#Ali Sheikhani | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

alisheikhanigroup · 2 years

Text

5 Startup Mistakes Every Entrepreneur Should Avoid to Stay Ahead of the Curve, by Ali Sheikhani

Every new entrepreneur or one who has been in the business for quite some time has apprehensions and strongly feels how challenging running a business and a team can be. They fret a bit too much about how to start their business and move ahead. Running a business smoothly is not a cakewalk.

Their lack of expertise and inexperience in managing a full-fledged business can be extremely challenging for starters. Entrepreneurs have several doubts about whether they have invested enough financially in the respective project or if they have aced the marketing tactics– a list of never-ending apprehensions and problems. It's worth knowing that no business kickstarts perfectly on its own.

In order to manage a proper system, you're likely to make several blunders, or as some may call it, utterly silly mistakes on the way. The extent of mistakes an entrepreneur might make differs according to the kind of startup he or she is involved in, yet, there are a few basic and not-so-major mistakes that entrepreneurs normally make. These kinds of mistakes usually stay the same irrespective of the nature of the business you are in.

To keep this article relevant, we'll share the case of Vape City. The venture started with just one outlet and outgrew its rivals, crossing 100 stores across the US.

As we define the common mistakes, we'll also look at how Vape City CEO Ali Sheikhani evaded making mistakes and embarked on a remarkable journey of creating a mega venture across the US.

No Access to Emergency Funds

Most entrepreneurs don't think about backup plans as such, and so they don't keep funds for any unforeseen events or emergencies that can hit them hard in the future.

In order to set up a backup plan for the company, it is important to keep enough emergency funds to roll out more capital for any unexpected situation.

Ali Sheikhani, the CEO of Vape City, suggests that emergency capital can mean success or closure of your business. "We had to pump money into the business for another year only to see ourselves reach breakeven when closing the year. You just can't underestimate the need for capital to keep you going."

New and old businesses, big or small, usually involve huge sums of money. You may not have to put your own money into the task, or you may have gotten funding from other banks or different financial institutions.

So, in such instances, handling your financial affairs unprofessionally may lead to incurred losses, which may prevent you from getting monetary help in the future from these financial institutions in return.

It can also facilitate putting off foreclosure from the clients who reneged on their payments or any losses that occurred from missing or damaged stock until a proper flow of income steadies out to give potential stability to the business.

2. Devoid of Any Backup Plans

A typical business entrepreneur works out the entire process properly on paper and thinks it is a foolproof plan. But blunders happen, and at times they become victims of circumstances or because they were too optimistic about expectations that had been kept.

Remarkably, there are several entrepreneurs who step into their offices without ever thinking of having any backup plan in place. They put most of their focus on their business, and some even have complete faith that their venture will eventually succeed without facing any hurdles. For example, what would the outcome be if your marketing department fails to market your manufactured product or service? Will you shut down your operations and risk losing millions of dollars, or instead think of another plan?

Ali Sheikhani, a marketing expert and the CEO of VapeCity, shared his insights saying, "You might have to outsource your marketing operations or start a manufacturing and a more acceptable product for the market. You just can't emphasize more on the need for contingent planning."

There must be enough logistics arrangements to really make your backup plan easier to execute. And that can only happen if the backup plans are given due significance and planned accordingly, like a rescue operation, anytime something goes wrong.

3. Focusing on The Outcome

Entrepreneurship is all about designing, marketing, and maintaining the flow of business in a specific manner, following a proper strategy. It also includes facilitating the firm in a way that becomes more of a result-oriented mode.

If an entrepreneur does the same without exclusions, the firm's performance will improve, eventually leading to substantial monetary gains. Hence, instead of thinking about the outcome, an entrepreneur should focus on working for the results.

Usually, entrepreneurs are too concerned with getting quick outcomes rather than setting the basics of their business right. Mr. Sheikhani added in his conference for young entrepreneurs, "For any business, the owner needs a stable foundation that comprises infrastructure and the ability to implement strategies that were made before the start of a business. Putting too much focus on profit-driven outcomes will hamper the growth of businesses even before the rocket takes off."

Vape City's success story is decoded in his words. "We knew what we were doing and were going relentlessly about it. We were able to boost our sales gradually. Though when we were making progress, we knew we were close to the outcome we had wanted."

4. Instability to Pursue Strategy

The best thing about entrepreneurs is the willingness they possess in pursuing plans. They put in their all for the project to work in the best possible way but as soon as they face the slightest glitch, some will waver and start approaching the process in a different way.

Every business or startup works around a proper strategy. The approach of entrepreneurs may differ, but it is important for them to stick to the method they have chosen. Changing your system a couple of times may lead to problems and confusion. Rather than solving a problem, it may leave you hanging in between two potential paths of a solution with no outcome in sight.

Ali Sheikhani says, "Changing methods quicker will hamper the growth process, as you will have to start learning about the newer methods and approaches before applying them to the business. Give your methods time, or put in the major effort, and you might get the desired outcomes you want."

5. Cluster of Opinions

If you own a business or even a startup, whether you are given unnecessary and unwanted advice by your well-wishers or if you proactively look for answers you need on your own, be aware of being overwhelmed with too many colliding answers and opinions.

CEO of Vape City, Ali Sheikhani, advises, "It is best if business decisions are made partially by knowledge and instinct, but knowledge cannot be obtained just by listening to what everyone has to say or suggest. Sometimes it is better to learn from experiencing it firsthand yourself."

It might be a great idea to have a team of experienced individuals whom you can blindly trust. Their expertise might help in avoiding basic mistakes in your everyday business dealings.

#Ali Sheikhani #Ali Sheikhani Group #Tumblr #Entrepreneur

1 note · View note

malikriazhussain-blog · 5 years

Text

Malik Riaz Hussain - Fund For the Pakistani Common Man (An Open Letter)

May God’s mercy and peace be upon us all. God Almighty has bestowed upon me the honor of being one of the most successful businessmen in Pakistan. I feel no shame in admitting that my name, identity, and that of Bahria Town wouldn’t exist without Pakistan, and it’s all thanks to the grace of Almighty God and our beloved nation. We have enjoyed the bounties of our country for generations, and today at the age of 62, I feel I am indebted to our country and its people. If I am unable to repay this debt, on the Judgment Day I will stand before the Almighty as the accused, and with no defense. He provided for us plentifully, and we must show gratitude by being compassionate to others.

Some material possessions make my life more enjoyable, but many, however, do not. I like having an expensive private airplane, but owning half a dozens of homes, for example, would be too much of a burden. Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner. I am certainly not the only one indebted to Pakistan. My other billionaire friends such as Sir Anwar Pervez, Sadarud- din Hashwani, Nasir Schon, Haji Abdur Razzaq, Mian Muhammad Mansha, Rafiq Habib, Tariq Sehgal, Dewan Yousuf, Sultan Ali Lakhani, Seth Abid, Mian Muhammad Latif, Jehangir Tareen, Iqbal Z. Ahmed, Bashir A. Tahir, the Dawood family, the Sheikhani family, Behram Avari, Rafiq Rangoonwala, Aqeel Karim Dady, Jehangir Elahi, the Shirazi family, the Noon family, the Shahzad family, the Yunus brothers, the Ghani family, the Sehgal family, and scores of others are equally indebted to our country and its people. It’s time that we realize our duty towards Pakistan. If we are unable to see the imminent consequences of our continued ignorance, I am scared that not only our families but also our businesses will fuel a bloody revolution that is brewing due to poverty, lawlessness, unemployment, corruption, and terrorism. This is a clear warning to land barons, waders, the wealthy, politicians, bureaucrats, and industrialists to shed their sloth and wake up before all is lost and there is no place to hide.

I humbly appeal to my billionaire friends to develop a platform to provide sustainable employment. Today in Pakistan, 90 million youngsters are unemployed, low-income citizens are forced to reduce their consumption of flour by 10 percent, 75 percent of Pakistanis are categorized as poor, and more than 60 million people live below the poverty line. What else could we expect a bloody revolution? Will they not try to slaughter the rich who are living the high life? Will they not set our palatial homes on fire? Will they not destroy our limousines? I have concluded that they will resort to any cruelty to take revenge that would surpass our imaginations. If we do nothing today to pacify their hunger and don’t provide a sustaiable social and economic system, believe you me the day is not far away 14 when they will deprive us of our peaceful sleep and trouble-free lives.

You will agree that the difference between the rich and poor in Pakistan is the same as mountain peaks and the ocean depths. In our country, where more than 60 million people cannot manage to find two meals a day, the rich spend millions of rupees each day on their personal comforts. If we don’t do something to reduce the gap between the rich and poor, the deprived majority will take everything from the fortunate few. Our wealth, our peaceful lives, our comforts, and everything else will be snatched up. Realizing my own responsibilities to our nation, I, therefore, appeal to all our billionaires to step forward with an initial contribution of PKR 50 million for a new fund. This fund will be to help poor Pakistanis living below the poverty line. To replenish the fund as it’s spent, we will need to continue contributing PKR 2 million a month. This is peanuts for us but will make a remarkable difference to the lives of millions. Initially, billions of rupees will be contributed toward this fund to develop a platform for sustainable programs for free food centers, free education, clean water, health and sanitation, and most of all for skills enhancement and basic training centers to prepare the poor to find employment. I am reminded of the famous Chinese proverb: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime”. Our fund will provide immediate relief by establishing hundreds of “Dastarkhwans” throughout Pakistan, where 20 to 30 million poor people can eat each day in dignity. Pakistan’s rural areas desperately need small and mobile hospitals that can provide basic healthcare and medicines to the millions of poor people. Our fund will establish Vocational Training Institutes, where millions of unskilled laborers will be turned into a skilled labor force capable of earning billions in foreign exchange by exporting skilled labor to the West and the Middle East. Through our fund, we can advance small interest-free loans to the poor, like the “Grameen Bank” of Bangladesh, to enable them to earn their own living and create cottage industries. Overall, this small step towards helping others — and in turn ourselves — will change the lives of millions of Pakistanis. We can also use our fund for social change. The fund will be known as “FUND FOR THE PAKISTANI COMMON MAN”. We will be the pioneers of this fund. Our generous contributions will encourage the upper and upper-middle class to contribute as well, as every little contribution helps.

I know the people of my nation, they have a great deal of capacity to do good. We should not hesitate for a moment to contribute towards poverty alleviation. The contributions will be financially supervised and audited by a third-party accredited chartered accountancy firm. We should remember that by helping others, we are only helping ourselves in this world and beyond.

I have no regrets in accepting that our country’s wealthy people sleep in air conditioned bedrooms set at 18 degrees with a comfortable imported blanket, while our workers relentlessly toil in 46 degrees. We are accumulating heaps of wealth, while it’s increasingly difficult for them to feed themselves and their families. These workers not only toil for us under the scorching sun, but also pray for our well-being and our health. But who is praying for their well being and health? Is it not our responsibility to do? Are we not duty bound to look after their well-being and comforts? Hazrat Umer Farooq (R.A) stopped the use of honey and meat under such conditions. Why can’t we share our honey and meat with our country’s poor? A King of France built a palace for himself called the “Chateau de Versailles,” which in those days was the biggest and most expensive ever made. Like us, the emperor used to sleep in the palatial palace, while the poor of France lived a life in the hell of poverty and hunger. Look what happened? The poor, hungry people of France tore the king’s descendants to pieces in front of the very same palace. Will history repeat itself in Pakistan? Are we not sprinting toward the same fate? The fate of the wealthy of Iran in the 1970s is known to everyone. These people used to invite thousands to celebrate the wedding of their dogs. At the same time, the hungry masses of Iran marched on the roads. What was the result? The filthy rich are now embracing death in America and other European countries, and are unable to return to their homeland. They are even trying to be buried in their homeland but cannot? I appeal to my friends to sacrifice a few million. This sacrifice will save you, your business, your wealth, your family, and our beloved country. The other option is that the poor will take everything by force.

Let us appeal to those who have only Rs. 1,000 in their pocket to help those with only Rs. 100 to survive so we all collectively move to save our country from disaster. Our religion propagates that “….. if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the whole humanity (Surah 5, Verse 32)”. I am personally taking a step towards this noble cause by offering a contribution of PKR 50 million. I appeal to all who have become billionaires and millionaires thanks to our country and its people. Let us all step forward collectively for our country to save Pakistan from the fate of a bloody revolution such as in France and Iran.

I request all my friends, in particular those who I’ve mentioned earlier, to form a committee for our fund. This committee should open and operate an independent bank account for this purpose, and share its details to all concerned, to take the first step in a long journey towards eternal peace and prosperity.

MALIK RIAZ HUSSAIN CHAIRMAN BAHRIA TOWN

#Malik Riaz Hussain

0 notes