In a country like Pakistan we have so much talent yet very little exposure to utilizing our energies and skills in the right direction. Most of the talented people end up doing ordinary jobs (even though well paid) and when they do see a small glimmer of hope it still gets wasted due to lack of initiative taking abilities.

Most of the startup gatherings I have attended mainly focus on the discussion that Pakistan is not the kind of country you can start business in, light bohat jaati hai and country impression is not good i.e. the stuff that stops you from stepping up and embracing entrepreneurship . Where as more of the focus should be on questions like, how you can kick start? what kind of thought process should be initiated? marketing analysis and your strengths (S.W.A.T analysis).

The blame is not on the organizers of the discussions but has its roots way back in the past. This starts from the institutions we study in. Most of the institutions in Pakistan teach you pretty good stuff but don’t really make you visualize the actual impact of the knowledge being imparted e.g. IT institutions might introduce you to the technologies being used in industry but don’t stress much on how this technology awareness can help you in foreseeing the future. Institutions are producing workaholic machines instead of  visionaries. Whereas institutes like MIT have there own entrepreneurship departments and have there curriculum tuned according to the matter under discussion.

Some of the youngsters who actually dare to jump into the world of business face problems like investment, infrastructure and guidance. This is the second department we are miles behind where we actually should be, if we want to create a favorable environment for the cause. A good session with the pros about the approach towards kicking off a startup might act as a catalyst for the thought process but its not good enough to overcome the fears of investment and infrastructural problems. We are in serious need of incubation schemes and angel investment groups. Its requires more than business idea competitions on frequent basis if we really want to see growth in the startup culture. and thats where the actually motive of this articles comes in.

Dr. Umar Saif has been there on the startup scene for quite sometime now. His latest venture is an incubation scheme known as SCI (Saif Center of Innovation: pronounced as SKY) which is first of its kind in Pakistan and  intends to provide young entrepreneurs with proper training, incubation and environment where they are surrounded by entrepreneurs, advisors and investors. I guess this is the first concrete step towards promoting entrepreneurship in this part of the world and certainly not the last. Its a work in progress and he plans to launch it very soon. The rules are pretty simple, if you have a business idea you have been thinking about for a long time now and could never gather the courage to actually work on it, well now it will be just a business plan away from you. SCI’s prime motive would be that this business plan summary would land an actual business opportunity for you instead of appreciation only. Stay tuned for more details when SCI is launched.

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