Tech Entrepreneurs: 3 Actions to Ensure a Profitable Startup in Pakistan

The startup scene in Pakistan led by technology & digital media has been booming for the past few years and we have seen startups like Patari, Beauty Hooked and Zameen come up with innovative solutions to insightful consumer problems. As an aspiring entrepreneur and graduate student of Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern Medill, I have found two articles that provide insights into the startup scene of Pakistan which can help budding entrepreneurs.

In his article Going Critical, Jawwad Farid presents the startup phenomenon in Pakistan. Mentor programs and technology incubators such as NEST IO & Plan9 have encouraged young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses which provide technology based solutions to consumers. There are now over 1,800 technology based startups in Pakistan, however these startups come with their own challenges of ever changing government policies and a somewhat primitive financial system. It should be interesting to see how young entrepreneurs emerge through these challenges. 

Image Source: TechFlier

Mehreen Omer’s article introduces us to Bilal Ather, a 26-year-old Pakistani who founded a multi- million dollar company. His startup Wifigen is a tool that gives free Wi-fi to consumers in exchange of their information.  Bilal’s story exemplifies the entrepreneurial mindset of today’s youth and the positive steps they can take to reach success.

Based on these two articles, here are 3 action items I want to suggest to young entrepreneurs who are hoping to start their own enterprise:

• Network with Experts: Find people that share your interests and passions, who are experts in the field and learn from them. Investing in a network will pay-off in today’s interconnected digital world.
• Learn from Failures: Realize that not all your ideas are going to be worth a million dollars and it’s okay to fail. Bilal’s first startup Ikhtira failed but he didn’t let that dissuade him. Learn from your failures, brush it off and move on.
• Be Consumer-centric: Research, research, research till you know your consumers and what their pain point are. Look at data, discover insights and win over investors with hard evidence.

If you are an aspiring Pakistani entrepreneur, consider these three points as you develop your start-up to ensure a better chance of success. 

Komal Ashfaq is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications with Medill at Northwestern University. She is interested in digital technologies, entrepreneurship and traveling. After graduating in December, 2017 she hopes to return to Pakistan and work with tech start-ups to which are working on creating sustainable solutions to consumer problems. You can follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Will you find your beauty in a box? – an amazing box can help Marketers to create WOM

Have you ever thought you will find your beauty in a box? Women in the town are subscribing a little box called Birchbox, which will send out a box of 5 sample beauty products for $10 each month. This little box has becoming the most popular and amazing little box among women that roaming around word-of-mouth, tweeter and Youtube.

Receiving this Birchbox is like a gift. It probably gets you a latest series of SMASHBOX powder, or a lipstick of NARS. You don’t know what you will receive every time, but Birchbox will always surprise you. Check out the youtube, you will find lots of unboxing videos on it. People enjoy the unboxing moment to find out what Birchbox give them this time.

When you subscribed the Birchbox, you fill out a beauty profile. A beauty editor in Birchbox will choose monthly samples for you in your box. The success of the business caught many beauty brands attention. Brands like Smashbox, Stilla, Kiehl’s…. you name it, are scrambling to give away their sample to Brichbox subscribers. If you like the sample, you can go click on the item on Birchbox website and purchase the full-size one.

By sending a delicate box with beauty samples which might suit different person’s beauty profile, Brichbox creates a two-way communication and another sales channel for brands and consumers. Consumers enjoy the discovery process and try new stuffs. Brands seek as many touch points as possible with consumers. Beyond that, Birchbox creates a place for both consumers and brands to build a further relationship with each other. Consumers can share their comments online or through Birchbox, Marketers can receive feedbacks and collect data from both consumers and Birchbox.

The box is so hot that forbes, Mashables and Insiders all wrote a story for Birchbox. Because not only women can receive this “gift”, but men can also have it now. However, as forbes covered in the article, my question is, while it garnered great success among female consumers, will Birchbox gain success among men since their shopping behaviors are different from women?

But, hey, if you are a brand marketer, you may think about using Birchbox to communicate with your consumers. If you are obsessed with make-up, well, subscribe a Birchbox for yourself!

**Li-Chia Huang is a graduate student in the Northwestern Medill IMC marketing program and is specializing in beauty industry marketing trends. Li-Chia Huang will be graduating in December 2012. Li-Chia can be reached on twitter using the handle @Lycahuang0621.