Salaams,
Well, the topic is self-explanatory. I was just wondering if some of us can share with us some of the good entrepreneurial ideas that finally not just saw the light of the day, but were also met with a certain degree of success as well.
Idea is to see if some of them can be taken straight off the forum and applied with a bit of localization to our domestic market. Interest rates are low, cheap credit is available, I want to make hay :~)
You going to give a cut to those who provide you with the ideas?
^ abhi khet ugga nahin aur gannay churaanay wale pehle he aa gae 
partner, let’s hear you out first…we’ll decide on your mode of return later. :~)
Well, u can lease a car and rent it out. I know lots of people who've done that and are making lots of money. Even I have done that, and now he is opening his own car rental office. Its easy. You lease a car from a bank, and pay 2 lac on it. Then you rent the car out, like say a corolla, from a car rental place. preferably somebody you know. A corolla can make you roughly 50,000 a month. Out of that 50K, you pay 20K in installments and the rest is your money. so basically, two lacs is making you 30,000 a month, and the car is paying for itself!
Successful Experiences
Salaam,
Can anyone share their entrepreneurial experiences with us? What they've learned etc. ??
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*Originally posted by dv8er: *
Well, u can lease a car and rent it out. I know lots of people who've done that and are making lots of money. Even I have done that, and now he is opening his own car rental office. Its easy. You lease a car from a bank, and pay 2 lac on it. Then you rent the car out, like say a corolla, from a car rental place. preferably somebody you know. A corolla can make you roughly 50,000 a month. Out of that 50K, you pay 20K in installments and the rest is your money. so basically, two lacs is making you 30,000 a month, and the car is paying for itself!
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Are u in the Karachi area by any chance? I may need your services end of december for a couple of weeks.
What about houses to let?
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*Originally posted by Zakk: *
What about houses to let?
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That's actully my long term plan. I bought one about 2 yrs ago and then I'll buy another next year and rent the current one out which should pay for itself in about 14 yrs and can help pay for the kids education. And as we go along I'll keep investing in real estate and retire by the time I'm 55 and just manage all the property (inshallah). Lost too much money in the stock market when it crashed a few yrs ago.
Sorry, TofiBaba, I'm in the Islamabad area. By the way, have you thought of investing in property in Islamabad? I also do that, and well, u should know, Islamabad has property in high demand because of it being the capital.
na tho why would I want to buy property in Islamabad, considering I live in New York and da parents are in Karachi. I don't even remember when I was in Islamabad last.
Whoa…hold it folks…wasn’t this thread about discussing ideas for ME? 
aap loug apne property talk to thalle le jain na plz 
koi aik to acha sa idea de do logon 
shukriya,
I dunno Khanzada..Investing in Industry in pakistan is always risky, (have tehy introduced proper bankruptcy laws yet?) property is good, ..either by buying houses putting them on rent and later selling them ...and the situation should improve ..what with the cuts in interest rates and big push for mortgages.
I don't know anything about the Pakistani Stock market so I can't say.. :)
The business with the best margin is food/beverage business. I did a research study for my marketing course once and did a feasibility report on a pizza parlour. The initial investment was about $100,000 (including all equipment). The payback period was only 5 yrs.
Another thing that doesn't require a lot of capital is to setup a roadside candy store (there are tons of them in NYC). Sorta like a "thaila" and sell coffee/tea, candy, newspapers etc. Ofcourse in Pakistan its not considered "respectable" to have a thaila, but what the hay. In NY I've seen those things making about $50k/yr.
**Zakk: ** Hmm, not quite true actually. You can say investing in industry has been risky, but i guess if one is to invest (especially from a foreign investor perspective) now is the time to get in! I can assure that there are some sane heads in the Finance Ministry, Central Bank, the SEC and the stock exchanges. With whatever little understanding of the market i have, i believe the general direction in which the economy is headed and especially the banking sector reforms will go a long way in promoting a more credit-savvy banking sector. As the credit culture in local banking sector evolves and as more and more corporates embrace the Code of Corporate Governance, it will in itself have far reaching consequences in terms of lower non-performing loans portfolios for banks and better financial reporting and hence greater transparency in transactions of the local corporates.
There has been a paradigm shift in the local banking industry (being an investment banker, i can’t help but come back to my industry :~p). From a 100% nationalized banking base, today, almost 60% of the banking sector is in private hands and with the immiment privatization of Habib Bank, this percentage is expected to improve to 80%. Being conscious of this fact and the evolving consumer-credit culture, the SBP has come up with separate Prudential Regulations for Corporate Banking and Consumer Banking-something which has not been done during the past few decades.
Fiscal policies of the Central Bank are firm and are aimed at guiding the financial markets in a certain direction. Gone are the days when the Central Bank used to be played on by smart foreign banks. I cannot tell you how much kick i get when i see the Central Bank circumvent the local banks bid to notch up the interest rates. :k:
As to the bankruptcy laws, they are in the works and laws on the lines of Chapter 11 are going to be introduced early next year. Heartening is the fact that these laws and regulations (like the earlier mentioned Prudential Regulations) are not being made in isolation-drafts are being circulated amongst all the stakeholders (commercial banks) and their rational suggestions are being applied to refine them.
Well the cut in interest rates has a reason. See, earlier on, till when the banking reforms started to take place (early last year), banks were sitting pretty…stuffed with GOP T-bills and Pakistan Investment Bonds in their portfolios (both of them being risk-free GOP securities)-and were getting more than adequate returns on their investments. This was a no-brainer for them to make productive their assets. The Central Bank saw this, took notice and crashed the interest rates over a period of 6-8 months. Banks frenzied. It was no longer possible for them to earn decent returns by investing in government securities, even so much so as to cover their cost of funds. It was a clear signal from the Central Bank to the banks to pull their socks up and look for more innovative avenues of investments to earn better returns on their assets.
This followed a period where we saw grim faces of the banks…directionless and flooded with liquidity. Then the Central Bank showed the dumb (:D) banks a clear direction: Consumer credit and Mutual Funds. All this time, the government quite wisely took measures at the policy level to pave way for banks to enter into these unchartered or relatively lesser-visited areas in search of better returns. This included reforms in the housing industry which in turn jump-started 40 allied industries (cement, steel, glass etc.)…banks slowly came out and still are coming out with mortgage schemes. You have to remember our cultural mindset as Fraudia mentioned in another thread-it is difficult for a person to envisage himself in a situation where he takes on a debt (mortgage) for say 20 years. These kinds of tenors are unheard of to the commom man. He is afraid. A certain level of primary education is necessary in this respect to dispel unfounded concerns. A shift is in order.
Similarly to promote infrastructure development, the government has come up with linient policies in the oil and gas exploration, telecom and terminal handling businesses. To give benchmarks to the market, longer terms Government Bonds are being introduced for tenors of 10 and 15 years (which would give the commercial and investment banks..benchmarks for pricing their longer gestation periods projects).
Stock market? Hmm…recently there has been a correction which was in order. The market has come down from a high of 4400 points to 3800 points (which is good, since it it hadn’t happened, a bubble burst like the 1994 was in order, which would have damaged investor confidence to no end). However, this time around, two things are significantly different from the 1994 levels of the market (it was the previous best era of the Karachi Stock Exchange). 1) This time around, the market has picked up on account of local investors vs. 1994, where global brokerage firms like Morgan Stanley had introduced Pakistan Stock Funds, and 2) This time, the market is trading at comparatively lower P/W multiples and higher dividend yields. On average, the Karachi Stock Exchange is trading at 7-8 multiple with a 10% dividend yield. Compare this with 1994, where the multiples were 15-16 and dividend yields were low. This reflects that market is valuing the stocks correctly and some level of fundamental analysis is being factored in while pricing the stocks by the market, which is good.
All these facts represent that people here are thinking! :~)
TofiBaba: Aap ne apnay naam ka he store kholne ka idea dia 
The thaila idea needs some fine-tuning, but your fast food idea seems reasonable. The capital cost is almost thereabout (what you mentioned) for any fast food outlet (non-franchised/local). The issue is to maintain the standard and consistency of your product. The margins are high, you are correct. Abhi is level par itna paisa thora mushkil hai waisay. Thanks for the thoughts though :~)
^Khanzada..what is the interest rate being offered for mortgages by Banks like HBL and UBL?
Hosuing finance is a good idea, but I believe it's only limited to the 5 main cities in the country in Pakistan, they need to expand financing all over...Thanks for the information on the banking Sector..Ishrat Hussein and the Citibanker crowd seemed to have pushed things in the right direction. Just to point something out, while the government has sold off a majority stake in UBL and soon HBL..they I believe still hold 49% of the shares? The main rush of FDI over the next year should come through the Privatisation sell offs..Abdul Hafiz Sheikh should make a real difference, Thatta Cement is gone..and HBL and PSO...any bets btw on how much PSO should go for?
^7-8% p.a. average on a 15 year tenor. That ain't bad mate!
You are correct about the five cities but i believe and you would agree that these 5 cities have always been the first ones to embrace new ideas, precisely the case with housing finance as well. Let them get used to the idea, i am sure the reach will expand.
Yes, the govt. still holds 49% shares, but the major stake alongwith management control has been transferred to the consortium of Bestway& Abu Dhabi Group who have bought out UBL. Same is going to be the case with HBL. NBP is also being partly sold off. The idea is right, the remaining 49% may be divested at a later time when the shares will fetch a premium. OGDCL would be the biggest IPO (Rs. 7bn) after PTCL since 1992. That is being offered at a premium too. Offered price is Rs. 32/share.
PSO is expected to be sold off for approx. USD 500 million.
Put your money in OGDCL and PSO :~)
I am all for disinvestment Khanzada :), but 500 mill is not enough for PSO! Let's hope they get something nearer to a billion..and let's hope the winning bid isn't Fauji Foundation!! Btw Mortgages should be offered in the 20-25 year bracket shouldn't they? Other wise repayments would be pretty high?? Right now in the UK rates are around 3.5% and the housing market is just crazy!. I think if the GoP really wants to kick start the economy it should cut taxes especially on Petrol, electricity and gas..that would free up even more money. Anyway a fast food place is a good idea..but competition would be high and maintaining standarrd would be hard unless you are offering something different. Another way is the usual..offer some sort of training to people...start a school..or offer training for IELTS/TOEFL or English Language...courses in general. Again I am sure they are everywhere in Karachi..but it's worth considering.