Globalization, Small Biz-Style

Young entrepreneurs in developing countries find the Internet allows them to scale up operations without huge investments

by Karen E. Klein

Although he is just 19 years old, Muhammad Hassaan Khan is serious about entrepreneurship. He started his bachelor's in business administration a year ago, and shortly thereafter founded his own company. It now employs 10 people, offering services from business software consulting to branding and graphics design.

His business philosophy reflects his enthusiasm, ambition, and drive. "It may be difficult for a young entrepreneur from a low-class family to give time to entrepreneurship while studying, but it is possible. I wish every [student] would try to manage either a job or his own venture," Khan wrote in an e-mail.

What makes his optimism particularly striking is Khan's location. He and his company, Zuha Innovation, are based in Faisalabad, Pakistan, a country that over the past several months has boiled over with political upheaval, including the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December. The political problems (BusinessWeek, 12/28/07) have so far not touched Khan directly, he wrote: "The political crisis is having an effect somewhere on the upper level, but we are hopeful [the situation] will be recovered soon. We are not facing any particular problems due to that crisis."

A Worldwide Trend

Khan may be part of an international trend, says Adam Toren, president of YoungEntrepreneur.com, a small business Web site geared to entrepreneurs around the world. "Over the last nine years, we have had the opportunity to witness extremely strong growth of entrepreneurial members from all over the world. Within the last couple of years, we have noticed more and more members networking within the YoungEntrepreneur.com community from less developed nations," he says.

Anand Sharma, president and chief executive officer of international business consultancy TBM Consulting Group, agrees. "I'm very optimistic about what I'm seeing in many parts of the world, including India, China, Mexico, and Brazil," he says.

It is the Internet, of course, that has lowered barriers to business entry in nearly every corner of the globe. In Pakistan, Khan wrote, "Internet facilities are available on every doorstep, with reasonable cost. Business working is so comfortable and easy to do on the Internet. Every one can access it now because the computer is not a posh product—almost every one can have one easily."

How the Internet Opens Doors

No matter where they are located, as long as they have Internet access entrepreneurs can create an online business, Toren says. The companies they are creating range from successful e-commerce sites selling specific local products to popular bloggers (BusinessWeek, 7/13/07) making income from advertising revenues. "Web experts and designers from less developed nations have created small yet rapidly growing businesses that assist small- to medium-size businesses with their Web site design, coding, illustrations, and even live technical support," he says. "It really seems as though the Internet is starting to bring all continents, races, cities, and villages together into a global network of trade and communications."

Vladimir Mishev, who lives in the Republic of Macedonia, helped his father start a company and worked with him for 15 years before he joined a startup software venture last year. "My father started from zero and I worked with him through the process of growing the company," he wrote in an e-mail. "I was working with my father while I finished my studies. It was very hard for me, and I don't have a lot of free time to spend with my friends."