistani national, working with international brands, bringing dollars to our economy, whilst sitting on our own land.

The irony with working “Online” is that there is no proper banking channel or any kind of service offered to us by the government in pakistan, so we are mostly on our own.. Usually, people think digital entrepreneurs are working from home and doing nothing apart from tapping keys on their keyboards but in reality it’s a very demanding job and requires endless sleepless nights and a lot of effort. It requires you to be on the ball, keep up with trends, the global market, national markets and so much more. So this is my call for pakistan to help this population, so we can help our economy.

This is the time that pakistan needs to focus on its micro economy in order to combat the employment problem and It needs to increase its exports in order to control its economy. Encouraging entrepreneurial and start up culture is one way ahead, Pakistan does not have a lack of talent. The country and namely the government need to encourage its youth and introduce an entrepreneurial spirit in its universities, especially as currently the major problem with our youth is being under pressure from their families and peers. All they want is to secure their future by finding a job. This desperation for a secure job, for a secure future has discouraged many intelligent minds in following their true calling; entrepreneurship. I also believe that in terms of infrastructure, the new government won’t have to do much.. If they can provide a reliable means of banking internationally, and partnering up with Global services like Paypal or money transfer services like Payoneer

(whom are already providing services in pakistan) and create co-working spaces in all the major cities, these small changes will make a huge impact on our country. It will give the younger generations hope of following their dreams rather than that desperation, and the current working generation the encouragement and backing they need.

Furthermore, it’s because of these small services which are not available to these talented youth, they prefer to migrate to foreign countries like Hong Kong and the UAE, where they launch their businesses. I personally know most of the successful people from the CPA Marketing Industry have moved to Dubai, Canada or the USA, and have established their businesses there. Those who are within pakistan are taking huge losses due to middle men involved, not having proper banking and communication channels. For example, there are many young school boys driving millions of clicks a day from their facebook fan pages and selling them for pennies to traffic brokers because there is no one around who can guide and teach them the proper way to deal with the companies directly. If educational institutes were given the reign to foster outside education, seminars, entrepreneurial support, those young school boys could bring a bright future to our economy.

If the government can create a plan to encourage these small entrepreneurs, it can create a new opportunity for the pakistani youth, decrease unemployment and create new jobs, but also give birth to local startups. Local export industries which are struggling to compete in the market will also benefit from it. New startups can help local business, new international buyers which can boost pakistani exports. Cities like Faisalabad and Karachi, Gujrawala , and Sialkot will see a huge change in their economies. Just because pakistan is giving their minorities a chance, supporting change and moving along with the wider world in terms of utilizing the technologies that are available.

Domestically, Pakistan is one of the most unsaturated markets, there is a huge growth potential. It is sad to see there are companies like Uber and Careem in pakistan, but there is hardly any Pakistani startup which is making any progress, and the sole reason is again; ignorance of the government and their awareness about the latest trends.

Pakistani youth is very talented, all they need is a little guidance and support. There are countless college dropouts working internationally and running successful online businesses, A few of those I am aware of come from remote villages without any sort of urban experience, but thanks to their hard work they earn much better than those who find a secure life in the form of a 9–5 job. It is also important to note that because of the lack of guidance and support, our country men and women in this industry use black hat (Shortcut) methods, and end up giving our country a bad name. It’s the duty of the government to provide them the proper guidance and environment in which they dont waste their talent and skills in bad or short term practices, instead they use them to build long term businesses and contribute towards pakistan’s economy.

There were initiatives like the ex Punjab CM’s “560 million E-Rozgaar program”, which didn’t reach its full potential, (their official website lists $5 order success stories) because of the lack of interest by the people that implemented it, created it. However, If the previous government would have taken this initiative seriously, this could have changed the economy of the whole of punjab, They failed to take on board the experts in the industry, there was no known figure in their board of advisors, or any international expert who they were able to attract. Southern Punjab was once again ignored.

It would have been better to use digital means and provide training to the attendees digitally, this way the whole of Pakistan could have taken advantage. Then, the funds which were saved could have been used in building coworking spaces, at least in the major cities, and then rented out to the participants. It would have been better to provide access to those who are already working out there in the market, and invite them to train new participants on how to sell their services properly. Instead, the government wasted 560 million on teaching people how to earn on upwork or elance. In my opinion, that amount of funding could have been used to build the basic infrastructure to help entrepreneurs excel in their fields. The Punjab govt have taught new trainees how to start making money, but they will have no other option except to migrate once they start, receiving big cheques outside the country, as cash flow problems are a huge pain here, especially whilst working online from pakistan.

Adding to this, the projects where bureaucracy is involved hardly lift off, It’s time for the new government to start a new initiative and reverse brain drain, which has been happening for the past decade. I am sure if the government approached those experts abroad, the industry leaders who left pakistan, they would love to contribute and play their part in making their own country successful. However, the government need to make that first step, they need to welcome those leaders home and show they are helping the younger generation, as well as supporting their older working generation to sustain their business.

As someone who cares for his country deeply and wants to see it succeed, let us never forget the people who gave us our nation, let us come together and be proud of what we could create. I really do hope the new government will heed the words of their people and make Pakistan great again.