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This case was written by Assistant Professor Dr. Muhammad Shehryar Shahid and Research Associate Yamna

Imran at the Lahore University of Management Sciences to serve as basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate

either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. This material may not be quoted, photocopied

or reproduced in any form without the prior written consent of the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

2014 Suleman Dawood School of Business, Lahore University of Management Sciences

HUNTING THE HEFFALUMP:

A CASE STUDY OF FOUR INSPIRATIONAL ENTREPRENEURS

Entrepreneurship is like obscenity: Nobody agrees what it is, but we all know it when we see it.1 On a breezy Thursday evening in July, 2013, this striking quotation caught Dr. Shahids attention while he was going through the literature on entrepreneurship, and served to mystify

him even more. Dr. Shahid, an instructor of Entrepreneurship at the Lahore University of

Management Sciences, had given his first ever lecture as an MBA instructor the previous day. As

the class progressed, Dr. Shahid found himself swamped with questions from the students.

Student X: Sir, do entrepreneurs have a unique set of traits that makes them so entrepreneurial, and if they do, are these traits innate or acquired?

Student Y: Professor, is it possible to condition oneself to view the world through an entrepreneurial lens, and learn to think like an entrepreneur?

Student Z: Sir, is there such a thing as entrepreneurial thinking, a distinct form of rationality that sets entrepreneurs apart from others?

These questions were all too familiar to Dr. Shahid. Time and again, probing questions such as

these have been raised by aspiring entrepreneurs, on the hunt for a magic formula for

entrepreneurial success, and in order to explore them, extensive research has been done. So far,

however, no one size fits all theory has been developed which offers an understanding of how do entrepreneurs think, behave and exactly what is it that they do so well. Hence, though at that

time Dr. Shahid had tried his utmost best to address the students questions, on reflecting back, he felt dissatisfied. The puzzled expressions with which his students had left the class told him

that they were still baffled. Consequently, he had spent the last day deeply immersed in literature

on entrepreneurship, but his dilemma was far from resolved. Therefore, in an attempt to tackle

1 Shaver & Scott, 1991, p. 24

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these questions and delve deeper into the minds of these elusive creatures, Dr. Shahid took it

upon himself to explore the life stories of a few ordinary people who did extraordinary things, so

that he could unearth secrets of entrepreneurship and share them with his students. With this aim

in mind, he and his Research Associate shortlisted some of the most successful and remarkable

entrepreneurs of the country, and embarked on a mission to discover their life journeys. In order

to do so, they personally contacted them and conducted in-depth interviews with them. These

individuals believed in finding something out of everything life threw in their way, and managed

to emerge unscathed from even the most difficult of times. Through his study, Dr. Shahid was

able to capture the vision, passion and persistence of these truly remarkable entrepreneurs, who

had an immense amount of experience and insight to offer. Before moving on to these incredible

stories which are the outcome of his study, an overview of the current dynamics of

entrepreneurship in Pakistan has been discussed below.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN PAKISTAN

According to the 2012 report of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the new business

ownership rate in Pakistan was 3%, which was lower than the average rate for Asia Pacific and

South Asia (5%) and the established business ownership rate in Pakistan was 4%, which was

lower than the average rate for Asia Pacific and South Asia (10%).2 Factors contributing to the

poor business environment in Pakistan are rent seeking and its three forms (corruption, bribery

and lobbying), lack of research and innovation, financial constraints, poor legal framework,3

poor infrastructure, weak economy, poor governance, energy crisis, terrorism and extortion. As if

these factors werent enough, female entrepreneurs in Pakistan have to face additional formidable challenges that hamper their progress and prevent them from realizing their

maximum economic potential, due to which only 5% of the entrepreneurs in Pakistan were

women in 2012.4 Recently, however, there has been a growing realization that entrepreneurs in

Pakistan need to be nurtured as they can play a pivotal role in revitalizing the economy of the

country and allocating jobs since entrepreneurship leads to high growth rates and opportunity

creation for the entire society, including the poor.5 The urgency of the need for fostering

entrepreneurship in Pakistan is increasing over time particularly due to its increasing population

size. Currently, Pakistan has a population of over 180 million, and a population growth rate of

2%, due to which Pakistans population is expected to double in the next 36 years.6 Additionally, the age-distribution of the population makes a compelling case for promoting entrepreneurship in

Pakistan. At present, the country is experiencing an unprecedented demographic dividend. Almost 50 percent of Pakistan's population is below the age of 20, and over 60 percent is below

the age of 30, as a result of which the working-age population is swelling and the dependency

ratio is declining. This demographic dividend presents the country simultaneously with an

opportunity and a challenge. If these young Pakistanis can be successfully absorbed into the

labor force, the countrys demographic dividend could boost economic growth and prevent social and political unrest. As opposed to this, if this growing working-age population is not absorbed

2 Xavier et al., 2012, pp. 24-25 3 Haque, 2007, pp. 22-26 4 Xavier et al., 2012, p. 8 5 http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/05/31/comment/editors-mail/entrepreneurship-in-pakistan/ 6 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/islamabad/02-Mar-2014/pakistan-s-population-to-double-in-next-36-years

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fast enough, it will put an excruciating stress on the economy. Hence, since this youth bulge is expected to dominate the population for another 30 to 35 years according to current demographic

forecasts- and jobs are not being created fast enough- the need to promote entrepreneurial

activities in Pakistan cannot be stressed enough.7

1. RAZAK DAWOOD: A TRAILBLAZER

Introduction

Razak Dawood- the man who initiated the success of Lawrencepur, built the corporate giant

Descon Engineering, and co-founded one of the finest educational institutions of this country-

earned his undergraduate degree in Engineering from Newcastle University, and later did his

MBA from Columbia University, majoring in finance. This is ironic because he was truly

passionate about marketing, which according to him is precisely the reason why he did not major

in it. He wanted to major in something that he found challenging and that he needed to learn.

This provides an interesting insight into his personality; he is a self-aware man who enjoys

challenges, because he believes that they allow one to overcome ones weaknesses.

Dawood pointed out that his engineering degree had endowed him with an understanding of

analytical work. He, however, never practiced engineering in the sense that the kind of work he

did was mostly related to management and marketing. For him, the most significant part of his

education, which truly made a difference in his life, was his MBA, particularly the marketing

courses, many of which he audited because he was just that passionate about it. According to

him, two lessons from marketing that he is using even today are product differentiation and

market segmentation.

Lawrencepur: Excuse me, but where are the women?

After completing his MBA, Dawood joined Lawrencepur on the insistence of his family. This

was the starting point of his journey in the business world. He noticed that there was very little

focus on segmentation and there were a lot of untapped segments in the market. Dawood realized

that Lawrencepur was making suiting material exclusively for men while there was nothing out

there for women, making the segment of female consumers particularly attractive.

He still remembers the first time he tried bringing the female line of clothing to store shelves. He

came up with designs in vibrant feminine colors and gave them the brand name of Lyla. Then, he visited the prominent clothing retailers of Lahore, including present day HKB and the famous

Bombay Cloth House in Anarkali. According to Dawood, The concept of womens own line was alien at the moment and I was rejected initially. After a lot of arguments, the retailers

agreed out of respect for my father, but told me that the product was on consignment. I requested

that they give me a special part of the shop that I painted and put streamers on in an effort to

attract customers. By the end of it I had picked 6 or 7 shops. An advertising campaign hyped the launch of the line and enabled it to be priced at a premium. Finally, the brand was launched

7 Planning Commission Government of Pakistan, 2011

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and proved to be so successful that the stores that were dubious about stocking the product

initially never seemed to have enough of it.

Lawrencepur didnt just stop there. They continued segmenting within the women range by introducing different classes of products. Eventually they launched a line for children as well. In

those days, the concept of readymade garments was alien, and everything was unstitched.

Moreover, the market for children was almost negligible. Hence, in order to help mothers come

up with ideas of how to make dresses, Dawood got Sears catalogues and used them in the shops

to inspire them. Similarly, they introduced a line for lawyers too that would cater to their specific

needs.

Dawood Hercules

All was not perfect for Dawood, as he soon had to leave Lawrencepur, a city he adored so much.

For him moving from a rural area to an urban area was painful. He loved the peaceful city of

Lawrencepur, with its open fields. However, due to a rift between Hercules chemicals and

Dawood chemicals, he was called to Lahore to sort out the problem and join Dawood Hercules in

1972.

Other than the rural-urban difference, another big change for him was that he could not employ

his marketing skills anymore because according to him, Fertilizer was the one product where demand far exceeded the supply already, so marketing was unneeded. This was very different from his tenure at Lawrencepur, where he was so heavily invested in marketing. Nevertheless, he

learnt some valuable lessons from his experience here, such as corporate battles, the importance

of legal structure, the importance of government structure, and, most importantly, technology.

Establishing Descon came less as an opportunity for him and more as a result of a family split,

due to which he was asked to leave Dawood Hercules. However, at Dawood Hercules, Dawood

saw the process, machinery, and technology that enabled and assisted production. He wondered

why the machines were imported and not made in Pakistan. To analyze the feasibility of this

thought, he asked a lot of questions and went into the minute details of the structure of these

machines, after which he reached the conclusion that their production in Pakistan was very

doable. This insight was the building block of the engineering giant that Dawood founded in

1977, now known as Descon Engineering Ltd., a company that evolved from employing 4

engineers at its inception to 16,000 employees at present.

While leaving Dawood Hercules, he asked who would want to join him in his new venture. At

that time, Dawood was not sure if he would even be able to pay the engineers. Eventually, 4

engineers decided to join him. And so Descon came into being. The 4 engineers sat down in an

open room, because Dawood couldnt afford to have a private room for each employee. The chai-wala8 functioned as their informant and typist as well. As Dawood recalled, This here was a group of people with a high energy level, who had a conquer-the-world attitude. Outside the door was the promise of tomorrow.

8 A young man who makes and serves tea.

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Descon: Fishing stage

Dawoods family name, his Dawood Hercules network, his educational experience, and Lyla, all helped him greatly in starting his own business. Nevertheless, according to Dawood, in the early

stages of your enterprise, you never know. However, he claims he never had any fears despite everything as according to him, self-faith and optimism are prerequisites for being an

entrepreneur since an enterprise is essentially a leap of faith. He doesnt deny that he faced a lot of problems indeed, but insists that problems are to be treated as an adventure.

When Descon started, it was not even offering the right product, but it kept evolving by learning

from its mistakes. He termed this the fishing stage of Descon. One of the first things they tried was consultancy. However, Dawood thought they were barking up the wrong tree, as there was no potential for growth. Hence, after two years, Dawood decided to change course

altogether and venture into contracting. Then the question regarding which segment of the

market they were to target arose. According to Dawood, Your vision always evolves. You can never think of an end-game. You have clarity about the first few years but then it gets dark, and

as you move down, it starts getting clearer again.

It was in 1981 that Dawood and his team sat down and laid down two important points that

formed the basis of Descons vision: they wanted it to be global and they wanted it to be a long-term player. According to him, Pakistanis dont understand the concept of long-term. Everybody wants short-term gain. He explained that if you become a long-term player, your strategy-

including your decision making- changes altogether, which leads to a different approach to

business.

The first time Descon went overseas (to Abu Dhabi) in 1982, they bid 30 percent lower than their

competitors, which even confused the Arabs as they knew Descon wouldnt be able to make money off that job. However, according to Dawood, he was not interested in profits initially. To

him, it was the long-term that mattered. He focused all his energy on this project to deliver

exquisite results, which paid off in the end when the Arab company appointed Descon for all its

future projects. Upon winning this contract, Dawood recalls telling the CEO, Sir, the money I didnt make was my entrance fee to hear what you just said. Dawood considers such losses investments. According to him, this is exactly how a long-term player functions.

First big break of Descon

In September, 1981, the National Refinery was putting up their expansion project. The contract

was given to the Romanians, who were looking for somebody to do the mechanical civil work.

Descon volunteered to work on this job. According to him, The Romanians asked how many cranes do you have, I said none. The project required about 30 cranes; I said I will buy them. I

even gave them a bank guarantee. I asked them to trust me, because if I dont bring the cranes, they can cash the guarantee. Many people deterred me from taking this massive and risky

project, provided at that time we had only 12 engineers. But the hand of God is unbelievable, just

then an Italian company was finishing a Fauji Fertilizer plant. So they were laying off all their

staff, which included the engineers, the field workers, and the guys at the forefront. We

interviewed everybody getting off the job, we gave them the appointment letters on the spot, and

called them back in 6 months. We got a readymade team.

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Post-startup

The unique selling point of Descon was that in its initial years, there was no company that

offered general contracting services. There were many small electrical and mechanical

companies, but none that offered all of the services. Apart from the nature of the company itself,

what differentiated Dawood as an entrepreneur was his approach; small contractors had a bad

reputation and were called thekadaars. According to Dawood, his aim was to bring professionalism into engineering.

Thats not enough

The composition of the venture evolved with time. Starting off as a general contracting and

construction company, Descon eventually added manufacturing of various machines such as

boilers, heaters, and pressure vessels as well. However, Dawood did not think that was enough.

They then stepped into design, adding value to their business as they went along. Dawood,

however, kept insisting thats not enough. They continued to include technology, and eventually got into Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC).

To progress even further into technology, Descon teamed up with the Japanese because the

technology they had was not available in Pakistan. At that time they had about 200 engineers.

This partnership taught Descon a lot, and sure enough, it increased Descons size and the number of engineers employed there. Descon also appealed for license technology from Mitsubishi, but

was denied. However, they tried again 10 years later, and became an official licensee of this

technology.

LUMS

The journey of Lahore University of management Sciences (LUMS) began simultaneously with

Descons initial years. Dawood was teaching marketing at the University of Punjab in 1974 after he had completed his MBA from Columbia. He taught there for 8 years until Syed Babar Ali,

a Pakistani businessman, educationist, philanthropist and former Finance Minister of Pakistan,

approached him asking whether he thought there was a need for a superior business school. Since

Dawood did not think the current curriculum was enough, he joined hands with Ali, and they

pooled in Rs. 2.5 million each to build the school. 10 people signed the initial documents and

applied to the government to request permission to build a business school. The government

rejected this proposal and agreed to let them establish a university instead of a school. This

foundation would not have been possible without a partnership, since it required capital and

educational experience. This old LUMS campus (made up of 4 to 5 houses) is still standing

opposite Heritage Homes in Gulberg (but not as a university), whereas the current campus of

LUMS is located in Defense Housing Authority (DHA). Initially, the army allowed only a 3 feet

gap for entrance to this campus.

The vision here was to create a higher quality institution which was integrally merit-based. The

curriculum was designed wholly by Razak Dawood and Syed Babar Ali, where they used their

education abroad as a benchmark of quality. Moreover, they themselves interviewed the first 2 to

3 batches of LUMS. Dawood recalls that they were just as nervous, if not more, as the

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interviewees. Interestingly, the first student enrolled in LUMS was a lady. As time passed and

LUMS progressed, they added the undergraduate program and separated the business school

from the school of humanities. LUMS is also the pioneer of the four-year undergraduate program

in Pakistan. The other institutions at the time offered two-year programs but now the four-year

program introduced by LUMS is the standard all over the country.

Vision and values

Success, to Dawood, has many dimensions. According to him, it is not directly proportional to the size of your wallet or bank account. There is success as a parent, a sibling, a spouse, a citizen, and a member of the society. Success lies in creating an institution. Real success is, then,

striking a balance in achieving success in all these dimensions. He said, Suppose if you win the whole world but lose your soul in the process. That is not success. The Quran has laid out some things for us to do. Even if we win the whole world, but dont follow the rules, we cannot be successful in the true sense.

Dawood also laid great emphasis on being a long-term player. In every project that he

undertook, he was not worried about making money, but about building a reputation and

bringing in professionalism, which proved to be the entry ticket to his eventual success. Long-

term thinking also translated into how he dealt with challenges and mistakes, and how he

managed his business. Dawood focused on building a sustainable institution rather than a

company, and according to him, the key to developing an institution is to develop sound and

connected HR policies. In addition to this, there needs to be some segmentation within the

business. For instance, Descon has one company which does EPC for gas plants only, while

another separate segment is responsible for power plants.

It may sound clichd, but Dawood gave a very real example related to the importance of

believing in greatness: when Descons joint venture with the Japanese came to an end after 10 years, the employees were flustered. But Dawood said, So what? We can do the work ourselves! He said, We Pakistanis dont dream enough. We daydream, but we must dream greatness. We have got to think greatness all the way through. Additionally, he believes in keeping your cool in the face of adversity. According to him, even if he is worried about

business, he manages to remain composed. He said, This is short and simple. Always maintain a cool exterior and dont let others see you worried, or else you are open to being put down.

Towards the end of the interview, Dawood laid out a world map that marked the locations of all

of Descons offices. He drew his finger in a straight horizontal line across the map and declared fondly, This is my vision. To establish Descon across the world, so that the sun never sets on a Descon office.

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2. HAMZA TARAR: AN INTERIOR MAGICIAN

Beginning of an artistic journey through life

I am my business, I am CasaHamza- Muhammad Hamza Tarar, Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director at CasaHamza.

Muhammad Hamza Tarar is the pioneer of CasaHamza, a top notch interior designing brand.

According to Tarar, art had always fascinated him, and he began to make tables out of

cardboards when he as young as four years of age. Moreover, while growing up, he would

accompany his mother for shopping whenever the house underwent renovations, and took a keen

interest in picking out pieces of furniture for the house. Hence from the very beginning, Tarar

had been an excellent observer, possessed a fine taste, and had been aesthetically charged.

However, Tarar is of the opinion that his advent into the world of interior designing was entirely

accidental, since he never really intended to become an interior designer, and with a finance

degree, he would have probably ended up in the banking or the financial sector. Hence, it was

something that he stumbled upon accidently, and which eventually enabled him to live the

American Dream.

Initially, Tarar enrolled into the Aitchison College, and then went to the University of Miami for

a bachelors degree in Marketing and Finance. He had always been an exceptional student, and graduated with a CGPA of 4.0 from his university. During his freshman year, he helped a friend

design an apartment in Miami that was meant as a present for his girlfriend. At the

housewarming party, people loved what he had done, and he was approached by two other

people who were highly impressed by his work. They wanted him to renovate their houses as

well. After that, there was no looking back.

During his sophomore year, Tarar was working as a full time interior designer while

simultaneously pursuing his degree in Marketing and Finance. Eventually, he ended up making

his first million dollars in his third year. My mother thought I was probably dealing in drugs. An 18 years old making a million dollars is unheard of, he said jokingly. He was charging $100,000 per house as his fee in Miami. Tarar then became a part of Fendis design team as he was making use of their furniture while renovating peoples houses. Thus from the very beginning, he had thought of targeting the elites. He started to design for Fendis showrooms all over the US. Being associated with such a top-tier fashion brand built his credibility, and his

popularity accelerated. Tarar ended up becoming the first Pakistani, and the youngest interior

designer, to be published in the Florida Design Magazine.

Taking the plunge

Soon after he graduated, Tarar traveled to Milan to meet Bernard Arnault, a French businessman

and an art collector, who has been serving as the Chief Executive Officer of LVMH Mot

Hennessy, a French brand house that owns brands like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Kenzo, Christian

Dior and Celine. Tarar wanted to bring Fendis furniture to Pakistan, since he wanted to introduce Italian furniture in the country. He stayed in Milan for six months, and learnt about

furniture manufacturing at Club House Italia in Forle, a city around 2 hours from Milan. There

he learnt to work with stainless steel, leather, and the machinery that would be required to

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manufacture the furniture in Pakistan, since he intended to start his own furniture line here. He

brought 11 Italian brands to Pakistan, and simultaneously started his own furniture line. Initially,

he was only carrying Italian furniture and bringing it to Pakistan, but many people tried to

dissuade him. Who will buy a sofa worth one million rupees in Pakistan, they would often ask. However, there was no stopping him.

From the very beginning, Tarar calculated his affordable losses, and had a marketing plan in

place. His degree in Marketing and Finance helped him tremendously in targeting his specific

market, advertising, and deciding which magazines to target the most depending on which ones

had the greatest coverage of his market. He had planned to spend most of his money on

marketing, since according to Tarar, its all about marketing. If one markets the products well, it creates a demand for them. In 2007, when he wanted to launch his business, he spent around

Rs. 2 million on marketing. Whatever money he had earned so far went entirely into setting up

his business. He did not have to seek financial assistance from anyone or seek any partnerships,

since from the age of 17 he had started to earn thousands of dollars. Due to the extensive

advertising that he did through magazines and billboards, a hype was created in Pakistan. Editors

of many renowned magazines began to interview him. CasaHamza was created as a luxury brand

that targeted the elites of Pakistan.

Once he had built this image of a luxury brand, Tarar thought of opening a furniture line of his

own that would match the designer furniture in quality, but would be relatively cheaper. He then

set up his own plant, trained his workers, and imported the required machinery from Milan. He

was the first in Pakistan to work with stainless steel and introduce high gloss finish. Thus, he

brought the concept of customized modern furniture to the country. At that time, competition

was not very fierce since most of the furniture showrooms were selling traditional furniture, and

modern interior decor was a new concept, and therefore very intriguing.

Initial obstacles Bring it on!

Tarars biggest fears at the time of the launch were that firstly, it seemed that his products are too expensive for the Pakistani market. Secondly, he had planned to launch CasaHamza in the month

of July, which was risky since most of the people whom he expected to show an interest in his

products are generally abroad during the summers. However, since he had already spent more

than a year socializing and networking with people, he felt he shouldnt waste any more time, hence, he decided to take the plunge with a leap of faith.

Initially, Tarar had to overcome numerous hurdles. Particularly, networking was an enormous

concern for him. Since there were no networking groups in Pakistan, Tarar tried to socialize with

people whom he thought could help him with his work. When he opened CasaHamza, he invited

all the big furniture makers to his store, unfortunately however, more than half of them did not

even attend his calls, and out of those who did, only a few eventually showed up. Moreover,

managing his finances was another huge stumbling block for him initially, and it had become

very tough for him to keep track of his spending. He mentioned that though a huge amount of

money was flowing in, much more was being spent, particularly on marketing, which consumed

more than half of his revenue. Therefore, he hired a Chartered Accountant to monitor his cash

flows, which made the money issue simpler.

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Creating a buzz

It was never an easy job for Tarar to attract customers initially. His line of products targeted the

rich and elite class of Pakistan; therefore, reaching them or getting in touch with them was

extremely tough. His main concern was: How do you meet these people? However, Tarar had a plan: he threw the largest and most lavish party at Dish, an expensive restaurant at M M Alam

road, back in 2007. He invited more than 400 people to the party, which took place almost 6

months before the launch of CazaHamza, in order to create a hype. Through this party he was not

only launching his products, but introducing himself as a brand new interior designer in the

industry as well. Consequently, people started inviting him to their places- brand marketing of

CasaHamza had just begun.

After that, Tarar started visiting different peoples houses, and noticing their furniture, and the kind of designs they admired. Many of them already had Italian furniture at their places. Tarar

used to tell them about the kind of work he had done in the US, and his efforts to bring the

culture of modern furniture to Pakistan. This excited them tremendously, and they started to take

an interest in his products and showed immense admiration for his work. Eventually, people

started to contact him personally, and book appointments.

Tarar believes that marketing is the main ingredient behind the success of his business. From the

very beginning, he wanted to target the elites and the rich in Pakistan. Having a major in

marketing, he did not find this task very difficult. According to him, If someone could buy a handbag for four hundred thousand rupees I thought people would be willing to buy a Versace

sofa for one million rupees. However, in a society like Pakistan, where traditional brown colored furniture embellished every other house, he had to create a demand for modern furniture. He appeared in several TV shows as the media industry was booming, and acquainted

many people with his ideas. He designed the sets of several shows, and also designed for several

major fashion shows. Soon, people wanted to transform their houses from a traditional, to a more

modern Italian based set up. He helped them get rid of the perception that only brown colored

furniture looked well in houses, and propagated the idea that black and white interior decor could

be far more interesting. In his initial years, his marketing budget was around Rs. 2 million, which

he believed was integral for the success of his business. He did not advertise his brand

CasaHamza; rather, he advertised himself like many fashion designers do. He spends more

money on advertising his face for the company, rather than featuring its products.

His service was, and still is, highly customized. CasaHamza does not sell furniture; rather, it

offers an interior decorating service which is highly personal in nature. This sets Tarar apart from

many furniture shops, which sell individual furniture pieces and articles. After spending a huge

amount on marketing, he then continued doing free marketing. For instance, using his

connections, he started doing segments on morning shows for free. He used his face for the

promotion of the company, appeared in renowned magazines, and became available for every big

event in the country.

A trendsetting strategy

Selling furniture placed randomly in a room was something Tarar disliked greatly. Therefore, his

initial focus at that time was to provide people with a look of properly furnished individual

rooms. In order to execute this plan, he rented a five story building in XX DHA, on the service

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lane next to Khayban-e-Iqbal, and furnished each story with a different set up, including living

rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, etc. Therefore, he is considered an innovator and trendsetter in

his field. Within 6 months of his launch, every other furniture shop in the area had revamped the

way they placed their furniture. Tarar was able to tempt customers to avail his services, since he

provided them with an opportunity to furnish their houses with the most unique and exotic kind

of Italian furniture, that was not only aesthetically appealing, but comfortable and long lasting as

well. Moreover, Tarar is of the opinion that people are very sensitive about their homes, so

taking into account their own personal tastes and opinions matters a lot at the end of the day.

Therefore, since the beginning and till now, he provides personalized services for his customers.

Something for everybody

Tarar diversified his business and introduced a new line of furniture which was comparatively

less expensive and more economical, and also came up with various packages. For instance, in

one such package, the interior design of a one canal house was done by him for around Rs. 4.5

million, which included curtains, chandeliers, furniture, etc. All the residents had to do was to bring their clothes, we covered for everything else, he said. In another package, for which he charged around Rs. 3 million, he would do the entire lounge and the couples room. He would also gift the bride a designer lehenga9 from one of Pakistans top fashion houses, makeup package from Ather Shahzad, 2 tickets to Dubai, a Rs. 50,000 spa package, and a diamond set

from Damas. These economical packages became increasingly popular, and CasaHamza, which

was previously associated with the elites, gained fame among those in pursuit of cheaper and

more affordable packages. Currently, Tarar offers two packages: CasaHamza ECON, a relatively

cheaper package, with furniture manufactured in Pakistan, and CasaHamza LUX, which is his

branded, expensive and luxurious package. Therefore, he now caters to both the groups, people

on lesser budgets, and those who crave a luxury house. According to Tarar, this scheme has

proved to be a raging success.

The sweet taste of success

Tarars success arrived soon. Just on the second day after the launch of CasaHamza in Lahore, a customer bought every piece of furniture that would possibly fit in his house, which enabled

Tarar to earn a profit of Rs. 15 million! Since then, he has designed over 563 houses, residential

projects, and several commercial ventures including Tony and Guy, Depilex, and Sante. He has

also set up office buildings and multi designer stores in various cities of Pakistan, including

Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. Within the first year of the launch of CasaHamza, he had

already made sales worth millions of rupees, and has been experiencing a trend of perpetually

rising revenue ever since.

Starting from just one outlet in Lahore in 2007, Tarar now owns several stores and restaurant

across the three biggest cities in Pakistan. In order to further expand his market, by December

2014, he plans to launch 9 retail stores of CasaHamza, which includes 2 in Karachi, 2 in

Islamabad, 3 in Lahore, 1 in Gujranwala, and 1 in Gujarat.

9 A form of ankle-length skirt, usually worn by women on formal or ceremonial occasions.

12

Competitors and leeches

Tarar is now considered one of the leading interior designing names of the country. CasaHamza

was the first furniture shop to be opened in XX DHA, on the service lane of Khayaban-e-Iqbal,

and this lane is now known as The Furniture Lane. Since 2007, almost 12 to 15 furniture shops have opened up on this lane. Moreover, on observing Tarars work, many of the furniture makers of the country have transformed their furniture, and have adopted a more modern approach. Most

of them are Tarars seniors, who have inspired him throughout his life. According to him, CasaHamza, and other leading interior designers in the industry, such as Ahad, Zamana, and

Omer Nabi, have their own style. For instance, if a customer wants a glitzy glam or whitish room, he would contact Tarar. On the other hand, if a customer is interested in getting his home

done in a traditional way, he would go to Ahad. Hence, each one of these leading interior brands

has its own forte, and they all maintain friendly ties with each other.

However, there are some furniture makers that are not competitors; they are copy cats. These

people generally visit his showrooms, work for him, and after a while they start their own

businesses, copying his ideas. According to Tarar, they are not competitors; they are leeches. For instance, one of his ex-employees has designed a restaurant, Ol, where everything,

including the pillars, chandeliers, sofas, and curtains, are his designs. Moreover, every time he

used to put his pieces of furniture at his stores, the next day every other furniture shop in the area

would have copied it and put it up for display. Therefore, Tarar has stopped putting his pieces of

furniture in his stores. According to Tarar, these copy cats produce such hideous copies of such

beautiful products that it completely destroys the creativeness of these products, which greatly

bothers him.

Running a business in Pakistan

Tarar spent his university life in the US, and designed some houses there too. However, he is of

the opinion that running a business is not easy, irrespective of whether its in Pakistan or abroad. He believes he just got lucky initially, since he was studying at a private institution in the US,

where no kid had a car less than a Jaguar. His friends loved the way he had decorated his

dormitory, and asked him to do theirs too. Word of Tarars flair for designing spread swiftly, since people in Miami are extremely rich and had no issue with the amount of money he charged

for his services. However, in Pakistan he faced the greatest difficulty in networking since in US,

there were networking groups for interacting and socializing, whereas in Pakistan, there was no

such thing. Hence, he faced a huge networking barrier initially, since social media was not

widely used in Pakistan.

Do it with passionor not at all

Tarar has always been fascinated with aesthetic and artistic objects, and is generally very

observant. The first night he landed in Miami, his sister took him to a hotel, Tela nos, by Philip

Stark, from whom Tarar is inspired greatly. According to Tarar, Stark did mind-boggling and

crazy things. He believes this is how art is; a single room can be an art installation. The theme of Tela nos was Alice in the Wonderland; there was a hedge outside the hotel with a little door

just like in Alice in the Wonderland, and while on the one hand there were 40 feet long sofa

backs, on the other hand the tables were very small. There was also a gigantic chess table, and

chairs inside the pool, which looked very abstract and interesting. Tarar was deeply amused and

13

loved this piece of work. He got hold of some architectural magazines and articles, and

throughout the first few months of his college, learnt a lot about interior designing. He then

began to come up with his own concepts, and discovered that he had a good aesthetic sense. He

believes that throughout his journey, it is his passion that always drove him. He firmly believes

that if you really want to do something, do it with passionor not at all. Tarar also gave a word of advice that if anyone wants to become an entrepreneur, he must start with something

small, and then make it big, since according to him, spending too much money initially is

foolishness. Also, he believes that one must do some research beforehand.

The essence of a lifetime

Tarar believes that one of the critical lessons that he has learnt from his career is, Dont get used. According to him, when he started spending huge amounts of money on marketing during the initial years of his career, people starting asking him for all sorts of favors, such as

sponsoring their events, lending pieces of furniture for their TV shows, making VIP lounges for

their events, and designing sets for live TV shows. However, soon he realized that he was being

exploited, and resolved to discontinue giving such favors. Furthermore, he learnt not to spend too

much, and to always know how much money he should keep in his business. He believes that

cash flow and managing ones accounts properly is what keeps the business humming along. Therefore, ones money calculations should never go wrong, and ones finances and marketing budget should always be balanced.

3. JAVED IQBAL: A RAGS TO RICHES STORY

Introduction

Jaidi is a name which every Lahori is familiar with. It is the pioneer of brands in the Paan10

business, which revolutionized the way in which the Paan market operates. The mastermind

behind Jaidi is a humble individual named Javed Iqbal, who is currently just 36 years old. A

married man and a father of 4 children, he set out on his relentless pursuit at the mere age of 15.

Startup

Iqbal recalled the days of his childhood and the time when his journey as an entrepreneur began.

It was in the year of 1992, when a 15 year old Iqbal took it upon himself to do something for his

middle-class family. Not too fond of academics, he wanted to enter the real world by setting up a

business from an early age. His family belonged to a military background. His father, Malik

Awan, was a prisoner of war, and had fought in the battles of 1965 and 1971 for Pakistan. Since

they did not support his ideas, Iqbal was left alone to pursue his unique passion for Paan.

Initially he was fearful as everything seemed murky and he had neither a strong education, nor

his familys support to back him up. It was his immense passion, he said, and his vision to revolutionize the Paan market, that helped him through. It upset him a great deal when Paan

shops and the workers there were looked down upon and ridiculed by the society. He wanted to

10 Betel leaves filled with various delicacies.

14

change that. And so he did Iqbal turned an investment of a mere Rs. 2000 into a renowned business with a worth of a whopping Rs. 250 million!

Iqbal did carry out some research before setting up his Paan shop. He went around to different

Paan shops and observed how they were operating. Never enter a business without proper research, he emphasized.

Name and location

Elaborating on the motivation behind the name Jaidi, Iqbal said that he used to play cricket with his friends quite often and once they randomly came up with this nickname for him. Iqbal

thought that it had a certain appeal to it, so when he set up his business, he named it Jaidi.

The first hurdle that Iqbal came across was of location. Although the prime locations for Paan

shops were Fortress and Liberty, Iqbal knew that he could not compete with the already well-

established ventures over there. Therefore, he went on to set up a Paan shop in H-Block,

Defense Housing Authority (DHA). It was a relatively new residential area in the early 1990s

and had a great prospect for new businesses. Offering a relatively untapped market and an area

unfamiliar with such delicacies, DHA was a golden opportunity.

Challenges and innovations to overcome them

Back in 1992, Jaidi was nothing more than a small cabin set up on a 4 square-feet piece of land

right outside a CD shop. Just like every other business, the startup was the most taxing phase for

Iqbal, and he quite often missed out on the daily rental payment of Rs. 100, simply because he

couldnt afford it. With the business struggling, he put up a small section of cigarettes in his shop since Paan and cigarettes are complementary to each other. Additionally, he also introduced the

tobacco flavored Paan.

Two years into the business, Iqbal was finally able to hire his first employee, a Chacha11 who

always stood next to his shop and would only leave for prayers. One day, Iqbal asked the Chacha

to go and hand over a Paan and a few cigarettes to his customer in the car parked in front of his

shop. Besides paying Rs.10 for the Paan, the customers tipped Chacha an extra Rs.10. Chacha,

delighted by this, went up to Iqbal and asked him to hire his services. Iqbal complied, and

Chacha became the first ever employee at Jaidi.

As Iqbal put it, 1996 was the most troublesome year for him. Financial problems had still not

alleviated and Jaidi wasnt making enough profits to cover the rental costs. On the verge of selling his business for Rs. 20,000, Iqbal was persuaded by his friend not to go ahead with the

transaction. Around the same time, the Cricket World Cup of 1996 was in full-swing and Iqbal,

being the out-of-the-box thinker that he is, exploited this opportunity by setting up a small

television outside his shop. On each match day, people came in huge flocks to watch cricket

which brought Jaidi into the limelight. When this came to Pakistan Tobacco Companys (PTC) attention, they approached Iqbal and offered to sponsor his business. Knee-deep in rough waters,

he took up the offer immediately and PTC helped him buy out the CD shop at a rent of Rs. 4000

per month. From a cramped, dirty cabin, Jaidi had now taken the shape of a small, well-kept

shop that sold multi-flavored Paans and every single brand of cigarettes.

11 Literally translates to uncle, can be used when addressing older men.

15

Fascinated by the outcome of his decision to place a small television for cricket lovers during the

World Cup, Iqbal started making special arrangements for special occasions, such as Eid,12

Basant13 and Independence Day. He was always thinking of ideas that would help him maximize

his customer base. He would decorate his shop in green and white lights on Independence Day

which attracted a young and vibrant crowd, which was the target market segment of his business.

Iqbal soon realized that people were as concerned with the outlook of his shop and product as

they were with the quality of the product itself. He couldnt do much to change the quality of his Paan, so he focused on the presentation and hygiene of his shop and product.

Always on the hunt for new ideas, Iqbal came up with a smart business strategy which set Jaidi

apart from its competitors. Other outlets only had Meetha14 and Tobacco flavored Paans,

however, Iqbal decided to take it up a notch and introduce new flavored Paans. According to

him, Jaidi now boasts about 25 to 30 different flavors of Paan- a feat unmatched anywhere else

in Lahore.

Iqbal was always looking for ideas that would enable his product to appeal to the aesthetic sense

of consumers and soon he realized that this could be done by improving the packaging of the

Paan. Therefore, he outsourced the entire process and started importing custom-made wrapping

for his product from China, which was a unique and a cost-effective way to present his product

in trendy and appealing wrappers. Iqbal emphasized the profound impact of such minute

intricacies.

A move to sponsorships

Eventually, Jaidi started offering soft drinks upon the arrival of several sponsors such as

PepsiCo. and Coca Cola. With a reasonably strong financial framework, Iqbal was the first

person in the vicinity to have a large television screen set up in his shop so that his customers

could enjoy watching TV while buying his products. This idea took off again in the 1999 Cricket

World Cup when people would just stand by his shop, gazing at the screen, while continuously

ordering Paans, cigarettes and soft drinks.

Juices and milkshakes

Jaidi soon ventured into the domain of juices & milkshakes. According to Iqbal, he went out

with his friends to juice shops quite often, and felt that their juices were ridiculously overpriced.

Unhygienic conditions, in which the juice was made, also discomforted Iqbal since he had a deep

liking for hygiene and quality. He went over to several outlets in the city to observe the

operations, taste the product, and develop a network that would help him set up his own juice

business. Finally, equipped with substantial market knowledge and insight after an extensive

research of 4 years, Iqbal incorporated an entire section of juices and milkshakes into his product

portfolio. He was not afraid of failing and taking an initial plunge into this river of uncertainty,

but at the same time, he was sensible enough to analyze the market beforehand. He said, Before jumping into the unexplored ocean, one must gauge its depth.

12 A Muslim festival. 13 A kite flying festival celebrated during spring. 14 Literally translates to sweet.

16

Upon finding out that other vendors earned 50 to 70 percent profit on the sale of juices and

milkshakes, Iqbal made it a point to keep the prices relatively lower in order to attract a strong

clientele for the new products. His immediate focus was to set up a loyal customer base, which

would not wander off to other outlets when he gradually increased prices. Eventually, Jaidi built

a reputation of offering products that gave its customers the best value-for-money.

The success of his juices & milkshakes venture enabled Iqbal to save up enough money for

setting up a cold store for fruits. This enabled Jaidi to have a continuous supply of all types of

fruits throughout the four seasons since he had a substantial backup of these fruits at all times,

and would otherwise even import them if the need arose. An employee was responsible for the

purchase of such items in bulk and Iqbal emphasized that he himself remained in contact with the

suppliers and the market.

Additionally, the shop was further extended and renovated 5 to 6 years back to give Jaidi a

contemporary and fresh outlook. With large glass windows, a plasma television, and an

immaculate setup, Jaidi finally took the form that he had dreamt of, Iqbal stated. He works there

from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., even though he doesnt really have to. Having a strong passion and love for his business, Iqbal went on to say that sitting idle at home leaves him dissatisfied and he

wants to remain engaged in the work that he loves. He said, Sitting idle makes me exceedingly restless.

Iqbal has put in place a stringent process for hiring employees. Potential workers have to go

through several procedures before being hired, such as the interview, screening process,

employee profile, bio data setup, etc. This rigorous process ensures that only the best people are

hired for the job and guarantees a quality check of the employees, which facilitates greater

efficiency of the business.

Jaidi further expanded into a catering business for various functions, such as weddings, college

events, etc. According to Iqbal, Jaidi is also the sole supplier of Kulfa ice-cream to the Pearl

Continental Hotel in Lahore. This shows how well-organized and streamlined Jaidi is, keeping in

mind the strict and exhaustive process through which any external vendor has to go through for a

hotel like the Pearl Continental.

Upcoming plans

With his brother Hafiz Muhammad by his side now, Iqbal stated that he plans on expanding his

business into more competitive areas such as Fortress and M.M. Alam. When inquired about the

late timing of his expansion plans, he immediately replied, In order to meet your competitors head-on, you need to first earn a name for yourself. Unlike other companies which start focusing on expanding their businesses prematurely, Iqbal is of the view that it should be

undertaken only when one has a strong foundation in place, and that can only be achieved step

by step rather than overnight.

Iqbal further stated that he wanted his business to attract so many customers that it enjoys the

same reputation as Cuckoos Den, Butt Karahi, etc. and becomes a renowned tourist attraction within the city. Even currently, Jaidi is often visited by foreigners within the area who are left

licking their fingers because of the unique taste of their Paan and the supreme quality of their

juices and milkshakes.

17

Iqbals children are studying in different schools within DHA and once they are done with their studies, he plans to utilize their technical skills by integrating computerized information system

within the business framework for greater efficiency. Jaidi also has a Facebook page and has

over a 1000 followers.

Towards the end of the interview, Iqbal shared his ultimate goal: coming up with Tetra Pak Jaidi

juices in the market and creating a monopoly for them. On being asked if he believed he could

achieve such a goal, he responded in a crisp voice, I was alone in my struggle for Jaidi and not even my parents supported me. They told me that selling Paan would get me nowhere and that it

wouldnt even be enough to feed myself. With just Rs. 2000 in my pocket, I have built this empire. I am now the richest man in my family. Ive proven everyone wrong. And there is no reason to believe that I cant do it again. It all depends on your spirit!

4. MUSARRAT MISBAH: A MAKEOVER FOR THE MAKEUP INDUSTRY

Introduction

Musarrat Misbah, a makeup artist and a human rights activist, is one of the few leading female

entrepreneurs in Pakistan. This is quite a feat for a woman in the predominantly patriarchal

society of Pakistan where successful businesswomen are rare. Misbah lived a comfortable albeit

not a luxurious life at her parents home. Born on November 25th, 1959 in Karchi, she is the eldest sister amongst 6 sisters and 2 brothers. Her family always laid great emphasis on good

moral and ethical conduct. Her father, Misbah-ud-din Khan, was a successful businessman in

Karachi who owned the first shariah15 complied pharmaceutical company in Pakistan, and her

mother, Anisa, was a social worker and philanthropist. It may be hard to imagine, but Musarrat

Misbah, the creator and owner of Depilex, a successful beauty salon, clinic and institute, did not

always envision herself opening a business venture of any kind. Rather, she always wanted to

become a doctor. However, the turn of events was such that she got married at the early age of

17, due to which she could not complete her FSc. and her dream of becoming a doctor remained

unfulfilled. It was only after her divorce when she had to raise her small son, Khurram Khan, as

a single mother, that she felt the need to go out and earn a living to provide for herself and her

son, instead of relying solely on her parents resources. Though she was very passionate about earning her own living and providing for her baby son, at that time she had no clue how she

would achieve this goal. The easiest option for her would have been to get married again, but she

decided against it.

Misbah eventually finished her FSc, FA and graduation. It was Misbahs father who one day came to her with advertisements of diplomas related to beauty and skin care in the UK and urged

her to apply. She applied to 5 schools and decided to register in the first school that offered her

acceptance. Though she had to leave her son with her parents while she completed her diplomas

in the UK, it was a sacrifice she was willing to make in order to pursue her new mission to start a

business venture. During her stay in the UK, Misbah gained some work experience by doing

15 Code of law derived from the Holy Quran and traditions of the Holy Prophet.

18

relevant internships and worked with beauty salons and clinics. This taught her a great deal about

the management and operations of this business.

Startup

When Musarrat Misbah came back to Karachi in 1980, her father set up a hair salon for her in a

small apartment on Tariq road. That was the inception of Depilex, a name very well known in

England for its cosmetic products and equipment. Due to her entrepreneurial knack, she thought

it would work. Though her father equipped it with the necessary infrastructure, it was up to

Misbah to cover the running costs of the business. Initially, she did look to form partnerships

with other people. However, soon she dismissed this as one of the worst experiences of her

career and from then on chose to work alone. She did not have a formal business plan per say

and initially relied on word-of-mouth promotion. She would visit all the apartments in her

building, knock on peoples doors and inform the women in the neighborhood about her professional beauty parlor, Depilex, which was a pioneer in its field.

Challenges

When asked about the initial hurdles that she faced, Misbah narrated an incident that took place

when she was in the early stages of promoting Depilex in the neighborhood. While she was

going from door to door in the apartment building, a lady told her that she was a bad influence

and brought shame upon the women in Pakistan, and slammed the door in her face. This came as

a shock to Misbah, who embraced this as her advent into the practical world where she would

continuously have to endure obstacles like this, particularly in a society which in the 1980s was

not very welcoming towards budding businesswomen. However, Misbah kept her spirits high

and continued to greet the lady warmly whenever they ran into each other. Eventually, one day

that woman visited Misbahs salon and was surprised to see the professional environment of the salon and was even more surprised to learn that Misbah was highly qualified and educated in her

field.

Another major challenge for Misbah was that she had to face considerable difficulty when it

came to dealing with revenue and income tax information, the technical knowledge of running a

business, and the customs department. She was riddled with these problems since the first year of

her business, therefore, she sought professional help by outsourcing her finance and IT

departments. Over the years, however, she learnt how to manage these departments herself and

hired her personal staff for these departments as outsourcing them was costing her more than she

could afford in the beginning.

Another obstacle for Misbah was that she embarked upon her venture at a time when the trend

towards grooming was minimal in the country. As her parlor progressed locally, Misbah started

promoting Depilex in popular magazines of the time. These included The Mag, SHE and Akhbar-e-Jahan. She also offered to do makeovers of models posing in magazine shoots free of charge in return for credits in these magazines. A similar barter strategy was seen in her deal

with the Pakistan television network as well where Depilex was given makeup credits in shows

like Neelam Ghar and the Bolan Awards in return for free makeup services for their actors and hosts. Before the inception of Depilex, there was no concept of getting professional makeup

done, and the artists and models used to apply their own makeup. Musarrat Misbah very

creatively changed the norms of the society and created a want for her services.

19

Among other problems, Misbah also had to deal with the Pakistani culture of people asking for

favors because of the influential positions they held in society. Getting forcible requests of free

services is nothing unusual in her business. However, things got out of hand on one occasion

when a group of ladies walked into one of her salons, and racked up quite a bill. When the time

came for payment, they refused, since they were related to an influential personality, who talked

to her on the phone, and threatened her of dire consequences if she did not waive the payment.

However, Misbah stood her ground and got the payment, but at a high cost. The tax authorities

made her life miserable for the next three years and she had to ask people of note to intervene. In

hindsight, she realizes that it was a mistake on her part. The expedient thing would have been to

waive the payments and consider it a cost of doing business.

Over the years, Misbah also learned the hard way to protect her brand name. A few years back, a

man took a stay order on the name Depilex, and started using it for his own business. When Misbah started fighting the lawsuit, the other side employed every delay tactic possible to ensure

that the case dragged on for as long as possible. After 4 years, the high court ruled in Misbahs favour, and commented in the ruling that the plaintiff should not have used the name for the few

years that he did. The matter is now pending in the Supreme Court. There have also been

instances of people using Depilexs name in the US and other countries. Therefore, Misbah now ensures that the name and logo of Depilex is registered in a foreign country before handing out

any franchise.

Growth

With the passage of time, trends began to change as more players entered the market and the

market dynamics turned in favor of these salons as actors and models began to rely on

professional salons. Hence, Depilex and the others started charging for their services, but being

the first and the most credible, Depilex remained the market leader.

The next goal Musarrat Misbah set up for herself was to start a training institution of skin care,

beauty and makeup application. When asked about her motivation behind this, she replied that

she wanted to impart what she was fortunate to have learnt and many around her, by virtue of

their humble backgrounds, could not learn without spending a lot of money on foreign diplomas

in health and beauty. With this aim in mind, she started teaching. She also affiliated Depilex with

various international organizations including City and Guilds and made her employees and

students sit in such exams and achieve various prestigious foreign certifications whilst sitting in

Pakistan. Most of the distinguished makeup artists, hair dressers, and photographers of the

current generation have been taught and trained in Depilex under Musarrat Misbah.

Misbah has not only earned a sound reputation for herself and Depilex, she has also changed the

dynamics of our fashion and grooming industry. At the time when the Pakistans film industry was booming and theatre was being introduced here, Depilex offered their services and

monopolized the backstage makeup and hair department. In addition to this, Depilex was also

responsible for grooming the Pakistan International Airlines air hostesses. Today, Musarrat Misbahs clientele includes celebrities, politicians and the VIPs of the country. She has also had the privilege of working with renowned personalities such as Lady Diana and Jamaima Khan.

Depilex is acclaimed not only nationally, but internationally as well, and Misbahs makeup artists are often invited abroad for their services on various occasions.

20

Soon after Depilex had gained a sound reputation, Misbah diversified her business and launched

a beauty clinic. She had a panel of doctors who would come and visit her salon on assigned days.

She had a psychiatrist, gynecologist and dermatologist as well as other specialists on the team.

This was important because if someone came up to her with weight concerns, there was a limit to

which she could solve their problem, since their issue might have been due to psychiatric

reasons, which only a psychiatrist could have resolved. Women would also come to her with

their unmarried daughters, who had gynecological or psychological issues, but were afraid to go

to proper hospitals due to fear of social stigma. Her clinic provided a very comfortable

environment for these clients, since she had managed to convert her business into a one stop

solution for them.

Misbahs initial office was on Tariq road, Karachi. Then she opened up a few more branches, but these branches were not sufficient to cater to the increasing demand. She recalled that brides

would come from far off places like Azad Kashmir just to get their makeup done for their big

day. This is when she realized that she needed to open up more branches and now Depilex has a

network of over 30 branches across the country; including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad,

Gujranwala, Gujrat, Peshawar, Sargodha and Sialkot. On average, each branch has a working

crew of 20 to 25 qualified people.

As demand for Depilex grew further, Misbah felt the need to expand her customer base and so

started franchising her salon to her most trusted and longtime employees, mostly females, who

had been with her since the advent of her business. Misbah would further train them, provide

them with the premises and equipment, and tell them to deliver back a certain percentage of the

profits, while the remainder profits were to be kept by the owner of the branch. However, as with

any business that delves into franchising, the question of quality assurance arose. Therefore, in

order to ensure that the brand equity is not diluted, strict quality control standards are maintained

and the owners of the franchises need to meet stringent criteria pertaining to not only hair and

beauty service, but also branch cleanliness, customer service, etc.

Seeking to expand further, Musarrat Misbah came up with the idea of opening Depilex Men in

2003. She realized that there was a huge population of men who were very particular about their

looks and appearance and were willing to spend money on grooming services. Thus, she is a

pioneer of the men care industry in Pakistan.

Leaders go first, copycats follow

As far as competition is concerned, she believes that she has no competition. Rather she is a

competition for everyone else since no other beauty salon has more than one branch in Pakistan,

whereas Depilex has branches in Gujranwala, Mirpur, Gujrat and also in Dubai, UAE, Chicago

and the UK. Over a span of 33 years, Depilex has established over 30 branches across the

country and has evolved into not only a beauty clinic, but an institute as well. Musarrat Misbah,

being the pioneer of professional beauty salons in Pakistan, enjoys a great deal of comfort in

becoming a brand name today and states that the market is bound to copy her ideas and

innovations. However, despite this, Misbah prefers to invent and innovate in her field and

continues to provide various certifications to young women and men who wish to learn the art of

makeup, hair and skin care. Apart from this, she also teaches them to have a good moral standing

and a proper code of conduct. She learnt these values from her parents and considers them an

integral part of ones life if one wishes to succeed.

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Smile please!

Depilex Smile Again Foundation was also founded by Musarrat Misbah in 2003. The foundation

treats victims of acid attacks. Till date she has treated 526 to 527 patients. She takes great pride

in giving a "new life" to these women. She stated that the idea to start this foundation came to her

when one day in 2003 a young girl clad in a burqa16 entered her salon and asked for help. She

states: I thought she was a beggar so I told her to leave. But she persistently kept asking me to help her and then she removed her veil to reveal her badly disfigured acid burnt face. It was as if

the earth had left my feet me and I sat on the couch completely shocked and astonished. This

completely changed my life and I made it my mission to help these acid burn victims.

This was the start of her philanthropic career. She feels that one should be grateful for all the

blessings of life and must never complain about minor issues experienced in everyday life. After

the initial shock of seeing the girl's mutilated face, she decided to establish the Smile Again

Foundation and made it her mission to do whatever she could to help instill these victims with

confidence through psychiatric therapy and plastic surgery. Her initial step for setting up this

organization was an advertisement in the newspaper urging such victims to gather at her salon.

The response was overwhelming. About 42 girls/women came right away for treatment. Smile

Again provides treatment to acid attack victims all over Pakistan by providing 50 free cosmetic

surgeries annually to people who cannot afford it. Smile Again works to make these women feel

hopeful again and teaches them to be brave enough to face the world and try to find work at

places like customs department, call center operators, etc. where physical appearance is

insignificant. Yet if these women face difficulty in finding work elsewhere, Misbah trains them

at the Depilex institute to become beauticians.

Misbah admits that most customers are reluctant to be around an acid burnt victim and complain that they come here to relax. My reply to such clients is humble that they can attend

another salon since I do not have an option to send these acid burn victims to any other place.

They work for me and are a part of this organization. According to her, now that the organization Depilex has an extended business and is earning huge revenues, she can afford to

lose such clients who do not want to be attended by these victims.

Apart from this, a certain fraction of the profits earned from Depilex is spent on the treatment of

these victims and for creating opportunities for them. Donations from customers and other

people are also used to send acid burn victims abroad for plastic surgeries. She said: Smile Again has now spread to all four provinces of Pakistan. It has changed me in every regard.

Before I used to wear jeans but now I dress in traditional Pakistani clothes such as shalwar

kameez and do not wear jewelry as often. It really has made me simpler in life and I dont really care about worldly things or earning higher profits after setting up Smile Again Foundation. My

business is on auto pilot now and my focus is now solely on Smile Again and my daughter Rida

now handles the runnings of the Depilex salon and institute. It has changed me in almost every

aspect.

16 A long garment worn by Muslim women to cover themselves in public.

22

Upcoming plans

Her future plans include conquering the area of Sindh, since it is still an untapped market. She

sees more and more franchising in the future and expansion of the business both locally and

globally. On top of everything, she sees herself working toward her Corporate Social

Responsibility Program, something she is tremendously passionate about. Her concluding

message to young entrepreneurs was: First of all, whatever field you choose you have to have the knowledge and qualification and once you acquire that you need to set yourself goals, set

your goals according to your priorities, be organized in your field to get better and to be

successful. Success at times comes easily, sometimes it comes with difficulty, sometimes luck also

plays a role but if you are working hard, are consistent and love your work then nobody can stop

you from achieving what you want.

SOMETHING TO CHEW ON...

Having taken a stimulating voyage through the lives of these entrepreneurs who were at the top

of their games, Dr. Shahid now strived to connect the bits and pieces to be able to grasp the big

picture and comprehend the predominant traits and cognitive processes of this breed. However, it

was proving to be much more difficult than he had anticipated as these entrepreneurs exhibited a

wide array of characteristics, attributes, thought processes and philosophies, which compelled

Dr. Shahid to ponder over some intriguing questions: While reflecting upon the personality traits

of these successful entrepreneurs, do some noteworthy patterns and similarities emerge? Did

they possess any exceptional qualities that set them apart from the rest, and if they did, what

were these? How did they make decisions, and how does that contrast with a managerial

mindset? What is that one thing in their lives that these entrepreneurs never compromised on?

And most importantly, is there even such a thing as a distinct entrepreneurial mindset? With all

these nagging questions already looming over his mind, Dr. Shahid found himself staring at

another narrative, given as follows, that he had just come across in the literature, adding further

to his state of limbo.

"The entrepreneurial Heffalump is a variegated sort of animal, which appears in different

habitats and in different forms. It also appears to have undergone some evolutionary changes or

mutations since the first reports of its existence were made public by Heffalump hunters in the

past. So it is not surprising that there is disagreement about the nature of the beast.17

17 Wilken, 1979, p. 11