At your doorstep: Another reason to stay home

Five fresh graduates launch one-of-its-kind delivery service in the city.

PESHAWAR: A group of enterprising young entrepreneurs have started a one-of-its-kind home delivery service in the city.

‘Dar e Wro’ was recently launched by five MBA graduates of the Institute of Management Sciences – Obaid Jan, Tahir Afridi, Ali Khan, Zahid and Abdul Wajid – with the slogan: ‘delivering your needs at your doorstep at a cost of just Rs100’.

“We provide a host of services ranging from getting an appointment with the doctor to picking up clothes from the tailor, delivering medicines from the market, submitting admission forms or collecting a prospectus from educational institutes,” said Obaid, adding these were the most common orders they had received so far.



“After completing our studies, neither one of us could get a government job, nor did we have enough money to start a business,” he told The Express Tribune. “After several weeks of brainstorming, we came up with the idea to provide services to people at their doorstep in return for a small fee.”

Obaid said delivery services were in great demand in cities like Peshawar due to routine traffic problems and security fears preventing people from stepping out of their homes.

“We have received a very good response from the public within 10 days of launching our venture. On average, we get around 30 orders per day, 50% of which are from previous customers which shows people have confidence in our service,” said Abdul Wajid.

Wajid said they were fully dedicated to their venture and worked round the clock. He added they were confident their business will gain a better footing in the market with time.

When questioned about the process of registering their business, all five partners criticised the government for claiming to support new entrepreneurs but not acting upon the assertions.

“We visited the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry. However, they refused to register our organisation saying we did not have a national tax number and sent us back,” said Tahir Afridi.

“The marketing process for Dar e Wro was not easy either as we did not have the money to hire an advertising agency or publish advertisements in newspapers,” recalled Tahir. “Our aim was to arouse curiosity so we hired some labourers, dressed them in colourful uniforms and made them stand around the busy squares of the city for a few days. After a week, we distributed pamphlets among passersby and at people’s houses. We received a tremendous response.”

Content with what they have achieved, the fresh graduates said others like them should be encouraged to start their own enterprises rather than waiting for job opportunities to come their way.

The business currently operates through telephone [phone](2/3) while a website is also on the cards.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2013.