WHY DID I BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR? CASE STUDY ON S. M. ASAD-UL-HAQ

Abstract

This case study is based on the proposition that it not necessarily the characteristics and the personality traits, but rather the circumstances in one's life that are at the heart of a person's decision regarding the choice of the profession that one adopts for sustaining his/her lifestyle. The subject of this case study is S. M. Asad ul Haq, a remarkable student of mine who started a fast food restaurant while studying for his BBA. The stool begins from the days of his grandfather who was a jagirdar in the Indian state of Behar. The rationale for beginning the investigation with the story of the grandfather is the premise that to understand a person one has to study the antecedents of the person and that the investigation should begin two generations prior to the birth of the subject of the study. A major watershed in the story happens with the partition of India in 1947 which uproots the family from its ancestral lands and forces it to migrate to East Pakistan for survival. The change in the family circumstances following the migration forces the family to change its lifesole. Education and job oriented profession rather land ownership becomes the means for survival for Asad's father who prefers to educate himself and join a bank. In 1971 the family is forced to endure a second migration as a consequence of the partition of Pakistan. The second migration breaks the joint family ,rystem that had endured the family lifestyle for generations. The change of profession from job orientation to entrepreneurship happens when Asad's eldest brother completes his education. The family's first foray into the word of business is Construction which fails. This however is not the end of the story. The family re-enters the world of entrepreneurship when Asad's second brother completes his education. This time the business enterprise is a Barbeque restaurant which eventually ends in a tragic failure. The case also involves an examination of the reasons for the failure of this venture. The final section of the case is the stool of Asad and his fast food venture. The case study is a stool of the enduring spirit and enterprise of a remarkable person and his family to break old traditions and the creation of new ones. It is hoped that the case study will inspire others to actively contemplate about the possibility of starting their own business venture and becoming entrepreneurs.Keywords: Entrepreneurship; SME, Mitigation