Handwara, Nov 8: Mohsin Hassan Malik’s dream to start his own entrepreneurial venture came at the cost of leaving his government job. He says that dreams come true, but one should have to courage to pursue them.
While Mohsin, a resident of Handwara had a steady job as a contractual college lecturer, he felt discontented with a meagre salary. The only way he believed he could earn a decent living was by starting his own business. With a dint of hard work and dedication, his dream has finally come true, now he has become from job seeker to job giver.
Mohsin has done his schooling from the capital city Bhopal of Madhya Pradesh, it is there he developed an inclination towards being an entrepreneur.
In 2008 Mohsin did masters in commerce from the University of Kashmir and got involved with teaching in reputed educational institutions in Srinagar. In 2013 he qualified for the National Eligibility Test (NET) twice which paved the way for him to teach at the college level.
“In 2013 I joined Government Degree College Handwara as a contractual lecturer and in the same year came up with a fast-food restaurant at main town Handwara. Since fast food was not as popular as in Handwara, I was successful in drawing the attention of a huge chunk of the population towards the restaurant,” Mohsin said.
“During my tenure at GDC Handwara, I used to sit at the restaurant during morning and evening hours. With time, I involved my younger brother in the already established business,” he said.
“In June 2018 while serving as a contractual lecturer at Baramulla Government Degree College for Women, I resigned from my job to get fully indulged in business,” said Mohsin.
“Although I was dropped by only a single point to get a permanent post in higher education as Assistant Professor (AP) a few years back, I don’t think I would have joined, had I qualified PSC because I had always yearned to be an employer instead of being an employee,” he said.
Mohsin recently has extended his venture from fast food to bakery and continental cuisines with the brand name ‘Bake N Care’. Mohsin runs his new brand ‘Bake N Care’ from the new bus stand Handwara where he has taken four shops on rent for which he is paying rupees one lakh sixty thousand rent every year.
At ‘Bake N Care’ Mohsin has employed over a dozen employees to whom besides food and accommodation he pays more than one lakh rupees salary every month to them. “For bakery, I have employed non-local employees and for continental cuisines, local persons are doing the job,” he added.
“To start the new brand, I have taken Rs 25 lakh loan from Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB) Kupwara and it took me less than two months to get the process done and presently I have to pay Rs 10,000 instalment to the bank,” he said.
“Since most of the people in Handwara and its outskirts usually visit Srinagar on eve of festivals to buy bakery, I thought to come up with such a brand which will certainly replace the brands in Srinagar,” Mohsin said.
“We have installed world-class eco-friendly machinery at our manufacturing unit. Usually, in Kashmir bakery products are prepared in the traditional ovens by using wood but we have installed an oven which runs on electricity.”
“The kind of machinery we have installed is more efficient and consumes less electricity. It does not need much effort from the staff unlike the traditional ones,”he said.
“We have started distribution of bakery products across the district and looking at the enthusiasm of people towards our bakery products, I am planning to open outlets of our brand in other districts of Kashmir as well,”.
“I am thankful to my parents, especially my father who always stood by my side in whatever situation I was entangled in. Usually, Kashmiri parents yearn to see their children as government employees but the day I decided that I would not be opting for a government job, they respected my decision and supported me both morally as well as financially.”
“Now the trend is changing from the last couple of years in Kashmir as more and more youth are coming forward to start their ventures. I have always believed that instead of being parasites one should start to earn at an early age,”.
“I feel much happy when youth approaches me for advice, I do encourage them that instead of remaining idle, one should become a helping hand to his family by becoming economically independent,” Mohsin said.
Mohsin said since Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB) and other departments have been providing financial assistance to educated unemployed youth, they should come forward and start their ventures from these financial schemes.
“I would recommend that the youth should start their ventures very early instead of at the verge of overage age. Youth in Kashmir are so possessive about government jobs that they keep on trying and waiting but end up doing nothing at the end,” he said.