Jawad Hamdani 
The moment I decided I actually wanted to invest in the Pakistan Stock Exchange, I hit a wall I had not expected. I knew what PSX was. I understood the basic concept of buying shares. But when I tried to figure out how to open a stock brokerage account in Pakistan, I found myself buried … Read more
I remember the first time someone mentioned the Pakistan Stock Exchange in a conversation I was part of. Everyone around the table nodded as if they understood perfectly what was being discussed. I nodded too. I had absolutely no idea what it actually was, how it worked, or what it had to do with my … Read more
A few years ago, a friend called me in a panic. He had been earning a decent income through freelance work for almost two years. Clients were paying him from abroad, money was coming into his bank account regularly, and everything seemed fine. Then one day, while applying for a banking facility, he was asked … Read more
A relative of mine ran a reasonably successful clothing shop in a busy market for almost four years. Customers liked him, his stock moved well, and on most days the shop felt busy and productive. But at the end of every month, he struggled to explain where his money had gone. His personal account and … Read more
When I first heard the words “business plan,” I pictured a thick formal document full of charts, financial projections, and corporate language that only MBA graduates could produce. Something you hired a consultant to write, printed in color, and handed to a bank manager in a plastic folder. That image kept me from writing one … Read more
A few years ago, a cousin of mine was sitting at home after losing his job during a difficult economic period. He had about PKR 50,000 saved up, a smartphone, and a lot of time on his hands. He spent weeks scrolling through business ideas online and kept concluding that everything required more capital than … Read more
A friend of mine spent almost eight months building her home-based baking business before she registered it anywhere. She had regular customers, a growing WhatsApp list, and was taking orders almost every day. Business was good. Then she tried to open a dedicated business bank account and hit a wall. The bank wanted proof of … Read more
My uncle ran a small general store in a busy street in Lahore for over two decades. He never registered it anywhere, never had a separate business account, never wrote a single business plan. He just started, figured things out as he went, and made a decent living. That model worked for his generation. Therefore, … Read more
A friend of mine spent months dreaming about buying his first car on installments. He had a stable job, a decent salary, and had already picked out the model he wanted. When he finally walked into the bank to apply for a car loan, he was turned down within a few days. The reason the … Read more
A colleague of mine got a call one afternoon from someone claiming to be from his bank’s fraud department. The caller knew his name, his bank’s name, and even the last four digits of his debit card. He sounded professional and urgent. He told my colleague that a suspicious transaction had been flagged on his … Read more
