“Unstitched clothes business is the business of our fore fathers and the only source of bread and butter for my family” he says. “I purchase stocks from factories in Faisalabad and Lahore. The past season was not a good one for business due to weak sales and I suffered huge losses. This was a testing phase of my life as I was running short of capital to purchase new stock for the coming season. I contacted many relatives and various financial institutions to arrange the finances to keep my head above the water but all in vain. The complex criteria and high markup rates scare me and I felt a fear of applying for a bank loan.”
The prime sales season was at the door step and Asif was running short of finance to purchase new stock. He came to know about Khushhali Microfinance Bank loan scheme through pamphlets a friend shared when Asif went over to his shop for a visit. He contacted Khushhali Microfinance Bank for the financial assistance and got a positive response. The Microfinance institution not only provided him the capital to purchase new stock for the coming season but also provided him great insight on business strategies that would help him get self-sufficient in the shortest possible time.
Today Mohammad Asif is having another successful season with unprecedented sales. “My monthly sale income is at an all-time high which is about three hundred thousand”. Despite being a successful businessman, he is a role model for the society for not losing hope and courage during challenging times. Asif dedicates the success of his business to Khushhali Microfinance Bank, the premier microfinance bank of Pakistan, for the timely financial assistance they extended him.
Based on the new regulations by the central bank allowing to venture into small business finance, Khushhali Microfinance Bank is poised to transform from microfinance to MSME bank. Necessary framework, policies and procedures have been developed and encouraged by the results of a pilot last year the Bank is scaling up its operations to the first 15 branches across the country with a target of reaching out to 3,000 small businesses in 2015. This segment of the market holds great promise for the country.