Mind your own business: From auto parts to bangles, young Hyd entrepreneur dreams big

Yasir’s bangles trade has expanded to the UK and UAE.

HYDERABAD:

Abdul Haq Khan alias Yasir was forced to work after his father died of paralysis when he was only 12 years old. Instead of regretting his life's circumstances, Yasir used his early start to work life as a tool and is proudly exporting bangles to UAE, UK and Canada, 19 years later.

Yasir's entrepreneurial journey began from an auto parts shop soon after his father's death. "My father suffered paralysis when I was in class six," he recalls. "So, my brother Abdul Hayee Khan, who was 15 years old at that time, and I had no choice but to run the shop to support our family."

This incident shifted Yasir's focus from academics to business development but the 31-year-old proudly adds that he managed to complete his undergraduate studies in 2004, after merely a three-year lag. "For over four years, I was solely engaged with the auto parts shop," says Yasir. "But, I kept thinking about venturing into other fields to expand the business."

Business idea

The much-needed opportunity came his way during one of his frequent visits to Lahore, Gujranwala and Gujrat, where he travelled to buy auto parts for his shop. "I discovered that there was an unexplored market for Hyderabadi glass bangles," he says. Thus began Yasir's entrepreneurial career at a young age of 17 years.

His brother gave him Rs200,000 to start his business that he used to buy several sets of glass bangles from the Churi Parah locality near Faqir Jo Pirh in downtown Hyderabad. This is the area where hundreds of bangles manufacturing, colouring and designing units are based.



This marked a shift from Yasir's trade in cast-iron and unsightly auto parts to delicate and exquisite bangles. He sold these sets of bangles in different cities of the Punjab. The turnover, which got cracking from Rs200,000, grew to Rs1.2 million in just over three years.

Expansion plans

As he continued to travel across to the Punjab to sell his bangles, Yasir developed an interest in exporting them. In 2005, he took a six-month diploma in Import Export Management from Skill Development Council in Karachi.

The following month in July 2005, he registered his company as Taj Classic Bangles, obtained an export licence and also secured a purchase order. "I sent my first shipment of 862 packets to Florida, US," he remembers.

Each packet consisted of 20 dozens sets of 12 glass bangles and was sold at $6 against the cost of $2, which included shipment, taxes and bribes. To meet the order, Yasir hired a colouring and design unit, which was owned by a young boy, Navaid, in Churi Parah for Rs60,000 for 10 days. "Despite some bureaucratic obstacles, the profit I made was really reassuring."

In the following two years, the company kept getting irregular orders from the US, UK and Canada but the growth that Yasir desired remained elusive as his earnings were also occasional.

Turning point

In 2007, Yasir was introduced to the team of Shell Tameer during a seminar at the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and this meeting proved to be another turning point for the young businessman. The programme, which makes young entrepreneurs familiar with a range of management, marketing and financial skills, was something that helped make Yasir's bangles more attractive to the foreign market.

"Our aim is to assist young people explore the possibility of starting their own business," explains Imran Azeem, the training and development manager at Shell Tameer. His team found an unusual potential in Yasir. "He learnt to confront and overcome challenges at an early age," says Azeem. "We just equipped him with the finesse that he needed to expand his business and to venture into other realms."

Yasir says the training helped him improve the packaging and marketing of bangles, which led to an increase in foreign orders. "My annual earnings were limited to a few hundred thousand rupees but, with better application of trade techniques, I increased them to millions of rupees."

In the years that followed, Yasir has added several other items, such as artificial jewellery, men's and women's wear, bridal wear and sanitary, to his export list. At present, his bangles find the largest market in the UAE while he bags the highest profit margin from the UK market.

"We have turned into a business family with my three brothers and the youngest sister looking after different areas of responsibility," he says.

Developing enterprises for the youth of Pakistan is meeting a significant need by providing alternative career options and helping individuals achieve socio-economic stability. Shell Tameer is working with its partners to transform young people into entrepreneurs that are not only self sufficient but who catalyse sustainable social development within their own communities. Join Shell Tameer to create opportunities for the youth of Pakistan by contributing generously to any of the following enterprise development funds. Your contributions will be matched by Shell.

For SOS Technical Training Institute Enterprise Development Fund: Account No. 01-1334859-02 Shell Livewire Trust - SOS Technical Training Institute. Standard Chartered Bank.

For The Hunar Foundation Enterprise Development Fund: Account No. 01-1334859-01 SHELL LIVEWIRE TRUST - The Hunar Foundation Technical Institutes. Standard Chartered Bank.

Visit our website,
www.shell.com/pk for information about our partners and how you can support them.

*Contributions will be matched only during Ramazan 2014 to a maximum of 100 trades per organisation

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2014.