Muhammad Rashid was born in a small village in Sindh, Pakistan. His father was a farmer. Life was simple, but money was always tight. At the end of every month, making ends meet was a struggle.
Rashid grew up watching his father work from sunrise to sunset. He respected the hard work, but he wanted something more. He didn’t want to be limited by circumstances. Even as a student, he dreamed of building something of his own.
After school, he had two paths: help his father in the fields, or move to the city for a low-paying job. He chose a third path – entrepreneurship.
In 2018, at age 20, Rashid had only PKR 5,000 and an old smartphone. That was his entire capital. But he had an idea. Sindh is famous worldwide for Ajrak, Sindhi topi, and handicrafts. The artisans in his village were incredibly skilled, but they had no access to buyers outside their area. Middlemen took most of the profit.
Rashid decided to bridge that gap. He created a Facebook page called “Sindh Handicrafts” from his phone. He took photos of products using natural light, wrote simple descriptions, and started posting.
The first 6 months brought zero sales. People laughed. “Beta, stick to farming. Online business is a scam.” Relatives told him to get a “real job.” Even his father worried he was wasting time.
But Rashid kept going. Every day he messaged 50+ potential customers. He offered Cash on Delivery because people didn’t trust online payments yet. He used his own pocket money to cover delivery costs for the first few orders, just to build trust.
After 3 months of consistent posting, his first sale came in: an Ajrak worth PKR 1,200. The profit was only PKR 200, but for Rashid, it felt like winning a million. That sale proved one thing – there was demand. People did want authentic Sindhi crafts.
That first order taught him the most important lesson of entrepreneurship: patience + consistency > big capital. You don’t need millions to start. You need belief and the willingness to show up daily.
But this was just the beginning. No capital, no team, no mentorship. The real struggle was about to start.