• Psychological Approach:

• We have understood by now that the entrepreneur is not a common person. He has a typical personality
with creative, managerial and imaginative skill who can innovate and contribute positively to an industrial
project. This kind of personality develops in a person who has strong motivation for achievement.
• David McClelland, the greatest exponent of the psychological approach to entrepreneurship, is of the view
that the genesis and performance of entrepreneurs requires strong motivation for achievement. The
achievement motivation, according to McClelland, is a function of child rearing practices in a society.
• Unlike the sociological approach which asserts that the existing social structure determines
entrepreneurship and economic development, the psychological approach seeks to find out how the social
structure affects the attitude of the people of a society. Areas like entrepreneurial commitments,
tendency of saving and investment and business management have been usually covered by the studies
carried out by psychol­ogists.
• Collins, Moore and others have examined a sub-category of business leaders. Their study of innovating
entrepreneurs revealed that many of their subjects had experienced childhood poverty and disrupted
family lives which stimulated strong motivations for personal achievements.
• John H. Kunkel questioned the validity of many psycho-dynamic concepts and principles and the unresolved
controversy surrounding the role of social structure and person­ality in the process of economic
development. He propounds the behavioural approach as an alternative.
• Joseph Schumpeter, the first to offer a systematic interpre­tation of entrepreneurship, had psychological
perspective in his mind when he said that the entrepreneur possesses energy of will and mind to
overcome fixed habits of thought and the capacity to withstand social opposition.
McClelland’s Theory of Needs (Power, Achievement, and
Affiliation)
• The need for achievement as the name itself suggests is the urge to achieve
something in what you do. If you are a lawyer it is the need to win cases and be
recognized, if you are a painter it is the need to paint a famous painting. It is the
need that drives a person to work and even struggle for the objective that he
wants to achieve. People who possess high achievement needs are people who
always work to excel by particularly avoiding low reward low-risk situations and
difficult to achieve high-risk situations
• Such people avoid low-risk situations because of the lack of a real challenge and
their understanding that such achievement is not genuine. They also avoid high-
risk situations because they perceive and understand it to be more about luck
and chance and not about one’s own effort. The more the achievements they
make the higher their performance because of higher levels of motivation
• Need For Power
• The need for power is the desire within a person to hold control and authority over
another person and influence and change their decision in accordance with his own
needs or desires. The need to enhance their self-esteem and reputation drives these
people and they desire their views and ideas to be accepted and implemented over
the views and ideas over others.
• These people are strong leaders and can be best suited to leading positions. They
either belong to Personal or Institutional power motivator groups. If they are a
personal power motivator they would have the need to control others and an
institutional power motivator seeks to lead and coordinate a team towards an end.
• The individuals motivated by the need for power have a desire to control and influence
others. Competition motivates them and they enjoy winning arguments. Status and
recognition is something they aspire for and do not like being on the losing side.
• They are self-disciplined and expect the same from their peers and teams. They do not
mind playing a zero-sum game, where, for one person to win, another must lose and
collaboration is not an option. This motivational type is accompanied by needs for
personal prestige, and better personal status.
• Need For Affiliation
• The need for affiliation is the urge of a person to have interpersonal and social
relationships with others or a particular set of people. They seek to work in
groups by creating friendly and lasting relationships and has the urge to be liked
by others. They tend to like collaborating with others to competing with them
and usually avoids high-risk situations and uncertainty
• The individuals motivated by the need for affiliation prefer being part of a group.
They like spending their time socializing and maintaining relationships and
possess a strong desire to be loved and accepted. These individuals stick to basics
and play by the books without feeling a need to change things, primarily due to a
fear of being rejected
• Need For Power
• The need for power is the desire within a person to hold control and authority over
another person and influence and change their decision in accordance with his own
needs or desires. The need to enhance their self-esteem and reputation drives these
people and they desire their views and ideas to be accepted and implemented over
the views and ideas over others.
• These people are strong leaders and can be best suited to leading positions. They
either belong to Personal or Institutional power motivator groups. If they are a
personal power motivator they would have the need to control others and an
institutional power motivator seeks to lead and coordinate a team towards an end.
• The individuals motivated by the need for power have a desire to control and influence
others. Competition motivates them and they enjoy winning arguments. Status and
recognition is something they aspire for and do not like being on the losing side.
• They are self-disciplined and expect the same from their peers and teams. They do not
mind playing a zero-sum game, where, for one person to win, another must lose and
collaboration is not an option. This motivational type is accompanied by needs for
personal prestige, and better personal status.
ECONOMIC APPROACH
• Entrepreneurship is very much in the air today, with the present times seeming to
be an age of entrepreneurship (Becker et al., 2012) with somehow the idea of
entrepreneurship appearing to fire the imagination of everyone, especially the
youth with a good education.
• The origin of entrepreneurship is traced to very ancient times of the Egyptian
pyramids (Hisrich et al., 2016).
• Entrepreneurship stands for ‘achievement’ achieving something new and
tangible.
• It is production of wealth-goods and services and promotion of social welfare.
• Nowadays, it implies more, such as the environmental protection and ethical
and value based businesses.
• It is being at the edge of something new and novel, and advancing the modern
civilization to new heights, from necessaries to comforts to luxuries to super-
luxuries and beyond as establishing space colonies (Ahmed, 2016a).
•
•.
• “The word entrepreneur is French and literally
translated, means ‘between-taker’ or go between”
(Hisrich et al., 2019).
• More appropriately, an entrepreneur, whose
business is entrepreneurship is a “go-getter”, the
person who moves the business world forward
and making it more productive, cost efficient,
economical and abundant. Entrepreneurship is
dynamic risktaking, creative growth-oriented
behavior.
• And “An entrepreneur is willing to pursue opportunities in
situations others view as problems or threats” (Schermerhorn
Jr, 2008).
• In the history of entrepreneurship, a very important name is
Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1883-1950), who at the beginning of
the 20th century had propounded a profound theory or model
of entrepreneurship, which is regarded as a breakthrough in
entrepreneurship theory (Boyle, 2017).
• Schumpeter’s entrepreneurship model is credited to be a
dynamic one, which is associated with Innovations of new
products and processes.

•
• In a dynamic economic setting, interest in economic
development is never failing. How does the Schumpeterian
help economic development? What is the essence of
entrepreneurship, according to Schumpeter?
• Economic development is known to be a function of land,
labor, capital and organization or entrepreneurship, as the
factors of production of goods and services, the total of which
makes up GDP-Gross Domestic Product.
• Among the factors of production, the entrepreneurship
factor, according to Schumpeter, has a seeming ‘midas-touch’
the entrepreneurship factor is the most active and dynamic
one, which has an ‘innovative’ trait-which no other factor of
production has.
• ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
• Economic development or growth is for-ever
increase in national and per-capita income which
are the sources of consumption and human
welfare (Kindelberger, 1977).
• The imperatives of economic development are as
population growth, poverty unemployment, and
economic inequalities. Economic development is
human transfer for nation from a state of low
consumption to high consumption, and from
poverty to plenty.
• “….. Schumpeter’s analysis offers penetrating analysis
into the dynamics of the capitalist system. In fact, the
two concepts of “Innovation” and “Entrepreneur”
which he evolved have now become powerful tools to
interpret the process of economic development in the
earlier phases of capitalism” (Misra & Puri, 1983).
• Thus, in the factors of land, labor, capital and
organization or Entrepreneurship comes to occupy
central place in the process of production and economic
development in the Schumpeterian system.
• SCHUMPETER ENTREPRENEURSHIP
• In the history of entrepreneurship, Schumpeter’s
entrepreneurship appears to be a turning point (Schumpeter,
1949). For, Schumpeter’s entrepreneurship is more than
entrepreneurship of simply up setting businesses and running
them successfully or probably which is statics or stagnant view of
entrepreneurship.
• The source of Schumpeter’s theory is his classic text, The Theory
of Economic Development that heralded a new era of economic
development through entrepreneurship. According to this, the
free enterprise system is quite enterprising and dynamic, forever
scaling higher and higher heights of business through new
products and services (Ghannajeh et al., 2015; Ahmed, 2016c).
• Entrepreneurship is the engine of growth, and
represents a stream of Innovations.
• “Schumpeter emphasized the role of the innovator-be-,
the innovator, the developer, the promoter, the person
who initiates and recognizes technical improvements
and who succeeds in getting them introduced”
(Samuelson, 1980).
• The inventor in business terms is the entrepreneur
whose function is entrepreneurship, which is the spring
of all business innovations and improvements, and the
main source economic development (Samuelson, 1980).
•
• Thus, the sequence of economic development is entrepreneur
entrepreneurship innovations business and economic
development.
• Innovate or perish is ‘Schumpeter’s ideology.
• The reward for entrepreneurship is profit. In the entrepreneurs,
“...there is the will to conquer the impulse to fight, to prove
oneself superior to others, to succeed for the sake, not of the
fruits of success, but of success itself… or simply of exercising
one’s energy or ingenuity” (Schumpeter 1969).
• Further, it is noted, “Because being an entrepreneur is not a
profession and as a result not a lasting condition,
entrepreneurs do not form a social class in the technical sense,
as, for example, land owners or capitalists or workman do.
• The soul of Schumpeterian entrepreneurship is
innovation (s), which is “The introduction of
something new-a new idea, method or device”.
Innovation is the key to the economic
development of any company, region of the
country, or country itself.
• As technologies change, old products decrease in
scales and old industries dwindle.
• Inventions and innovators are the building blocks of
the future of any economic unit.
• Thomas Edison reportedly said that innovative genius is “1 per cent
inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration” (Hisrich et al., 2019).
Innovation keep enterprises flouting and advancing (Peters, 1997).
• The companies must be on forever look out for new business
opportunities of new factors, processes, products are (Drucker, 1999).
The rewards for entrepreneurial efforts of organization and
innovation is profit and public acclaim.
• But, the Schumpeterian entrepreneur is not simply an Economic,
Management or Home Entrepreneurs (O’Boyle, 2017).
• That is, entrepreneurs are not just moved by profit motive as there
are higher and non-peculiar values behind entrepreneurial
accomplishments and innovations. There may be higher values of
accomplishment, social welfare and poverty eradication or helping
the poor.
• DYNAMIC AND CREDIT FINANCE
• Schumpeterian entrepreneurship which is associated with innovations, which
are changes in overtime of raw materials’, machinery, labor and finances,
products etc., is quite an active or dynamic concept. It stands for creativity and
change.
• “Entrepreneurship is dynamic risk-taking creative, growth oriented behavior”
(Schermerhorn & Bachrach, 2020).
• It stands for change over time and space Entrepreneurship changes
organizational picture from time-to-time (Ahmed, 2016b).
• Innovation is the process of taking a new idea and putting it into practice and
innovations pertain to every aspect of business, namely, processes, products,
organization, etc.
•
• Entrepreneurship in Schumpeter’s system, is greatly facilitated
by bank credit (Mishra & Puri, 1991; Puri & Misra, 1995), banks
or commercial being the reservoirs of public deposits and
Purveyors of to all productive enterprises.
• There are, therefore, no financial hurdles to entrepreneurship
and implementation of its innovations.
• Significantly, according to Schumpeter, financing
entrepreneurs and their enterprises and innovations is
financing economic development and thereby employment
and income growth that result in higher consumption and
welfare (Schumpeter 1934)
• (Schumpeter, 1934). As well expressed by AdelSchumpeterian
Entrepreneurship, in sum, is an agent of economic and business
change through a stream of innovations or inventions and
improvements, which are multi-dimensionaltechnical, organizational,
products, marketing, etc. man, “…. Like the Marxian Capitalist, who
accumulates for the sake of accumulation, the Schumpeterian
innovator innovates, at least in part, of the sake of innovating”.
(Adelman, 1961).
• According to Schumpeter Capitalism and Democracy have eternal
springs of development mainly in the form of entrepreneurs
(Schumpeter’s, 1942). The Schumpeterian theory is very much in
evidence in the operation of business, small, medium and large,
which is forever at business improvements to add to their revenues,
profits and market valuation.
SOCIOLOGICAL
APPROACH
•  Sociological Approach:

•The sociological approach to the study of

entrepreneurship deals with social and cultural
factors responsible for the nature and growth
of entrepreneurship development in a society.
It attempts to understand as to why a social
structure and culture facilitates or inhibits
entrepreneurial development. It believes that
laws of development lie in the social structure
and culture of a region.
• It tries to seek answer to the question, why one segment of social structure
produces larger number of entrepreneurs than the other. For example, it is mainly
the Samurai community that could rise to entrepreneurship during the Meiji
regime in Japan.
• Max Weber, Cocharan, Young, Hoselitz and Hagen are prominent among the
scholars known for sociological interpre­tation of entrepreneurial development.
• Max Weber’s thesis is that Protestantism, and not Catholicism, could help
generate entrepreneurship and modern capitalism.
• The traditional social structures; the caste and the joint family which were
essential attributes of the Hindu society, according to Weber, have been
detrimental to the process of entrepreneurial growth. Kapp (1963) also holds the
Hindu culture and Hindu social organization responsible for slow pace of
development and suggests that “a lasting solution of the problem can be found
only by a gradual but systematic transformation of India’s social system, world
view and the level of personal aspirations”.
• The Parsonian model of development, best known as ideal-typical approach to
entrepreneurship and development, relates to his popular schema of pattern
variables.
• B.F. Hoselitz used the Parsonian model of pattern variables to explain how
entrepreneurship development is a function of socio-cultural changes known as
modernization.
• Hoselitz uses three of the five pattern alternatives given by Parsons which
according to him are applicable to the problem of development:
1. the choice between modalities of the social object (achievement vs
ascription),
2. the choice between types of value orientation standards (universalism vs.
particularism) and
3. the definition of scope of interest in the object (specificity vs. diffuseness).
• The backward economies, according to Hoselitz, exhibit usually a lack of reliance
on achievement as a norm for acquiring economic goods.
• Achievement-oriented behaviour is however not fully absent but exists only in
limited cases.
• Distribution of economic goods in primitive societies and also in medieval
societies has been typical example of ascriptive way of distri­bution pattern.
• The advanced societies, on the other hand, exhibit the norms of achievement-
oriented behaviour. In such societies, there is system of formal education and
vocational and professional training.
• The second characteristic of underdeveloped economies is the prevalence of
particularism in the distribution of economi­cally relevant tasks among
performers.
• Particularistic pattern of distribution has been prevalent, for example, in the
traditional Indian caste system. The advanced societies have universalistic i.e.,
rational approach to the allocation of resources.
• Again, it is to be emphasized that both these variables do not exist in
the respective societies in their pure forms.
• The movement of society is seen from particularistic to universalistic
system as it moves from backward to advanced economy.
• Sir Henry Maine has also postulated this movement with different
terminology and that is from ‘status to contract’.
• Thirdly, in the backward societies, economic activities are quite diffuse.
• It is so because of the fact that there is a low level of development of
division of labour. Partly it is the result and, at the same time, cause of
the low level of productivity.
• Thus, the specialization of tasks and the finer division of labour require
the development of principle of specificity and rational allocation of
roles.
• ”.
• Specificity is the outcome of rational planning, the result of the
combined application of the principles of universalism and
achievement as the norm to economically relevant social
situations.
• Hoselitz concludes that the analysis of social structural aspects
of the differentiation between “advanced” and
“underdeveloped” economies leads us to conclude that we
expect the former to exhibit predominantly universalistic
norms in determining the selection process for the attainment
of economically relevant roles; that the roles themselves are
functionally highly specific; that the predom­inant norms by
which the selection process for those roles is regulated are
based on the principle of achievement, or “perfor­mance
• In an underdeveloped society, on the contrary, particularism,
functional diffusion and the principle of ascription predominate as
regulators of social structural relations especially in its economic
aspects and the orientation of actors in economically or politically
influential roles is deter­mined predominantly by considerations of
their ego.
• Cocharan is of the view that entrepreneurial development depends
to a substantial degree on cultural factors.
• According to him, patterns of child rearing and family life
determine the personality patterns. Frank W. Young, in his
‘Mediation Model’ of entrepreneurial activity, points out that the
entrepreneurial attributes show up in individuals as a result of
particular family background and as a reflection of general cultural
values.
• Entre­preneurial characteristics, such as the ability to make new combinations of
factors of production, managerial skill perception of opportunity, risk-taking,
inventiveness and achievement motivation are not merely a pale reflection of
these antecedent conditions; they constitute an independent causal factor
mediating between structural factors and consequent economic development.
• E.E. Hagen opined that the traditional authoritarian social structure inhibits the
growth of personality with entrepreneurial talent.
• His thesis is that an entrepreneur is a creative problem-solver with innovative
temperament interested in things in the practical and technological realm and
driven by a sense of duty to achieve.
• Modern democratic system is more conducive to the development of innovative
behaviour.
• According to him, they are more prone to taking up entrepre­neurship as a career
whose existing social status has been denigrated in the course of historical
change.
• MAJOR CHALLENGES FACING THE ENTREPRENEURS IN PAKISTAN
• While talking about the culture of entrepreneurship in Pakistan, one is bound to look at the problems and
obstacles coming in the way of young entrepreneurs. For people who know Pakistan for its major issues,
ranging from Taliban to Mullanas, where there is large scale corruption taking place in different sectors of the
government and economy, a country whose currency is too low in terms of the US dollar, people often find it
funny to even consider the idea of startup in Pakistan, that too at a young age. Yes, these problems do prevail
in the country. Pakistan has been on the pages of media around the world, while referring to bad governance
and economy.
• With so much going on the minds of entrepreneurs, regarding the economic problems prevailing in the country,
it has been made quite hard for them to focus on and helping out the young entrepreneurs of Pakistan. It has
been a real struggle to attract foreign investors. When a new entrepreneur steps into the market, he/she has to
go through a lot of issues that come their way. It is no piece of cake to start a new company in Pakistan, keeping
in mind its present standing. Following are some major problems faced by the young entrepreneurs of Pakistan.
• Social constraints:
The first and most popular problem which is usually dealt with is the social constraint, or to be more precise,
the sort of culture system which prevails in Pakistan. The youth is expected to be completely family oriented.
Even though the society today supports education and is quite liberal in comparison with old times, but
there are still some things which are not acceptable at any cost. This comes as a challenge for kids today.
Parents have a say and not just a say, almost full control over the decisions in their children’s life, especially
regarding their career choice. Since, they are the ones, who finance the startups of their children. The
pressure to settle down early in their lives, in terms of marriage, kids and family, lessens space for taking any
risks in life.
• Education bureaucracy:
The n there is another issue which is called the education bureaucracy, faced by the emerging entrepreneurs of the
country. Most universities in Pakistan are being maintained with the help coming from HEC. The teachers are not
concerned with the possibility of a concept being commercially supported; rather all they care about is the
theoretical standing of it. Professors lack the quality of recognizing and realizing the importance of competition
among the students, in terms of entrepreneurship. Their major aim is to complete the course within the given time,
practical implication of things do not matter to them. This stops possible young entrepreneurs to introduce new
ideas and come forward with better innovations in the economic sector of Pakistan.
• Lack of flexibility:
There is one other issue, which is that the young entrepreneurs go by a set of rules, which is formulated with the
help of a business plan. This idea stops them from experiencing new waves, there is no room for risks, therefore
flexibility is nowhere to be seen. This tends to put them in a state which is rather twisted. The thinking of most
young entrepreneurs is usually what comes in their way to success; they spend so much time in thinking of ways to
seem successful, rather than actually working towards and being successful.
• Successful entrepreneurs not helping:
The people of Pakistan are very much busy and involved in their own lives, be it work or family. The different
organizations which are present in Pakistan, and are so called helping to form new companies, are not really doing
what they claim to do. The young entrepreneurs who are planning to introduce themselves and their startup in the
market, are let down by some of the known names, signaling that they are not going to survive the market pressure.
This leads to discouragement of a huge group of young people, who would have considered entering
entrepreneurship. References work big time in Pakistan, if you want to get something done, or even if you want to
bring about new things in the market, you have to have a link, otherwise get ready to head home disappointed. This
is not the case in foreign countries, which are in true sense developed countries, they do take out the time to reply
people who are in need of help, or who want to experience the life of an entrepreneur out of passion.
10 Challenges Faced By the Startup Culture in Pakistan
• f there is anything that can change the world, it is start-ups. Think about it, you use an app for transport, to gossip
with your best friend, to have chicken tikkas delivered to your doorstep and even for bagging a romantic interest.
• By that token, isn’t it fair to assume that start-ups could also help tackle more macro-level issues of hunger, education
and inequality? Apps such as NoFoodWaste from the Netherlands and MyStudyLife from United Kingdom are tackling
issues of hunger and education already and Pakistan must follow suit.
• The start-up culture has witnessed somewhat of a renaissance in Pakistan with more initiatives and investors entering
into the arena. In 2015, many new start-ups mushroomed but due to a lack of efforts and quality initiatives, a number
of initiatives plummeted by next year. We continue to face a dearth of angel investors, seed funds and venture capital
along with a number of other challenges that we’ll explore further.
• Currently, Pakistan has a total of 11 incubators in four major cities, 4 accelerators and a total of 723 start-ups. Only a
small percentage of these are funded and even despite being funded, they continue to face many challenges. A good
example is zameen.com, the real estate app that failed to live up its vision of revolutionizing the real estate market in
Pakistan and resorted to focusing on short-term monetary goals.
• If there is one thing that makes me hopeful regarding the future of Pakistan, it is the Pakistani youth. Two thirds of
Pakistan’s population is below 30 years of age and according to UNDP, 23 % of them want to embark on the
entrepreneurial path. Truth is that we’re famished for change and the only way we can navigate is upwards.
• Undoubtedly, Pakistan, with its many idiosyncrasies has a long way to go before it can streamline start up success. It
is an endeavor that requires an evolution of mindsets across the institutions of family, social values, education, law,
business and politics. Let’s explore these issues in detail.
•3
• 1) Cultural Beliefs – Parenting and educational system.
• US based billionaire Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, a women’s apparel company achieved billionaire status in her
early thirties. Before innovating the figure-flattering brand of inner wear, Sara blakely “failed” many times but
always persevered to try again until she was successful. She attributes her tenacity to her father’s unique
philosophy of failure. He would ask all his children at the dinner table what they had failed at that day,
destigmatising and redefining failure as not the final destination but an essential to taking risks, persistently as
to inculcate values of true entrepreneurship. Sadly, in our part of the world, most people in positions of power
(parents, teachers, managers) have a little to zero tolerance attitude towards failure. If a child quits a job, fails at a
business or a gets divorced, he is often dubbed as “failure” with a capital F. Most people in our culture do not
realize that failure is an inevitable part of life and is better than not trying at all as it educates one with a
wealth of learning. We need to not only accept but encourage risk-taking behavior as failure has always lead to
more opportunities than inertia ever will. We, as a society must de-stigmatize and redefine failure.
• 2) Spending Habits
• As a culture that spends ludicrous amounts on weddings, food and other forms of unnecessary material luxury,
we need to rethink about how and where we like to spend. Are we spending on assets that will build the
community or liabilities that will deteriorate with time? We must also rethink the opportunity cost on society and
the economy. Belonging from a developing country, which is in dire need of institution and industry building, we
must be more conscientious of spending on business start ups that will build job opportunities, empower the
masses and meet societal needs and wants. The common man should be concerned with his influence on society,
economy and ultimately the nation rather accumulating products.
• Just imagine how great it’d be if the neighboring aunty probed you on how your start up was doing or how you
were bettering the world rather than “when are you getting married?”
• ) Educational System
• The foundations of entrepreneurial thinking must be embedded in the youth
from primary school level to secondary, higher education and professional life
level. From an early level, the curriculum must be such that promotes chance-
taking, critical thinking, community building and cooperation. It means that if a
student fails at Math, teachers must investigate the cause. Perhaps the student is
a visual learner as opposed to one that learns simply by lectureship. Or perhaps
the child is excellent at art or music and his focus must be diverted towards those
fields. This also creates opportunity for more diversity in industry.
A student’s talents must be recognized and nurtured from a young age instead of
dubbing him as an inept or as a “failure”
• At college or university level, original thinking must be encouraged instead of a
blasé “copy-paste” culture, which is the status quo at many Pakistani institutes.
Institutions must also appoint teachers based on merit, who have in depth and
sound knowledge of their subject and who encourage students to learn
independent thinking and entrepreneurial values.
• – Quality Teachers
• Institutes must appoint teachers based on merit who are able to impart quality knowledge
and an original thinking ability in students. Teachers must also remain relevant to the course
that they are teaching and not try to inculcate personal dogmatic beliefs in students’ minds. I
remember during my Business Administration degree, one Advertising teacher would astray
from the topic at hand and scare students with his pseudo-premonitions of some midget-like
species that he professed were going to soon inhabit the country. Needless to say, I took zero
interest in that course, even though I find advertising quite interesting.
• 4) Entrepreneurship courses across all levels and fields
• Higher education organizations and workplaces should offer mandatory entrepreneurship
courses and electives that inculcate leadership via practical learning. I believe that these
courses should not only be available to business students but also to students of medicine,
development, science, engineering, art and media. A varied group of specialists must be able
to set up their own initiatives in an overly saturated job market. Universities should also
invest in setting up incubation centers that produce entrepreneurs and not just employees.
With LUMS and NUST taking the lead in pioneering incubation centers, it is expected that a
total of 9 Pakistani institutions will have their own incubation centers including PIFD and
Comsats. Workplaces must also encourage independent thinking as opposed to a totally
authoritarian leadership style.
• 5) Expectations of “A Gatsby lifestyle” by Entrepreneurs
• Many young entrepreneurs expect that starting up a business would be akin to
winning the lottery. They envisage throwing fancy parties and taking trips abroad.
While that may become a reality down the line, setting up an enterprise is a
painful and unglamorous process that involves around the clock hours and a lot
of blood, sweat and tears. It is similar to being pregnant. Entrepreneurs must be
able to sacrifice many of life’s luxuries in the initial stages if they want to see long
term gain. If you want quick money, become an employee but if you want to
make a significant impact on the world, and hopefully earn much more over time,
become an entrepreneur.
• 6) Incubators and accelerators.
• Even though it is encouraging to see the role of incubators and accelerators in aiding
start ups, there are many flaws with the current incubator system. Incubation center
training is analogous to teaching a child how to stand but then leaving him in a jungle
with all sorts of wild animals and only a bag of gold to survive (while expecting him to
thrive). It’s not enough to heavily fund start-ups whilst overlooking management
counseling, inculcating a vision, offering a strong business plan and teaching financial
acumen.
• – Meritocracy in Mentorship
• Incubators must also appoint mentors with technical knowledge in the particular
industry that they are mentoring. Some incubation institutions in Pakistan have also
become stained with self-interest and politics. They practice nepotism and inefficiency
when only true meritocracy can elevate the start up culture in Pakistan.
• – Company Law
• Incubators also hold the responsibility of partnering up with legal advisors to help
startups with IP protections, Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Taxation Laws and Coany
incorporation.
• 7) Lack of Legal/Public Support
• The regulatory framework in Pakistan is too complex and over cautionary. There are over-complicated
laws that need to be decrypted to make them startup friendly. Usually private law firms are needed to
find solutions but law firms are too expensive and most startups lack funds to hire them. It is advised
that the government simplify procedures and run awareness campaigns to support and sustain the start-
up culture. It is proposed to restore the one-window solution service to address infancy-stage problems.
It is suggested to create a helpdesk liaison between government and private sector departments to have
a one-stop shop for business solutions.
• Private sector is also encouraged to take part in a conceptual framework on policies, taxation, stock
options, regulations with collaborations with the government.
• 8) Lack of research and market analysis before launching.
• Many young and naïve entrepreneurs launch a business without testing their product or service or
carrying sufficient market research to determine whether their product would carry a validated market
opportunity with customers willing to pay for it. Sometimes they emulate an idea that worked in a
foreign market, without considering socio-cultural elements or educating the audience regarding how it
could be applied locally. Other times many start-ups apply the same copy-paste culture that they used in
their university assignments by photocopying another start-up’s model. For example when Naan Stop
launched the concept of pizza naan’s, at least 8 other renditions with their variations of the same
concept, with a name that rhymed with naan, popped up across Islamabad. While it was good to see
young hopefuls jump into the start up scene, perhaps more originality would’ve won them more luck in
the long run. Pakoras with pepperoni and cheese filling, maybe?
• 9) Focus on Money VS Team Building
• Many new entrepreneurs focus on money too soon whereas in the initial stages, more focus
should be on team building, brand building and product/service streamlining. Money can be
raised via multiple sources however a dedicated, motivated and talented team of people who
would work with passion and commitment is difficult to find. The right team can make you
grow exponentially and the wrong team can have you stuck at best and bankrupt at worst.
Entrepreneurs should focus on building a quality product/service and company environment in
the short run as opposed to expecting a lot of ROI, from the get go. However, this varies form
industry to industry.
• 10) Lack of a Proper Exit Strategy.
• There must be a framework for investors and start-ups to seamlessly exit their investment at
maturity. Crowd funding platforms are a very promising funding resource that could be tapped
into order to raise investments funds by the public and build communities instead of large
investments from traditional investors, with a long list of caveats. Angel investment platforms
can also be set to tackle this.
• I believe that by employing the above mentioned techniques, Pakistan could inch closer to
creating a culture more conducive of entrepreneurship, however, on a more personal level, one
must also discern whether he or she is cut out to embark on the transformative journey of
being an entrepreneur which can be much more challenging than regular employment.