In order to cultivate and promote the culture of Entrepreneurship among youth and to inspire them to be Entrepreneurs, Iqra University North & Gulshan Campuses celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week in collaboration with Global Entrepreneurship Network from November 14, 2016, till November 20, 2016.
Various training and guest speaking sessions were arranged in order to provide hands-on experience to students regarding how an entrepreneur think? How to identify opportunities and address the most feasible one? How to be different? What traits must one have in order to think and act like an entrepreneur? How to develop a business plan? How to generate capital to start up one’s own business? What’s the need of social entrepreneurship and how do execute it? Moreover, business plan competitions were organised among which position holders were provided recognition on the basis of the uniqueness and feasibility of their proposed business plan.
The following sessions were organised for the benefit of aspiring entrepreneurs:
- Entrepreneurship Master Class – Facilitated by Injaz Pakistan (Pictures)
- Work, Women & a Will to Lead – Facilitated by Dr Aneela Darbar (Pictures)
- From a Thought to a Leading Steel Industry – Facilitated by Mr Hussain Agha (Pictures)
- Become a Doer, not a Dreamer – Facilitated by Mr Waqas (Pictures)
- Decoding the Game: Passion, Purpose and Profit – Facilitated by Mr Sohail Zindani (Pictures)
- Innovation Camp – Facilitated by Injaz Pakistan (Pictures)
- How to do Business without being a Businessman – Facilitated by Hasan Daudpota (Pictures)
- Changing the World through Social Entrepreneurship – Facilitated by Dr Amjad Saqib (Picture)
The Global Entrepreneurship Week’s Celebration was well facilitated by both the North and Gulshan Campuses of Iqra University. Students actively participated in the entire week. The total number of participation was 1104 belonging from students all over Karachi. We also plan to host a session on “Innovative Solutions: Processes, Models and Marketing Ideas” in the upcoming Innovation Summit – Sindh.
Entrepreneurship Master Class (EMC)
The aim of EMC was to create understanding regarding the concept of “Entrepreneurship”. It was a hands-on workshop which provided a framework and some practical tools to future entrepreneurs; to make them capable of spotting various untapped customer needs, wants and desires and seize the opportunities accordingly.
A set of activities were conducted to brainstorm ideas after identifying the consumer needs. Facilitators then helped them to develop business plans. Top 3 business plans were acknowledged and were provided certificates of Achievements.
Work, Women & a Will to Lead
Dr Aneela Darbar, the only US trained Neurologist in Pakistan shared her entrepreneurial journey and emphasised upon the fact that you not necessarily have to own something to utilise your spirit of entrepreneurship. One can be an intrapreneur and must always have that entrepreneurial spirit within him/her. She mentioned Challenges never ends, they just change so we should prepare ourselves for the unforeseen challenges. Get ready to overcome the worldly hurdles and have a firm will, to conquer anything you desire.
From a Thought to a Leading Steel Industry
Mr Hussain Agha, Executive Director at Agha Steel shared his entrepreneurial journey and the hurdles that he faced as soon as he started off his factory. With the emphasis of the hurdles, he shared the ways with which he wisely tackled the situations. He stated, “Don’t let the world defeat you, you need to believe in yourself!” Link your passion with a team of passionate people and see how synergy will help you convert your idea into reality.
Become a Doer, not a Dreamer
Mr Waqas, CEO of Wondertree emphasised the importance of taking challenges in life. He stated, “Things fall into place if you determine your direction and start working on it”. He shared his story of winning business plan competition then he underwent through the incubation centre and now finally he becomes able to launch his own company. He emphasised on taking action rather than just dreaming about it.
Decoding the Game: Passion, Purpose and Profit
Mr Sohail Zindani, Founder and Director of Learning Minds Group shared some valuable tips for future entrepreneurs. He told the participants to become an entrepreneur in the field who can do even on voluntarily basis because this is where your passion will lie. If you are doing something in which you can’t learn new things then don’t get into it and most importantly do things differently or better than others or else don’t make it as a source of living. You need to celebrate who you are and connect your passion with the purpose to decode the game, profit will make its way.
Innovation Camp
The aim of Innovation Camp was to help participants in thinking out of the box. Various activities were conducted to facilitate students in thinking differently to come up with business ideas on untapped consumer needs. An elevator pitch competition was organised on the basis of which top 3 ideas were shortlisted and acknowledged.
How to do Business without being a Businessman
Mr Hasan Daudpota, CEO at Keys Productions shared various traits of an entrepreneur and emphasised the importance of giving deadlines to oneself. Actions matter the most in the life of an entrepreneur after effective planning. He shared various means through which one can start his/her own business without necessarily bearing the cost of being a businessman.
Changing the World through Social Entrepreneurship
Mr Amjad Saqib, Executive Director of Akhuwat shared the entire journey of Akhuwat, how he got the inspiration, how it started from the scratch and how it became such an impactful non-profit organisation. He advised students to kindly dream, not only personal dream but also dream regarding the social prosperity of the country then believe in your dreams and implement them with integrity i.e. correspond to your words and actions. He stated that an Entrepreneur is in every person, one just have to trash his/her procrastination and certain leisure activities to shape the entrepreneur within themselves.