MERRY MEADOWS - Chapter 15 - Dreaming + Daring = Entrepreneurship

Memon Professional Forum’s 5^th Entrepreneurship Conference 2015 advocates Hope + Risk + Belief as recipe for success

Celebrating three decades of a very vibrant existence, the Memon Professional Forum (MPF) brought together an impressive array of leading lights from the worlds of trade, commerce and industry to dwell upon the phenomenon that is entrepreneurship, in its search for peace, progress and prosperity for Pakistan.

The heavyweights on board comprised M. Ali Tabba (CEO, Lucky Cement Limited), Arif Habib (CEO, Arif Habib Corporation), and Khalid Awan (Founder & Chairman TCS Holdings Private Limited), with Moin M. Fudda (Country Director, Center for International Private Enterprise) and Rafiq Rangoonwala (COO, Burger King Pakistan) providing the stimulus for thought provoking discussions. The Conference celebrated Dr. Abdul Bari Khan and his social enterprise the Indus Hospital built on ‘Pukhta Yaqeen’ (firm belief).

Conference proceedings began with the convener of the conference, Muhammad Hanif Jakhura (CEO, CDC Pakistan Limited) and president MPF Abdul Aziz Tayabani (CEO, Noorani & Company) welcoming the guests and providing a brief on the MPF.

“Memons great example of industriousness, risk taking and philanthropy” – Khalid Awan

The TCS chairman Khalid Awan delivered the keynote address. He termed his presence at the conference as a truly inspiring and humbling experience. “The most important pillars of the nation are those who create wealth, and the Memon Community is a leading such pillar, a great example of industriousness, risk taking and philanthropy,” he said. Terming himself a first generation businessman, Khalid Awan said that it was in the sharing of our stories that we enrich ourselves, with the real magic not in the profits but in the people who make success possible. “It is the possibility of a single dream coming true that makes life worthwhile.”

Team TCS engages Octara in a stimulating exchange (Left-to-Right) Asma Shaikh, M.A.Mannan, Qasim Awan, and Jamil Janjua.

Mr. Awan’s advice was to shape a culture of enterprise and integrity and everything else will follow. “Describe your vision and people will share it.” He sounded a note of warning, however. “There will always be skeptics. First people will ignore you; if you persist they will ridicule you; you keep at it and then they will fight with you. That’s when you know you have arrived.”

He described the TCS journey as highly charged with emotion, during the course of which no special favours were received. “It is never a popularity contest, and it entails the taking of hard decisions. It has been an exciting journey during the course of which an enterprise has been created that runs through the bloodstream of the nation. Every day half a million shipments are generated.”

“We have succeeded in reinventing ourselves”

With the arrival of the Internet many TCS people felt threatened, said Mr. Awan. “We have succeeded in reinventing ourselves, however. Behind the scenes TCS teams have developed new products and services. We saw opportunities in outsourcing, a dynamic new trend in the emerging global village, and we set up state-of-the-art printing facilities in two locations for the printing and in-time distribution of utility bills and bank statements. Here we have electronic interface with the client’s database, saving the client major expense and hassle. We set up an inventory management system for sim cards, with the telecom companies’ cash flows major beneficiaries. We have introduced the TCS Supply Chain Advisory to streamline and optimize our customers’ operations. We firmly believe that in our customers’ growth lies our own growth.”

Khalid Awan describes e-commerce as the most exciting evolving frontier that has vastly enhanced outreach. Complimenting it is the new TCS product ‘Hazir’, the 60 minutes pick-up promise that he says is a big challenge, but one which robust technology is making possible. Winding up his keynote address Mr. Awan paid special emphasis on organizational development, and was particularly proud of the fact that over 850 MBA graduates from our leading business schools had applied to TCS for employment.

“Given proper management Pakistan can become a welfare state for its people” – Arif Habib

Next up was the address by the chief guest Arif Habib, better known for his six stints as president/chairman of the Karachi Stock Exchange. Lesser known is the fact that he is a leading light of the fertilizer industry as chairman of Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited, Pakarab Fertilizers Limited, and DH Fertilizers Limited in addition to being chairman of Aisha Steel Mills Limited and Arif Habib DMCC Dubai, alongside his primary function as chief executive of the Arif Habib Corporation Limited, the holding company of the Arif Habib Group.

Arif Habib was firmly of the view that an increase in economic activity was the only route to defusing the ticking human population bomb and ensuring that Pakistan’s demographic dividend doesn’t turn into a liability. “We need to encourage a stronger partnership between professionals and entrepreneurs. Allah has blessed us with so much but we are not managing well these blessings. Pakistan has huge potential, and given proper management it can become a welfare state for its people. We need to address the problems of security, corruption and low technology, and focus on the low hanging fruit in the agriculture, construction and information technology sectors. Labour intensive industries will resolve the employment issues.”

With the oil prices coming down Mr. Habib felt it was time to launch infrastructure projects, but he lamented the prevalence of the extremely low trust culture within which decision makers were fearful of taking big decisions for fear of accountability. He gave a wide ranging snapshot of the economic landscape and the many opportunities within it, and cited the shortage of infrastructure as the main hindrance deterring private investment.

Funding your dream

Following the first tea and coffee break of the day, Jawwad Farid of Risk Solutions took the stage on the issue of funding your dreams. In the midst of all the very valid advice that he proffered, the one which stood out was incubating your project with your own shoestring resources until it achieves critical mass and starts attracting the attention of the marketplace.

“If the message that you send out is that you need the money, then you will have problems getting funding. The more desperate you are the greater the difficulty. If the system doesn’t work for you then learn to operate outside of it. For every why you encounter ask why not? Show the world what you see and give them a reason to believe, but don’t hold your breath. The best source of funding could take time to materialize.” Valid advice.

Founders’ Pitch

The next event on the menu was the granddaddy of the day that gave practical expression to the conference title, entrepreneurship. Moderated by Octara associate Hassan Bin Rizwan (Prymus Technology), eight startups were given three minutes each to make their elevator pitch (so called because that’s how long you have in an elevator to buttonhole a financier) to a panel of judges who would decide a winner and handover a cheque of one hundred thousand rupees to aid project mobilization. The panel of judges comprised Moin Fudda (CIPE), Jawwad Farid (Risk Solutions), and Imran Moinuddin (DotZero & Next Degree).

No surprises that 7 of the 8 projects presented were Internet based, catered to the moneyed classes, and were half baked for the most part, except perhaps the one put forward by SmartChoice, shopping made easy, which lost out by one point. The one that got the judges attention and vote dealt in bricks and mortar, as it were, and addressed the concern of the grassroots – a high-tech, scientifically designed vending cart that offered space optimization and would result in street vendors occupying less space on the city pavements and roads, along with adding a pleasing aesthetics dimension to our public spaces. The AeroSync team of young entrepreneurs comprised of students of the Karachi University’s visual arts department, and was over the moon with their success.

The Founders’ Pitch had brought to the fore a healthy indicator. A segment of the youth were using their brains in new path finding ways in their search for self-employment, and thinking like employers rather than employees, and not looking for ‘secure’ employment shelters. The million dollar question concerns the extent of this segment of potentially trailblazing youth? Were these youngsters flashes in the pan? Or were they the front-end of a new and vibrant trend on the national landscape? Given the sad state of Pakistan’s enabling environment for new startups, and the national preoccupation with government employment, what we had here was more than likely a one off phenomenon.

Entrepreneurial behavior

Muhammad Ali Saeed, the CEO of SAOO Capital, was up next providing insights into leading behaviors for entrepreneurs. He started proceedings with putting up the celebrated Apple recruitment advertisement that dated back to 1997 and epitomized the DNA of entrepreneurs. Created by the Los Angeles office of advertising agency TBWA/Chiat/Day, the copy read “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

So now we know what it takes to be an entrepreneur. The other insight that Muhammad Ali Saeed offered and which stood out from the many others, concerned the story told to him by a grizzled old billionaire sharing space with him on an air trip. It was the enduring story of the hare and the tortoise that every generation has heard. When Muhammad Ali Saeed asked the billionaire the secret of his business success, all he said in reply was that “the tortoise always wins!” that appeared as a self-evident truth. The tortoise does always win no matter how many times the story is told. “But we all want to be the hare!” the billionaire had exclaimed. “We are all drawn to the flash and the dash, whereas it’s always the slow and the steady who win the race!” Sound advice.

“Success entails responsibility to pay back to society” – Muhammad Ali Tabba

Entrepreneurial behavior was the last session before lunch, and after a generous spread had been partaken of the conference reconvened, and the session in store was a powerful one, powerful enough to keep people wide awake, heavy lunch and full stomachs notwithstanding. Having Qahwa with the interviewer Rafiq Rangoonwala was the interviewee Muhammad Ali Tabba, the CEO of Lucky Cement as well as Yunus Textile Mills, and vice chairman of ICI Pakistan.  

Mr. Tabba was described by Rafiq Rangoonwala as a man who had stayed humble despite the great success he had enjoyed in life. It was a highly illuminating exchange, and Muhammad Ali Tabba took the gloves off in his appraisal of the national scene, saying that if there was a choice to change something in the past he would choose to change the politicians. He said there were lots of opportunities to be taken advantage of, and there was an urgent need to move away from basic industries, and invest in new ideas and technology, and further expand the service industry.

Integrity has become a big challenge in Pakistan he said, and the bane of corruption was causing meritorious professionals to find opportunity outside the country. Passion and integrity are what Mr. Tabba looks for when hiring people, and says that he would not be unduly concerned if his children chose not to join the family business. Striking a work/family balance is not easy, he admits, and takes vacations with his family to beach resorts to unwind. He lives a simple life as per the training of his father and grandfather, and cites his father as the main inspiration in his life.

Working out in the gym every day is how Muhammad Ali Tabba manages stress, and believes that staying fit is central to staying productive. Success entails responsibility to pay back to society he says, and in him society has found a generous philanthropist with extensive engagements in many community welfare projects in the fields of education, health and housing. In his view it’s good to be a workaholic, and when one’s dreams have been achieved he feels one simply raises the bar and dreams some more.

“Indus Hospital’s success is based on ‘Pukhta Yaqeen’” – Dr. Abdul Bari Khan

Dr. Bari is a phenomenon in the field of social entrepreneurship, and was celebrated by the Memon Professional Forum by being invited to speak on ‘community development through innovation.’ Dr. Bari’s brainchild is the Indus Hospital, a premium health care facility for people who do not have the means to pay for quality medical care. Managed by a competent team under his dynamic leadership, the Indus Hospital has treated more than 2.3 million patients since its inception in 2007, and is scaling up rapidly with 900 beds becoming operational by December 2015.

The Indus Hospital’s success Dr. Bari attributes to the good intentions of all concerned and their firm belief in Allah’s bounty. It is that which has made possible this vibrant enterprise which is now replicating in smaller towns across Pakistan as well as overseas. His major concern is for the very bad state of health care in the rural areas where doctors refuse to go, and he and his team are in search of innovative solutions to plug the gap. Passion is infectious, he says, and one must walk one’s talk, and pays special tribute to Dr. Saba Jamal whom he says has worked wonders with the blood center at the Indus Hospital.

Incentivizing Compassion

Next on the agenda was a panel discussion titled ‘Incentivizing Compassion – How to build sustainable social business’. Moderated by Moin Fudda, the participants included Naeem Zamindar (Country Director, Acumen Fund Pakistan), Dr. Abdul Bari Khan (CEO, Indus Hospital), Dr. Asif Imam (Chairman SINA), and Shabbir Bilwani (Director, Agile Offices). These were all good Samaritans who were working against daunting odds in the service of the less served and less privileged.

It’s poor political leadership and bad governance notwithstanding, Pakistan has been generously endowed by a large hearted class of wealthy people who have made Pakistan amongst the world’s leading philanthropic nations. The fact that Pakistanis are also amongst the world’s leading tax evaders merely points to a huge trust deficit between the state and its people born of poor political leadership and bad governance. This in turn has led to the phenomenon of the private-public partnership which many see as the state abdicating its responsibility to the people and surrendering space to private initiative.

It was a wide ranging discussion that advocated competence, character, integrity, respect, the ability to listen, and a suppression of the ego. Transforming madressahs into centers of modern learning along with religious instruction bore special emphasis, and Sattar Edhi was given a standing ovation for his services to the nation and his inclusion in the Guinness world records book for the largest ambulance network in the world.

Capitalizing on rising trends

Mohammed Sohail is the CEO of Topline Securities, and ‘Seizing the Opportunity: Capitalizing on Rising Trends in Pakistan’ was the subject of his discourse. Between Dr. Bari of Indus Hospital and the Incentivizing Compassion panel discussion, which had taken up much more than their allotted time, Sohail’s 1605 to 1625 time slot had long gone, with the natives getting restless for the tea and coffee break! But the first slide that he put up had everybody’s attention.

If you Google ‘rising trends in Pakistan’ the top three results obtained are rising poverty trend, rising trends of terrorism, and rising trend of violence. The situation is deteriorating for risk takers and entrepreneurs in Pakistan, was Sohail’s view. He also felt that by and large Pakistanis were not competent, nor hardworking, and they were averse to taking risks. Fortunately for us there is plenty of hard evidence to the contrary, and Google’s findings are based on a biased and sensation seeking media that bothers not to explore below the surface the rich and vibrant mosaic of a hospitable and industrious nation.

To his credit Sohail did admit that Pakistan has a lot of opportunities for creating value and taking calculated risks because of the very big, unexplored, and inefficient market characterized by low productivity and low penetration. The Pakistani consumer story remained intact, he said, due to favorable demographic trends, a growing middle class, rising urbanization, and increasing health awareness. In information technology there were a lot of opportunities for people with creative ideas.

New Media and business growth

The second tea and coffee break of the day was finally arrived at, and with it began the last item on the agenda for the day, a panel discussion on digital marketing and leveraging the new media for business growth, moderated by Hassan Bin Rizwan (Prymus Technology). The panelists represented the new age corporate warriors with cyberspace as their battleground. There were Faisal Sheikh (GM & Head Digital, Brainchild Pakistan), Salman Hassan (CEO, TCS E-Com), Osama Qassim (CEO, QnE), and Amin Rammal (Director, The Brand Crew).

The issues at stake were important. Is digital better than traditional platforms for new startups?  What do the digital media offer to startups to get the word out? How do we go beyond the ‘Likes’ and create traction? How do we create engagement without running contests and sweepstakes? What are the ideas for content strategy? How can startups leverage the power of memes to gain reach and engagement?

Salman Hassan must have felt a little like Gulliver in the land of the Lilliputians given the giant stature of the TCS brand, and the expectations thereof from TCS E-Com which has hit the ground running with the new TCS product HAZIR as its running-mate. Like in every other sphere of business endeavour in Pakistan, there is great potential in e-commerce. That is what has been historically said about Pakistan, that it has great potential. Translating that potential into actual fact has been another matter altogether, and we have given practical expression, time and again, to the old English saying ‘there is many a slip between the cup and the lip.’ There is a felt need to flip that slip and plug the performance gaps that have bedeviled the attainment of progress and prosperity in Pakistan.

Both tiring & exhilarating day!

With that we came to the end of proceedings in the midst of much memento presentation and networking. It had been a tiring day, but that wouldn’t hit home until much later. Right now the brain was buzzing and the senses were heightened. The Memon Professional Forum had sounded the bugle amidst a call to battle stations. Entrepreneurship was the battleground where the war would be won, and not just against terrorism. Entrepreneurship and the spirit of self-employment would cultivate the mindset of employers within the population of Pakistan, banishing forever from our midst the disgrace of unemployment, Allah be praised.