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Fiercely self-reliant, she is the master of her own destiny
Part 21: Asifa Mushtaq valued financial independence right from childhood. To avoid being dependent on her parents, she started taking tuitions, while still at school, to earn pocket money. Now in her 40s, she runs a production unit in Kashmir, with the idea of being her own boss and a job giver, than a job seeker.
Right from childhood, Asifa Mushtaq valued financial independence. So, even when she was in school, Mushtaq would take tuitions for children in her neighbourhood, for pocket money.
As she grew up, she realised wouldn’t be happy in a regular job, where she would have to work under someone.
“After completing M.Com, I started working as lecturer. It was a comfortable job, but I wanted to do something more. I wanted to be something more,” she recalls.
So in 2016, she quit the job and picked up the entrepreneurial hat.
After discussions with her family members, she set up a production unit in Industrial Estate, Khonmoh, which deals in school uniforms.
It employs around eight skilled and unskilled workers.
“In our first year, our annual turnover was in lakhs. There was a huge demand for our products even though we were just starting out. But due to the pandemic the demand for uniforms dipped; so we decided to diversify and started making traditional Kashmiri outfits, such as pherans,” says the entrepreneur who is now in her early 40s.
Exhorting others to give entrepreneurship a try, she says, “There is certain sense of freedom that comes with being self-employed. Firstly, you are your own boss and secondly, there is a lot of satisfaction in giving back to the society by way of employment generation.”
She advises the youth against becoming obsessed with government jobs. “As an entrepreneur, you are the master of your own destiny. Whatever efforts you make, you will get the outcome accordingly,” she says.
She also emphasises on building a strong support network. “As an entrepreneur, you need a strong team. For me, it is my husband and brothers. They encouraged me from Day 1 and till date, they continue to be my support system,” says Mushtaq, adding that she is grateful to her parents – father, who was a school principal, and mother, a homemaker – for providing good education to her and her siblings.
Mushtaq is happy that she has been able to inspire her own sisters to follow the same path.
For other girls, hoping to do the same, she says, “As a woman trying to make it big in a male-dominated society, it is important to develop a strong will power and never-give-in attitude.”
