The Pakistan Chapter of the UNESCO Entrepreneurship Education Network (UNESCO EE-Net) launched the pilot Start-up Readiness Program on Saturday, September 14, 2024. The program was held and conceptualized at the Shahjehan Syed Karim Incubation Center (SSKIC) at the Institute of Business Management (IoBM), Karachi. The event featured a workshop on “Mindset Shift: Innovating with Purpose & Sparking Entrepreneurial Thinking”, attended by students from leading public and private universities and TVET vocational institutions. Raza Abbas, Head of SSKIC-IoBM and the focal person for UNESCO EE-Net, highlighted the significance of the network, sharing that IoBM has the distinct honour of being appointed the national chapter of UNESCO EE-Net in Pakistan, the first of its kind in the country’s history.
The workshop’s resource persons were Raza Abbas and Naureen Ghaffar, Managing Director of Agile Global Consultancy, Executive Committee Member of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and an alumna of IoBM. Raza initiated the training session by sharing a video on the significance and the rules of high-performance teamwork. He set the foundation by introducing an activity where participants could develop a “purpose reservoir” to self-motivate and reflect during their start-up journey. He also shared the effectuation framework for igniting entrepreneurial thinking, outlining its five principles. He inspired the importance of developing an agile mindset and discussed tools for cultivating an agile and purposeful mindset through 11 specific tools.
Naureen Ghaffar underscored the value of conducting individual SWOT analyses for business, after which groups of participants were formed to collaborate toward the common goal of business success. Dr. Imran Batada, Chief Digital Officer and Director CIT at IoBM, was the Chief Guest. He was pleased to see an interactive audience, inspiring the participants by highlighting the opportunities available for start-ups, and he praised the excellent work of the SSKIC team. The Start-Up Readiness Program is a game-changing initiative designed to improve the quality of start-ups in incubation centers and increase their retention throughout the start-up journey. The program consists of four interactive workshops running from September 14 to October 5, 2024.
