Nineteen year old Sadaar’s father started a bakery several years ago, shortly after his family returned to Kabul. They lived in Peshawar, Pakistan for years as refugees, waiting for a time when they could return to their native Kabul, surrounded by the towering Parwan mountains. As we walked up to the bakery on one of Kabul’s busiest streets, we saw Sadaar kneeling in front of stacks of thin, golden nan breads in all different shapes and sizes. People were coming up to him, taking a few circular or oblong loaves as he quickly made change from a weathered wooden box filled with Afghani bills. Behind Sadaar, several workers were sweating by the ovens, their hands and faces black with soot. Sadaar’s brother poured glasses of cola as the cars went honking by behind us and we sat down to hear about how business is developing.
Sadaar was especially interested in telling us that his business has been growing recently and continues to grow. A few years ago, the bakery began baking about 2 bags of flour per day, but now they use 8-9 bags of flower per day, and growth is continuing. Just four months ago, they had 9 employees, but due to increased demand for the crunchy home-baked nan, they have added 3 more bakers to their staff.
Sadaar says that the success of his business is a direct result of his enhanced business skills. For the past year, Sadaar has been attending Ansari High School, making up for school time lost during years of war. One of his classes is an entrepreneurship course taught by local teachers who are trained by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). Out of all the classes that Sadaar takes at Ansari High School, this is the only class with textbooks in his native language.
Through the Entrepreneurship class, Sadaar has been learning about concepts such as competitiveness and risk, and as a result he started thinking about how to increase his profits. One day he mentioned to his father that they could increase their business by offering their clients more variety. His father who allowed him to try making different kinds of bread instead of the circular loafs that they had always made. Sadaar’s bakers started making different shapes and sizes of breads, with different grades of thickness, and some with sesame seeds. Suddenly his business started to increase.
Sadaar’s family is happy to see Sadaar improving the family business and reaping the benefits of entrepreneurial thinking. They say that the Entrepreneurship class is serving the people of Afghanistan, because as the students generate their own ideas and gain confidence to start their own businesses, the people of Afghanistan will find more employment and everyone will benefit.
This Spring Sadaar will continue his studies at Ansari High School, and he will take the Entrepreneurship advanced course, which is being taught in Afghanistan for the first time. He looks forward to reading more about business and he hopes to learn the story of successful businesses, whether they are in Afghanistan or other parts of the world. He wants to know specifically what makes a business successful. “Was it hard work?” he asks. “What makes a business successful?”
Published Date: February 08, 2006