4 Factors To Consider Before Starting A Start-up

Q: "I'm looking for a product idea for a startup in Pakistan. Can I look at ventures that have done remarkably well in foreign markets & launch something similar locally?"

Not without discovery you can't.

‍

Yes, with over 216 million people & soaring internet/smartphone penetration rates, Pakistan is ripe for disruption.

However, that doesn't mean that one can plainly import product ideas & hatch them here. That may not translate well because of the nuances of the local landscape.

‍

Some considerations you might need to make:

1. Underlying Assumptions

Assumptions might not carry over that well.

Ex 1

Back in the early 2010s, Uber was rising in popularity globally. However, Uber would have struggled catching traction here if it assumed that credit cards were a prevalent payment mechanism in Pakistan because they were still in a nascent stage. This is why & how Careem scaled quickly because they entered the market with the "cash" angle from Day 1.

Ex 2

Healthcare practitioner marketplace ZocDoc started a decade back and rakes in nearly $100M in ARR. However, launching that concept in Pakistan wouldn't have been straightforward.

Several local doctors, even today, are resistant & skeptical to online lead generation because they don't believe in it's efficacy, disagree with the concept of "monthly" payments (vs. one-time software fees) & feel threatened by public online visibility (e.g. some doctors shared how they wanted to avoid problems with tax collectors).

2. Staffing

If you're planning to build the next Palantir, Bitcoin or Gong, will you have access to local expertise for it? (engineers, product managers etc.) Are there enough blockchain or NLP or AI/ML technocrats to fuel the charge? While things are much brighter now (plus remote work helps), the answer wouldn't have been that positive a couple years back.

This doesn't mean a dead end, of course. You could contract remotely but then you'd need to work how the financial feasibility pans out.

See more: How To Manage Your Money As A Freelancer

3. Infrastructure

Is the infrastructure available to support the idea?

Ex: A SaaS with a local focus that relied on monthly recurring credit card payments would have faced friction as that facility wasn't available in the Pakistan circuit for a while.

Think Tesla. They first lay out charging stations (infra) & then hop into a market.

4. Audience Dynamics

Audiences in Pakistan have variegated values & behaviors.

Ex 1

You might launch neo-pay solutions thinking they will fly but the debate on legality and opposition through state & religion might complicate matters.

Ex 2

This applies to partners too. It's said that the startup Sukoon.com (a concept like ServiceMarket in the UAE) struggled when partners/workers kept attempting to circumvent them to gain direct access to consumers. That mindset needed to be addressed head on.

Thus, due diligence is critical. You can't skip discovery & validation regardless how wildly successful a business idea was.