ASSIGNMENT 1

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Prospects of freelancing, startups, businesses and
entrepreneurship in Pakistan.

SUBMITTED BY
Samia Ghani
F16BB111

SUBMITTED TO
Sir Nabeel Khalid

INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB
7th October, 2019
Prospects of freelancing, startups, businesses and entrepreneurship in Pakistan:

The people of Pakistan are risk-averse. Children from a young age are instructed to choose career
choices such as engineering, medicine and teaching. The reason behind this is the amount of income these
professions promise and the social status attached with it.
Secondly, a typical lifestyle in Pakistan has limited capital funds which so not encourage young people
to get involved in activities like entrepreneurship. Because they are considered as risky.
In the last few years Pakistan’s entrepreneurial economy has improved a lot due to emerging business
plan competitions, startup events and meet ups and public/private incubators and accelerators. In 2012 there
were almost no incubation centers and accelerators. But now there are approximately 53 such programs from
which seven to fifteen startups graduate each year.
Looking at all these situations, the Government of Punjab has worked to provide some solutions. They
introduced the concept of ‘business incubation’. These incubators provide space, mentorship. Electricity and
legal support to all the startups who are incubated. And they also support them financially.
So with the invention of such incubators and accelerators there is a great chance that there will be a
boom of entrepreneurs in future in Pakistan.
Now there is a difference in type of entrepreneurs. Some are “necessity entrepreneurs” and some
are “opportunity driven entrepreneurs”. Necessity entrepreneurs are those who run a family business to
satisfy their own financial needs. They do not contribute much in economy. Where as opportunity driven
entrepreneurs are people with vision of high businesses and they have the courage to change this vision into
reality through innovation. This type of entrepreneurship contributes in country’s economy through increased
rate of exports and open doors of employment for millions of young people.
So if we talk in that sense Pakistan lacks such kind of entrepreneurship .There are certain entrepreneurs
who have achieved their benchmarks and marked their name in all around world but they are not a good
percentage. Most Pakistanis are necessity entrepreneurs.
The one issue that our young entrepreneurs face during their startups is getting all the legal documents.
They have to show a lot of patience to stand in long ques and get the process done. So to avoid anything on
government level, freelancing is the best option for new young entrepreneurs.
A number of Pakistanis are doing freelancing and earning in dollars. According to a recent survey
Pakistan is considered to be fourth most fastest growing freelance market.
The boom of technology and technology based platforms has opened a number of doors for
entrepreneurs. Now even a fifth grade student can earn online with a YouTube channel. A tenth grade student
can start blogging and can be an entrepreneur. Women can do any business without any personal interaction
using an ecommerce store and using different social sites.
In a nutshell, if we can take a look on all the positive changes despite of economic and governmental
issues. In last 5 years the game has changed in many aspects. Students are more aware now. They are given
more opportunities to do their own business. They have more platforms, even many well-known universities
have started their own incubation centers to encourage and support entrepreneurial spirits in their students.
And we can see a bright future of entrepreneurial ecosystem.