Introduction:
Ahmed Rauf Essa is the co-founder of Telemart, which is one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in Pakistan. Furthermore, he is also a stand-up comedian. He has received 10 global awards and was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30.
His university life at CBM was more like a party. He never took his studies seriously and graduated with a 2.8 GPA. He has been an online shopper since 2009 and bought items from e-commerce platforms, including FlipKart India, Amazon, etc. Everything was going great until one day, things turned upside down. When Ahmed was just 21 years old, his father, the first man in Pakistan to start a mobile business, faced sudden losses as his company was hijacked. Ahmed and his family were almost on the streets. You can imagine how bad the situation was!
Since a very young age, he had been seeing mobile phones around him. For Ahmed Rauf Essa, cell phones were equivalent to toys. With his father’s business going down the drain, he had no option but to do something. Now, selling phones in Saddar definitely didn’t match his caliber. He wanted to do something flashy, and what came to his mind was e-commerce. With some cash in his pockets, consistency, and effort, he dived into the world of e-commerce.
Problems to faced in Pakistan E-commerce Industry:
There were two main problems that he faced: pricing and building trust. In Pakistan, e-commerce doesn’t really work because people don’t prefer online shopping due to lack of trust and confidence in the seller. So, Ahmed Rauf Essa decided to establish a brand so people could start trusting him, and he invested to earn that trust. Then, came Telemart. The platform faced competition but Ahmed Rauf Essa’s sole purpose was to make his business work.
“There are two types of competitions. One is when you look in the eyes of your enemy and compete while the other one is drawing parallel lines and letting your competitor focus on their business, and you focus on yours.”
According to Ahmed Rauf Essa, social media is not an easy place to deal with and is quite challenging. Out of 1000 customers, when there are three complaints on the Facebook group, Voice of Customer, people bash him and get abusive. All he does is laugh and move on because. He believes that in a country like Pakistan, it is inevitable since e-commerce faces societal challenges as well.
“People smile at your face and talk behind your back. Therefore, you have to deal with consistent criticism on social media.”
How Ahmed Rauf Essa became a Pakistan’s E-commerce Luminary:
Talking about the potential of women in Pakistan, Ahmed Rauf Essa says that he is impressed by the way women are excelling in the field of e-commerce and tech. He believes that men have a one-dimensional brain that can focus on one thing at a time, while women have a three-dimensional brain. They can focus on almost everything around them.
“Challenges are not gender-biased. They come to both men and women. If a woman can run her household, then running a business is a piece of cake for her.”
Ahmed Rauf Essa believes that a safer and more competitive environment should be developed in Pakistan where individuals can excel and support each other. The negatives of society affect one’s mental health, which results in slower growth.
” We should do great things for our beloved country, Pakistan. Don’t run away; contribute with your skills and use the available resources like LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Google services. Let’s make a difference!”
Explore more interesting articles here: Storieslap.com
Leave a comment