Hard work and perseverance are essential elements of success. Nasir Gill, the owner of a fast-growing tailoring business from the low-income locality of Youhanabad, Lahore, is a living example of the continuous, unfailing struggle for one’s goals that can lead to the achievement of outstanding accomplishments.
Growing up, Nasir saw his family struggle through financial hardships and decided early on to change the course of his life. He aimed to become a financially independent and self-reliant member of his community. He decided to learn tailoring and worked for several tailoring businesses at a meagre wage for a few years. However, working for others did not bring him the personal fulfillment he sought. He wanted to stand on his own and start his business.
He had already developed a loyal clientele during his apprenticeship period and was optimistic that they would support his new enterprise. However, with minimal to no savings of his own, he was without the financial capital required to rent a shop, buy the necessary equipment, and secure the required inventory. He kept exploring his options until he came across a representative of Mobilink Microfinance Bank (MMBL), who introduced him to the extensive range of lending products at MMBL that were tailor-made to support self-starters like him. He found MMBL’s Karobar loan as perfectly suited to his needs and immediately applied for the first loan cycle.
His loan request was processed and released much faster than he expected due to the bank’s state-of-the-art digital financial services that made the process quick and hassle-free. Nasir received PKR 80,000 in the first loan cycle which allowed him to kickstart his dream venture. Within a short time, due to his skills, hard work, and the support of his satisfied customers, his business began to flourish and he was able to return his loan in easy installments within the stipulated time.
In the subsequent years, Nasir availed two more loans, of up to PKR 125,000 to further expand his scale of operations and add new tailoring products for his customers. As more and more work started coming in, he was able to hire two employees to assist him in the shop.
“I cannot imagine doing it all without my bank,” said Nasir. “MMBL has made availing loans very easy, and returning them is even more convenient. The decision to avail this loan changed my family’s fortune and we are now living a life that we couldn’t envision a few years ago. I couldn’t have found a better partner to help me through my hard times than Mobilink Microfinance Bank Limited.”
While Nasir is grateful for the remarkable change in his family’s standard of living, he has further ambitions to enhance his operations with MMBL’s financial support.
“I want to give a facelift to my shop by installing an air conditioner and an LED TV,” Nasir said. “Additionally, I want to buy the best sewing and Kaj Overlock machines in the market to improve the quality and efficacy of our work.”
He also wants to create shared value in society by employing more and more people in his locality where there is a severe dearth of economic opportunities.
In Pakistan, around 99% of economic establishments are SMEs which collectively contribute 40% to the GDP and 26% to the exports from the manufacturing sector. Mobilink Microfinance Bank’s microloans are supporting hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses, catalyzing economic prosperity and wellbeing at the grassroots. A significant number of these businesses are based in rural economies and are led by women and thereby qualify to receive preferential processing at MMBL under its women-empowerment initiatives. As Pakistan’s largest digital bank, MMBL is leveraging its groundbreaking digital financial ecosystem to disburse digital loans and bring unserved segments of the population into the fold of digital and financial inclusion.