Captn founder Khurram Qureshi on making impactful business

Khurram Qureshi the founder of  Captn, Pakistan’s first global sports brand, is a business consultant who has worked across the world in places like Pakistan, the United States, and different countries in Europe. I spoke with Khurram about his career, and what business projects he is currently working on.

Beginning with his background, Khurram discussed how grew up in a lot of different locations, particularly in the United States, where he studied and earned his university qualifications, whilst cultivating his love for marketing and how branded companies communicate:

“I grew up in a lot of different countries. I have had a very global childhood. I studied marketing and business, and my core focus was marketing and communication. Growing up I was always interested in brands. As a kid instead of collecting football cards, I used to collect corporate stickers. Pepsi, Coke, brands such as that. This came from an interest in how companies presented themselves. I always had a passion for learning how multinational companies communicated.

It was exciting for me, learning how they presented themselves. I didn’t know this was marketing as a kid, but that’s what it was. I learned what marketing was, and I was lucky that it culminated in my interest, and has given me a career, helping brands and becoming a brand strategist. Working as an entrepreneur as well, the aspects of marketing helped this. It’s funny, I now help the brands that I used to collect as stickers”.

Captn- Pakistans first global sports brand

Moving onto the present, Khurram spoke to me about his last 12 months, and what he would consider the high points in what for him, was an eventful year:

“I think for me, in terms of successes, my biggest wins were shifting from different marketing roles to opening my own agency, to help startups, and I’ve been very focused on helping other entrepreneurs and their companies, using my experience and knowledge in bringing them up to speed on how the business works, and use these practices on low budget strategies.

Not only have I been running my own agency, but I have also been working on a few entrepreneurial projects, one being in technology, and the other being in sports. In the last year, I have been developing Pakistans first global sports brand”.

When asked what he would have done differently, Khurram spoke of COVID-19, and how it taught him to strategise in different ways:

“The pandemic taught me to strategise differently. Coronavirus provided me the opportunity to slim down and marginalise what I am trying to present. Customers are not spending huge sums of money during a time such as this. Nike, for instance, canceled a number of collaborators, slashing over $250 million dollars of their marketing budget. If this event is affecting brands such as Nike, imagine the “little guy” if you will. To put this into perspective, the answer lies in what I should do differently, rather than what I should have done differently”.

Speaking of his most current projects, Khurram went into detail about how he is keeping a watchful eye on the global market space, in order to keep a step ahead of competitors:

“I have been keeping a close eye on the market place and how it is shifting.  I recently worked for PlayStation in Saudi Arabia as a brand manager, helping to develop a full retail concept for the brand. This grew its market share by 20%. I also helped the biggest FMCG brand in the gulf called TANG, tackle ready-made juice brands by engaging emotional communication and finding insight that the brand connects kids with their mothers. For start-ups and entrepreneurs trying to get their business off the ground one of the key things I have learned is to pivot.

If you’re a tech startup you need to pivot and be open to change, avoiding being bolted down to one particular vision. A post COVID world is very different in how companies are running. Technology has provided a lot of opportunities. These are things that entrepreneurs should keep in mind. Although business was severely hit by COVID, one winner that came out of it was technology”.

Being digitally aware

Khurram and I then discussed the advice he would give to would-be startups, encouraging all new entrepreneurs to be digitally minded and aware.

“They have to be digitally minded. If you’re a start-up on a shoestring budget, its essential you take advantage of the free tech if that is available, for instance, ZOOM in terms of communication. Another thing to consider would be if you are moving into a remote workspace and bringing it into your strategy, you have to think outside the box.

You have to really look at it as if you’re running a normal work operation. Businesspeople have to be able to adapt. My advice would be to utilise all the resources available to you in carrying out your companies dealings remotely”.

To conclude, Khurram spoke to me about his inspirations, mentioning a figure who is very close to his heart, as well as a familiar name in the world of enterprise  as his main sources of motivation:

“I would firstly say my father, due to his persistence no matter what life threw at him, which is a key skill I try to use every day. Richard Branson is another of my role models. He loves marketing. He never went to university. He pays attention to personal branding. He is such a solid source of knowledge. He’s not a CEO who sits in a glass box. He’s down with the cabin crew serving food. He embodies his vision and is so down to earth”.

If you would like to get in contact with Khurram, get in touch via twitter at:

@sportsfounder.

or also via his Instagram at bmxagency.

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