Don't forget to distribute what you have created. Creation is only half the battle. We have a flawed sense of winning, for us to win some one must loose, it starts early on from school, schools them selves were made in the industrial complex era to manufacture folks who could support said industrial complex and its growth.

We must promote the concept of acquiring/catching other peoples creations vs being shy about it. It's intimidating, to have to rely on others for "their content" "their wisdom" , their "thought process" but you'll "acquire" more knowledge, get more worldly wise and have better outcomes by being in the right place. Meaning if you have an acquirer/catcher mind set you will go out to seek opportunities to catch these nuggets and put your self in situations that allow you to acquire more vs being spoon fed in the traditional schooling style environment .

You should feel intellectually uncomfortable in your peer group and if you don't, you will not be acquiring much. So keep engaging with more intelligent people and those who are further up the chain. They wont loose anything for you to gain something. Similarly if you are in a position to help some one catch some thing from you, go back to the first point.

As you distribute your own outcomes get better. Instead of waiting to be taught, we must all graduate to acquiring.

Outcomes

Most wealthy people in Pakistan are totally out of touch. There is a huge disconnect where they cant relate to the average person any more. But here is the crazy surprising fact, that "they continue to found, own, collaborate, build , 99% of all at scale new ventures in this country"

Not all work. They don't work because they aren't in touch with reality. Board room innovation vs feet on the ground stuff is what determines winning vs loosing outcomes. We will try to use this section as a case-study style breakdown every week.

Maybe that’s why “safe hygienic-corporate distributed milk” burned through hundreds of millions of rupees and didn't work. In 2013 some board room warriors had a seemingly great idea.

A subsidiary of Pakistan’s largest private-sector conglomerate – Engro Corporation – the local foods giant had launched the first Mabrook shop in November 2013. It hoped to tap into Karachi’s gigantic market of loose milk, estimated to be about one million liters a day, using a franchise model. The company was betting on pasteurized form of milk, hoping the hygienically dispensed product would lure urban consumers. But the idea didn’t click.

Heres a run down of what likely went down in the board room "lets provide consumers with a hygienic product while creating a feel of loose milk at the same time to compete with the traditional loose milk suppliers whilst pasteurizing the milk"

On paper this seems like a sane, rational, smart, million dollar idea. But it's not. Why? Because people who are consuming open milk have to transform the way they think, the way the interact with brands and whilst they may be getting more quality for similarly priced product, their own evaluation of their outcomes is what makes stuff like this fail.

The average person thinks they will be paying more, they think there is no way some thing packaged is as good as some thing "open and natural". They feel they have to pay for the brand, they feel that walking in to a cleaner well lit, more organized store is "above their pay grade". People were un able to internalize the branded part of this journey. The same branded part, the corporate warriors and their focus groups likely cheered in their board room sessions.

"Who wouldn't want to come to a cleaner, nicer, store"?

The folks who don't operate in board rooms is the charitable view.

Board room conceptualization only optimized for the companies outcomes, it did not take into account the journey of said milk buying decisions or the outcomes of the person who pays the cash at the traditional store to buy open milk. Their journey is rooted in habit, in familiarity of knowing the seller, of timing and time of necessity over disposable thinking ala changing the direction of their money to experiment on some thing even once and having to own their own decision. So if some one bought the days supply of milk for 100 rupees and the family didn't like it, they don't have an other 100 rs to change that outcome for a few days. No one wants to take risks with their food choices in a country where food security is at an all time low. Only the rich have disposable income and brand movement flexibility.

What tells you volumes about the lack of confidence is the way the company continued to call this a "pilot" from day one. We are so afraid of failure(even our rich), we only plan for the negative press. Every one wants a sure bet.

Engro Foods had launched Mabrook shops after months of planning and research. The company had set aside Rs460 million for the project for marketing, promotion and subsidies (Rs200,000 per outlet) to make up for lower volumes during the first two years. Yet not factoring in the journey, persona and outcomes of their potential clients cost them a pretty penny.

One New Thing (That I Learnt today)

“The father of modern Lahore ", Sir Ganga Ram’s great granddaughter Kesha Ram has become the State Senator of Vermont, in USA. She was sworn in on January 6 2021.

Boring stuff that Scales

The average Pakistani watches TikTok Videos and Youtube for entertainment, shops at Kiryana stores & second hand thrift and is struggling to make rent and basic utility payments.

They do not want faster deliveries or groceries in 10 minutes. They do not have the disposable income to be part of your bullshit powerpoint cohort analysis of the youth bulge ready to download your app.

All of those things should be required experiences in government + industry + trade bodies etc.

We need employment and you can help create it, by starting a boring business today.

The right way to think about this is, higher service, higher interaction, low friction service business. If you are looking at local service business creation you are on the right track. "Build for the rich". They’re growing like crazy, wealth and disparity in income isn't stopping any time soon, and the same people outsource more and DIY less. But they don't outsource to just any one. If you ring some ones door bell you will be promptly escorted by the guards and dogs away from the door.

The reality is, There is a shortage of suppliers in many areas because less people have vocational training or trade skill as they are seen as menial.

Simply put you are competing against reference based workers and mom and pops or people who aren’t really entrepreneurs but have simply created jobs for themselves by showing up or having a skill. They don’t use the latest tech. They don’t implement systems. They don’t have a process, they don't drive trust, there is low accountability.

If you charge a high price but turn around work quickly in a really professional way you can carve out a piece of the pie and have the finances to hire competent employees to help you scale. A lot of providers run off cell phones and single person operations and not seen as reliable, they don’t answer the phone and are booked out and not available when you need them.

Build a small team of free lancers in the home care space for the rich/affluent. No apps, no gimmicks, real personalized service.

Handy Man + Electrician + Plumber + Painter + Cleaner + Gardner. Get a domain name. Make an online site, print business cards, get a Whatsapp business number going. The idea is to pick up small contracts, small jobs initially. But be professional, show up on time, have staff turn up in clean uniforms. Make sure of simple things, like outlook, presentation, washing your hands before touching walls to hand paintings, centering the picture frame on a wall. Having a pencil, having the right tools, understanding instructions well. These things build reputation. They build referrals.

If you want to service the wealthy make sure you value :

1. Their time

2. The power of being told once

3. Doing it right the first time

4. Doing it to their specification vs suggesting cheaper alternatives

5. Their personality and needs based on times of the year

6. Preempting based on their habits and needs

Things to think about in building your small service business. In the US back in the day taxi services worked on CB Radios. A central booker put his number on a card, gave it to every one. Every one called that number when they needed a cab. They then radioed the cabs and the nearest one would go pick up the passenger. Whilst we may marvel at Uber, small town America had the concept of bookers and agents in almost every industry. Think of this as that, you build the standards, the rates, the booking tool, the number and you own the client and over time an army of service professionals list with you. A physical version of the "Angies list"

There is huge value to build a niche business like this for your self that gives you consistent annual cash flow and after your first 2 services to a client offer a monthly subscription.

Monetize your time

If you have 2 potential startup ideas and ....

One is a “big opportunity” and the other "is a problem you have"

Monetize your time by solving your own itch. Odds are if you have the problem, there are at least X 1000 other people on earth who have that problem too, and it’s bigger than you think. So if you must do something, do the simpler stuff that solves for your own issues vs the sexy VC backed type ideas. Small is big.

Made in Pakistan (for all)

Tandoors. So Tandoors are a uniquely Pakistani thing. We must export this beast, package it, put a quality seal around it, export it. Every culture has bread and bakeries, Tandoors and their products are uniquely Pakistani. We have the potential to

1. Create a standard blue print for a tandoor

2. Specify the materials

3. Specify the composition of various Naans(breads) that come out of a tandoor by recipe

4. Create a certification authority

5. Create a manufacturing base around it, with DIY Kits

6. Create media attention and PR around uniquely Pakistani artisanal breads

7. Export it as a point of national pride the same as the champagne or parmigiano reggiano

8. We have to build uniquely Pakistani things and export the whole supply chain even train people to be certified in using a tandoor to make a roti.

One Last Thing (worth the read)