Why do we need a community of Muslim Entrepreneurs?
An entrepreneur is a doer and a dreamer. He/she believes in creating something in this world, that is of value to others. He/she believes in making an impact in this world.
An entrepreneur is a doer and a dreamer. He/she believes in creating something in this world, that is of value to others. He/she believes in making an impact in this world.
Bismillah, before we started working on creating a Community of Muslim Entrepreneurs , before putting in all the efforts, before writing any code, before creating any social media posts, before everything, we had few questions to answer. Answering them was definitely more important than doing anything else. The questions were -
Why do Muslims even need to be entrepreneurs?
Why do we even need to create this Community of Muslim Entrepreneurs, in the first place?
Yes indeed, if we can answer the why, answering how will become easy in sha Allah. So today, we will answer the Why ? in sha Allah.
Why do Muslims even need to be entrepreneurs?
Let’s face this question. Why do we as Muslims need to have an entrepreneurial mindset.
By that I mean, why should Muslims be creator of new businesses, whether it be in the form of a new software, e-commerce, a school, a hospital, etc. Our answer to this question is simple, "Because, it adds more meaning to your life". We don't mean that everyone should start a business, but what we mean is "Everyone should pursue a work that adds more meaning to their life". Now how can I be so sure that pursuing entrepreneurship adds more meaning to your life? It's because entrepreneurship is all about creating something you believe in, something that you believe would help others solve their problem, something that you want in this world to exist.
Now this brings us to a deeper question, how can you know if the work you are doing is adding meaning to your life? This requires answering a few more questions. Answering them will in sha Allah help. But if you find it difficult to answer them, you should start looking for something more meaningful to pursue in life.
How does my job/work help me be a better version of myself?
Being Muslims, we should also think how can I give back to the society or make a positive impact in the society, how does my job/work help me do that?
When you ask yourself - What is the purpose of my life? Do you answer that it is to work for a XYZ company or something more?
Does my job help or hinders the development of my spiritual self? Do I get enough time to pray and do other acts of worship?
How does my job give me more reasons to get up in the morning or be excited about the next day before going to sleep?
Are you at your best when you are working for your company or you are not? Does it meet your life’s purpose?
If you have answers to these question, that's awesome. But if you don't, you just have to start looking for answers ?
What is Entrepreneurship? The Myth and how can it answer the questions above
You already know what entrepreneurship is. It's about being your own boss, it's about driving your favourite car, it’s about making a lot of money, it’s about fame, popularity, it’s about having a visiting card with "the CEO" written on it, it’s about comfort and luxury …..
Right?
You’re wrong my friend. ☹️ For a long time I thought the same, believe me, you're not alone, many people have this misconception.
It’s not about all these. It’s about what you can do for others. It all starts with how you can you help the one person in front of you.
One day, I wrote an email to Justin Mitchell, the founder of Coding for Entrepreneurs, asking him how to get started. His response was simple, short and to the point.
There is so much of ego in Entrepreneurship, there is a lot of “Me, Myself and I” but it's about what you can do for others. Being a good human works. So, it's about helping others. Adding meaning to other’s life adds meaning to yours.
Sure, you can make more money, get more time to spend with your family, you can get to live a comfortable and luxurious life, but that is not what it is about. It’s about more meaning in life.
As Muslim, we are not primarily interested in luxury, fame, prestige, popularity, money or excellence. We are primarily concerned about the positive impact we can make, and that is the thing which drives us.
Allah compares the Qur'an, as rain in several places. Rain has an effect, it revives the dead earth and fills them with beautiful flowers. Why can’t our lives be more like the rain? Why can’t we bring more of positive changes around us? Why does our life have to be so dull and boring, inside our cubicle in our offices? There should be more to life, and we can do more than we think.
So this is what Entrepreneurship is about, it’s about finding something you are passionate about, which can help someone and using which you get to change this world.
It’s not always easy to find it, and it's more like a journey rather than a destination, but as Steve Jobs said
Why do we even need to create this Community of Muslim Entrepreneurs, the first place?
Now, why should a community like MuslimEntrepreneurs.space exist and how it can help. The first thing is, there is no such platform as of now. There is no such place which brings together Muslims who want to create new stuff and build a business. There is no such medium where Muslims can share their ideas, offer help to other’s projects, ask questions, meet new people with an entrepreneurial mindset.
There are so many entrepreneurs who are creating beautiful products who go unnoticed. We want to help them in what ever way we can, in sha Allah. We want to connect those who are looking for help and those who want to help. Together we can achieve more and achieve something we can't achieve all alone. Now we want to destroy the popular belief of a "One Man Army".
The myth of a “One Man Army” and why we need a team?
For a long time I believed, if I am determined enough I can start something all by myself. But the truth is, we can’t do everything. We have our limits. Or in other words we need help from others.
We all know “Rome was not built in a day”. But the other less taught fact is, “Rome was not built by one man”. We can’t be good at everything. One can be extremely good at coding but has no idea about digital marketing or sales, both of which are critical skills when starting something.
So, there is always something, someone else can help you with, even a valuable feedback is crucial. We need to come together and work together, because we can’t build an empire, all alone. So this is one of the main reasons why this community should exist. And we already know why we need to have an entrepreneurial mindset. People wanting to start, should search for others who might believe in his/her vision.
It is important to note, that some people become the face of a company, with Elon Musk, you would associate SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity, and with Mark Zuckerberg, you would associate Facebook. But, they are not “One Man Army”. They have a team who have a clear vision.
So, we need each other, we should build our teams to work on the vision we believe in. We should have a platform where we can meet people, discuss our ideas. This is the reason why we are building this community. ?
There is always a component of uncertainty when starting something. Entrepreneurship is more like a journey without a map but with a clear vision.
