ISLAMABAD – In an uncanny yet inspirational story in the country’s federal capital, Umar Kamal is one of the those Pakistanis who beat odds and set an example of having the right approach towards job creation.
Kamal, who received enterprise management training from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and McGill University in Canada, now sells homemade biryani in his saloon car in the Blue Area of Islamabad.
I didn’t get my academics from top educational institutions to start a roadside food business but it’s the circumstances that led me this way, he told Independent Urdu.
Irrespective of how you approach the unique set of challenges that face most Pakistani [especially youth], it seems that lack of employment is at the heart of them all but it’s people like Kamal who set an example for everybody.
The spirited Islamabad-based man also earned a major in Political Science and English from the University of Bahawalpur. Additionally, he received a master’s degree in International Relations from Bahauddin Zakariya University.
Narrating his story, Kamal said, “I have studied enterprise management at LUMS and McGill University and I have done 15 years of research on fundraising”. Adding that, “I am probably the only Pakistani in the world to have written a book on fundraising”.
“I have been unemployed for more than four years and I have been asking numerous people to get me a job or consultancy, but I didn’t get anything till the starting of my own food business”.
Kamal said, “My wife is a chef who makes biryani, one day we discussed starting a food business, and that is how we got started with my car as a cart.”
Sharing further details, he said, “Allah SWT gave me the vision to start my own work to end my dependence on people and I started with only 15 boxes and over the time now I sell 30 to 35 boxes a day”.
The elderly entrepreneur who now owns a Suzuki Baleno hoped to buy a Mercedes next year. He further expressed gratitude toward his friend’s circle who contributed helping him when he was broke for months. Now I ask my friends to let me know if anyone needs my assistance, he said.
With an aim to share his success story, Kamal said “I want to encourage all people to stop cursing Pakistan for God’s sake. I stand on Pakistani soil, and I am very happy and satisfied, there’s no shame in earning halal income and working hard”, Kamal said while advising others to start with the minimal income they have.
