We all have heard how Pakistan has huge potential. A growing youth population increasingly educated and an economy that is finally conductive to business.

So why is this resource being wasted on building the dreams of global MNCs or local seths that have been in business over generations. The real reason is how the youth is primed from their formative years to be risk averse.

We all have seen this during the time we were growing up. Our mom’s fill us with stories on how to be afraid of scary old men, stay away from the trends that they do not understand. Our fathers want us to crush our dreams and follow the well-trodden path of becoming engineers, doctors, or business grads with the ultimate goal of becoming part of the Unilevers, P&Gs, Coca-Colas and Pepsis of the world.

“Startup to us is alien since by birth we are warned not to move away from our comfort zone. To me motivation for a startup was realization that I was underutilizing my skills while I was on job. Yes, to quit was difficult but greater was my ‘willingness to serve’.” Yousuf Rafi, Giftingmotion.com

With so much pressure to bury what our real desires and likes are and conform to the ideal of Pakistani society, a whole generation has been raised that is completely risk averse and always wary of taking the plunge to doing something that really matters.

We are being raised as a generation of work-bees ill rewarded for the effort we deliver while someone else takes the proceeds of success. We have been trained to think that this should be the ultimate goal of our life.

How many of us have gone through the experience of seeing the utter horror on the faces of relatives or our parents when they find out you have left your MNC job and wish to start something new.

The pressure increases manifold on reaching the late 20s with women especially forced to give up on their aspirations and settle down to build homes. The men are forced to continue with steady paying jobs deriving little to no pleasure in the work.

We need to change the way we think if we wish to ensure a bright future for our country. We are not brought in this world to just pay the bills every month. It is not the MNCs or big companies that really keep the economy ticking, it’s the small businesses that create the most jobs and have the greatest chance to make a difference to people’s lives and livelihoods.

“We are satisfied with being wannabees copying foreign concepts without any regards to localization.” Abid Beli, Founder Beliscity, MadJoint

Creativity, vision and a hunger to do something meaningful in life is rarely found in Pakistani youth and this needs to change.

Startups today do not require heavy investment all that is needed is a good idea, a will to see your dream fulfilled and getting partners on-board that share your vision to change people’s lives.

The internet has changed the game and it is heartening to see so many young men and women using the limited means available to start their own business using social media tools.

We need more people to jump in, take the risk to follow their dreams to really do justice to the amount of talent and creativity that is inherent in Pakistani youth.

Let’s change our mindsets, Let us change our vision, and make Pakistan great by building strong businesses by Pakistanis, for Pakistanis.