From Street Sales to Business Solutions: Part 1
A Simple Business Model
Looking back at my childhood, business always seemed simple in my mind. Like many kids, I dreamed of what I could become based on the professions I saw around me. For me, it was becoming a tailor. The business model seemed straightforward: a tailor’s main costs were electricity and time, and in return, they made money. It felt similar to today’s idea of starting a business with zero investment. Of course, in reality, there’s always some cost involved, but the key is understanding how much margin you can create.
Childhood Hustles: Water Balloons and Bad Deals
As a kid, I made my fair share of terrible deals. One of the worst was selling a bunch of flags to a friend for almost nothing. I got a bit of a scolding for that, but the learning didn’t stop there. My next venture was selling water balloons with my older brother during the hot summer days in Karachi.
Almost 25 years ago, we used to buy water balloons in bulk—four balloons for 1 PKR—and then fill them with water and air manually, tying them off with elastic strings to sell them. I remember how exciting it was. At first, we would sell one balloon for 1 PKR, but as demand grew, we sometimes sold them for 2 PKR each. It wasn’t a massive operation, but it felt like we were making real money.
No Financial Education, Just Learning by Doing
Like most kids from the masses, we didn’t have any financial education. A typical upbringing in our society involves enrolling kids in school for modern education and Madrassa for Islamic values. Ventures like these weren’t encouraged. However, my elder brother was always a big part of those early experiences, supporting these experiments and fostering my entrepreneurial spirit.
A New Chapter: Moving to Abbottabad
At age 11, we moved from Karachi to Abbottabad, leaving behind those childhood transactions. But life had more lessons in store. At 13, my uncle passed away, and we moved to our village. In our culture, at least one man from each family stays in the village to contribute both physically and financially to family rituals—marriages, deaths, and crises.
The Grocery Store: A Hands-on Business Education
My uncle had been running a grocery store and working as a tailor. My father decided to continue the grocery store but leave tailoring behind. This brought me closer to the world of business again, as I took on responsibilities in the shop while continuing my schooling. Among my brothers, I was the one most engaged in the store. Each morning, I would open the shop, starting by purchasing milk wholesale and selling it to consumers. Then came the school rush—kids coming in for their daily snacks, some happy and others crying for their favorite treats. After managing that chaos, I’d head to school, only to return in the afternoon to work until nightfall.
Practical Lessons in Profit and Loss
At school, I was learning that 2+2 equals 4, but at the shop, I was learning something far more practical: how to turn 4 into 5 (profit) and how to manage when 4 turns into 3 (loss). These were lessons no textbook could teach, and they shaped my understanding of business, profit margins, and customer relationships.
Over time, I became familiar with both good and bad customers. I remember an old man who once told me, “We have two hands. One is to stop harm from coming from us to others, and the other to shield ourselves from harm coming from others.” This wisdom stayed with me as I dealt with various people and situations at the shop.
Closing the Shop: A New Path Forward
As the years passed, the demands of my education increased, and managing both school and the store became impossible. Eventually, we made the decision to close the grocery store, but I still cherish those 5-6 years of being a shopkeeper. Those years were my first steps into the world of entrepreneurship—learning to manage stock, handle money, and deal with customers. They shaped my business acumen and taught me the value of hard work and patience.
From Groceries to IT: A Journey Fueled by Enthusiasm
As I grew, so did my exposure to technology. With creativity, curiosity, and a strong desire for problem-solving, I invested in my education, pursuing a degree in Computer Science with my family’s support. I completed my MSc. in Computer Science from Quaid-i-Azam University, which placed me in a challenging environment where I had to deal with unknowns, build bridges across cultures, organize events, and simultaneously master programming, problem-solving, and time management.
These foundational lessons helped me in the IT industry, where I found myself working on projects aimed at solving real-world business problems. From developing cutting-edge interfaces to writing algorithms that digitize traditional workflows, I found myself constantly applying the lessons learned from my early experiences in business.
Transitioning into Management: Building on Early Lessons
As I transitioned into management, I found myself leading cross-functional teams and working on B2B projects, helping businesses solve problems and meet their goals. It’s interesting how life comes full circle—from selling water balloons in Karachi to selling Gift Cards across the US and Europe. The lessons have always been the same: understand the need, solve the problem, and create value.
Conclusion: Lessons for Life and Business
Throughout my journey, one thing has remained constant: entrepreneurship and business are about learning by doing. From selling water balloons to managing B2B projects, every experience has reinforced the importance of hard work, problem-solving, and adding value. As Steve Jobs famously said, “Stay hungry, stay foolish.” That curiosity and drive for improvement have been key to my growth, and they continue to fuel my passion for learning and evolving in both business and technology.
To Be Continued…
Stay tuned for Part 2, where I’ll dive deeper into more lessons learned from running a grocery store, handling tricky customers, and transitioning into the fast-paced world of technology and business solutions.