Hajra Naz
Pakistan is setting up its footprint in the new age of information technology. Pakistani co-working space, incubators are creating some fantastic startups that have received international recognition and are growing fast but still a lot needs to be done at the major cities level.
It is nearly impossible for people to create a big impact, and taste huge success all on their own. Opening a new business and thinking you will be the master of all jack of none and do amazing all by yourself without any mentorship usually ends up a disaster.
Many startups still believe they can’t afford mentorship as it yields no results and is a mere waste of time. This is pure because there is not enough knowledge spread all across Pakistan about the importance of startup accelerators, co-working spaces,s and incubators.
The startups do not envision the problems and stumbling blocks that lie ahead of them when they go solo. This approach has seen many startups flop and fall at different stages of growth, simply because of a lack of vision, guidance, and the lack of road map.
Entrepreneurship is all about fueling your vision with dreams and steadily moving forward with a goal plan. That is exactly where the startup accelerators come into play, they nurture you, they help you grow with proper guidance, and most importantly, they define your action plan for the future.
Startup accelerators and co-working spaces are growing huge in popularity all over the world. The success of a few startups all over the world, especially in silicon valley has determined how important these working spaces are, not just for the growth of startups and help them achieve success but also for an industry’s ecosystem
The working trend is changing fast, more people are inclined towards entrepreneurship than ever before, partly because of the success of the few startups and how quickly they have succeeded with their passion and grown.
According to Micromentor, mentored business increased their revenue by 83% as compared to 16% of the business that was not mentored. Also, an interesting fact stated is, 83% of the mentored business survived while 74% of non-mentored businesses survived so there is a significant difference here and the stats are self-explanatory.
In Pakistan Plan9, Nest IO is doing a great job in mentoring startups and giving them all the tools, and vision to succeed at the next level and grow their business. A well-mentored startup empowers more people in society as it grows as compared to a non-mentored startup.
The startup wave in Pakistan needs to benefit from these spaces, and the energy and efforts should be spent in the right direction to yield positive results. Many dreams have crashed because they were never mentored. Pakistan needs to have more of these start accelerators, and co-working spaces in all the cities and startups need to understand the importance of mentors in order to grow at the right pace, and in the right direction.
If that happens, who knows the next big idea may come from Pakistan. Till then, with a nice coffee in my hands and realistic hope in my eyes, I pray that Pakistan makes it big in the tech scene of the world.
Yes, we can!
