We Have the Talent: Building a Community of Desi Entrepreneurs

We have the talent. What we don’t have is a Silicon Valley.

Walk through any city in Pakistan, India or Bangladesh and you will find it: the boy in Gujranwala who taught himself video editing on a borrowed laptop, the girl in Hyderabad who designs better logos than most agencies, the young man in Sylhet who fixes phones and could run a repair business, the mother in Riyadh who sells home-cooked food to half her building. The skill is there. What is often missing is everything around it: people who have done it before, honest advice, a little confidence, and a family that understands.

This page is the starting point for the Money section of this site. It is written for young desi entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs, at home in South Asia or working in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, who want to earn from their skills and maybe one day be their own boss. It explains what this community believes, why the psychology matters as much as the skill, and what to read first.

The talent is not the problem

It is easy to believe the opportunity is somewhere else. The numbers say otherwise.

A 2023 World Bank report, Working Without Borders, estimated that there are between 154 million and 435 million online gig workers worldwide, or 4.4% to 12.5% of the global labour force. Its global survey covered 17 countries, including Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The East Asia and Pacific region accounted for 51% of online gig workers, followed by South Asia. More than half of online gig workers were under 30 (World Bank, 2023).

In other words, millions of young people from our part of the world are already selling their skills to clients they will never meet. The talent is real, and it is already working.

The same report is honest about the hard side, and so should we be. It describes gig jobs as sporadic, without clear career progression for many young people, and notes that many people spend long hours searching for tasks without success. It also finds that social insurance coverage is low among gig workers (World Bank, 2023). Talent gets you in the door. It doesn’t guarantee a stable income.

What is actually missing

If talent isn’t the problem, what is? From a psychologist’s point of view, three things.

1. People

Most first-generation entrepreneurs in desi families have no one at home who has done this before. There is no uncle who can explain pricing, no older cousin who has dealt with a difficult client, no friend who has failed and started again. You are guessing alone.

Psychology has a lot to say about why that matters. Self-determination theory, a major theory of human motivation, proposes three basic psychological needs: competence, autonomy and relatedness. When these needs are met, people show stronger self-motivation and better mental health. When they are thwarted, motivation and wellbeing suffer (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Relatedness, the feeling of belonging and being connected to others, is one of the three. Working alone on a laptop at 2am, with no one who understands what you are building, starves it.

Connection matters for more than motivation. A meta-analysis of 148 studies with more than 300,000 participants found a 50% increased likelihood of survival for people with stronger social relationships, an effect the authors described as comparable with well-established risk factors for death (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010). People are not a luxury.

2. Belief that you can

Psychologists call it self-efficacy: your own sense of whether you are capable of doing something in a given situation. The APA Dictionary of Psychology describes it as a concept proposed by Albert Bandura as a primary driver of emotional and motivational states and of behaviour change (APA Dictionary of Psychology; Bandura, 1977).

Many talented young people have very low self-efficacy about business, not because they lack skill, but because no one around them has ever done it. “Hum jaise logon ke liye nahi hai.” A community where you can watch people like you take small steps, make mistakes and keep going is one of the most practical ways to change that belief.

3. A healthy relationship with money and risk

Talent without money sense is fragile. It is tempting to spend your first income on a new phone, or on the status of looking successful, before you have any savings. Others are so afraid of risk that they never send the first proposal. My article on the psychology of money explains why we overspend and how desi families can save, and it is the best place to start.

What this community stands for

This is not a course, a scheme or a sales funnel. It is a set of honest guides, and a way of thinking. Here is what it stands for.

• Honesty over hype. No “earn lakhs in a week”. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
• Skill before shortcuts. Your skill is your business. Platforms, tools and trends change, and the skill stays with you.
• Small, steady steps. One client, one product, one hour a day. Many real businesses start small.
• Halal, ethical work you are proud of. If you would be ashamed to explain what you do to your mother, don’t do it.
• Mental health is part of the business plan. Burnout, isolation and family pressure can end a business as surely as a bad idea can.
• Help one person behind you. When you learn something, teach it to someone who is a step behind.

It is also important to say what this is not. This section is about the psychology of earning, working and building. It is not financial or investment advice. It doesn’t recommend any investment, trading scheme, crypto product or “guaranteed return” programme. Be very careful with anyone, online or in person, who asks you to pay upfront to earn money.

The three obstacles you will probably meet

Obstacle 1: Doing it alone

The fix is not to wait for the perfect mentor. It is to build a small circle of peers. Two or three people at a similar stage, who check in weekly, can do more for your motivation than any video.

Obstacle 2: The family conversation

Many parents want a “safe” job they can explain to relatives. That pressure is real and often comes from love and fear rather than control. Respecting your family and building your own work are not opposites, but the conversation needs care, and the best way to have it is to show progress, not promises.

Obstacle 3: Motivation that comes and goes

Every entrepreneur has weeks when nothing feels possible. The answer is not more motivation. It is systems. My guide on how to build self-discipline without motivation explains how to keep going on the days you don’t feel like it.

One technique from psychology research is especially useful: implementation intentions. Instead of a vague goal (“I’ll work on my business”), you make a plan in the form “When situation X arises, I will do Y.” For example: “When I finish Isha, I will spend 45 minutes on my portfolio.” Research summarised by Peter Gollwitzer found that simple plans like these have strong effects on whether people follow through (Gollwitzer, 1999).

A composite of common situations (not a real client). Three friends from university, Usman in Lahore, Priya in Hyderabad and Tanvir in Dhaka, met in an online design class. Each of them was trying to get freelance clients alone, and each was close to giving up. Usman’s father kept forwarding him government job adverts, Priya had underpriced her work so badly that she was losing money, and Tanvir hadn’t sent a single proposal in a month. They started a Sunday-evening video call: 30 minutes, three questions each. What did you do this week? What got in the way? What will you do next week, and when? Nothing about their talent changed. What changed was that someone noticed when they didn’t show up. Six months later, two of them had regular clients. The third had decided freelancing wasn’t for him and taken a job, and he still joined the call.

The last detail in that composite is important. A good community doesn’t only celebrate the people who “make it”. It respects people who try, learn and choose differently.

Start here: your first five steps

If you are new to the Money section, read and do these in order.

1. Fix your relationship with money first. Read the psychology of money article linked above, track every rupee, riyal or taka you spend for one month, and set aside something, however small, before you invest in anything.
2. Choose one skill and get good enough to be paid. If you are starting from nothing, my guide on how to start freelancing with zero experience walks you through choosing a skill, building samples and finding a first client.
3. Learn which online income paths are honest. Before you spend money on any course or “opportunity”, read how to make money online in honest ways. It explains what works, what takes time and what is usually a scam.
4. Build a system, not a mood. Write one implementation intention for your week (“When X, I will Y”), and use the self-discipline guide to protect it.
5. Find your circle. Ask two people at your level to check in with you once a week for eight weeks. Keep it short and honest.

Everything else in the Money section builds on these steps: selling without being pushy, pricing, dealing with family expectations and growing beyond your first clients.

A word for those who are struggling right now

If you are unemployed, in debt, or stuck at home while everyone around you seems “settled”, the pressure can be crushing. That is not a personal weakness. WHO notes that decent work supports mental health by providing a livelihood, a sense of confidence, purpose and achievement, positive relationships and inclusion in a community, and structured routines, and that unemployment, job and financial insecurity and recent job loss are risk factors for suicide attempts (WHO).

So look after your mind as carefully as your business. If the stress has turned into hopelessness, read the Mind section of this site, talk to someone you trust, and if you ever have thoughts of harming yourself, call your local emergency number or a helpline today.

The bigger picture

There may never be one Silicon Valley in our countries. Perhaps there doesn’t need to be. What we can build instead are thousands of small circles: friends on a Sunday call, a cousin who shares what she learned, a WhatsApp group where people swap honest advice instead of get-rich-quick links.

We have the talent. Let’s build the community around it.

Quick FAQ

Do I need money to start?
Many skill-based businesses, such as design, writing, tutoring or editing, can start with very little beyond a device and an internet connection. Be cautious of anyone who says you must pay a large fee before you can earn.

Is this only for people in Pakistan?
No. It is for desi entrepreneurs anywhere: Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, the wider Gulf and beyond.

Is freelancing a “real” career?
It can be, but it is often irregular, especially at the start. Many people build it alongside a job or studies before relying on it.

Do you recommend investments?
No. This site doesn’t give financial or investment advice. For decisions about investing, loans or savings products, speak to a qualified and regulated adviser in your country.

References

1. World Bank. Working Without Borders: The Promise and Peril of Online Gig Work. Washington, DC: World Bank; 2023. https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099071923114013489
2. Ryan RM, Deci EL. Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist. 2000;55(1):68-78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68 (PubMed 11392867)
3. Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB. Social relationships and mortality risk: a meta-analytic review. PLoS Medicine. 2010;7(7):e1000316. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316 (PubMed 20668659)
4. American Psychological Association. Self-efficacy. APA Dictionary of Psychology. https://dictionary.apa.org/self-efficacy
5. Bandura A. Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review. 1977;84(2):191-215. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191
6. Gollwitzer PM. Implementation intentions: strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist. 1999;54(7):493-503. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.54.7.493
7. World Health Organization. Mental health at work (fact sheet). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-at-work

This article is for education only. It is not financial, investment, legal or medical advice.

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Dr. Malik Sherjeel Awan

Dr. Malik Sherjeel Awan is a clinical psychologist based in Makkah. PsyD (Clinical Psychology), University of Karachi.
He writes practical, evidence-based psychology for everyday life.

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