Naukhez Sarwar

entrepreneur associated with Retailo

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Naukhez Sarwar is the co-founder of Retailo. Sarwar has said the idea was to secure a job before the university graduates came out, but it did not work out because nobody was hiring at that time. He joined a very small company that belonged to a LUMS graduate.

Early life and background

Sarwar is from Gujranwala. His parents come from a small village about one and a half to two hours from Gujranwala, towards Narowal. His father was a banker and his mother was a school teacher. [1]

He is one of three brothers, and all three attended boarding schools. The first fee his parents paid was equivalent to four months of salary. His family used its savings, took many loans and sold small properties. He has said he almost got into the army. [1]

Education

Sarwar spent five years at Cadet College Hasan Abdal, a boarding school near Islamabad, and started there in 2004. He has said that during what he thinks was his first year at school, there was a LUMS programme called NOP, the National Outreach Program. The programme aims to get students without exposure or financial resources into tier one universities in Pakistan. [1]

NOP picked students, prepared them for SATs and university entry tests, and paid the costs. It promised to pay for a student's university education for four years if the family could not afford it. Sarwar memorised an SAT preparation book. [1]

The first university he saw was LUMS. He chose Economics and Political Science as his majors there and completed a dual major. He took summer courses because most of his credits were free, and he graduated early, in late 2012, six months before his classmates. [1]

Career

Sarwar has said the idea was to secure a job before the university graduates came out, but it did not work out because nobody was hiring at that time. He joined a very small company that belonged to a LUMS graduate. He has said that he and his colleagues were trying to create a business-to-consumer marketplace for Pakistan, an "Amazon of Pakistan", but in essence were selling t-shirts. [1]

He joined a company called Shopistan. He has said he spent almost three years at a company and then transitioned into his own startup. He is also reported to have joined Careem and to have left a job in 2020. [1]

Taza Daily

Sarwar has said he ran his own company, Taza Daily, from an incubator. Taza Daily was a business-to-consumer grocery delivery company. It used a subscription model, with milk as the subscription product. [1]

At its peak, Taza Daily had around 250 subscribers and sold 300 to 400 liters of milk a day. Its growth stalled because its milk capacity was capped at about 400 liters, and growing past that capacity would have needed a large infrastructure investment. He has said he was selling cow milk at that time, while Lahore is big on buffalo milk. He has also said he sourced directly from the mandi, and that fruit and vegetables were part of the business, but not a big part. [1]

Retailo

Sarwar has said Retailo serves about 35,000 retailers in Pakistan. He has said it operates in Karachi and is opening in Islamabad, and that it plans to open in Lahore within the next couple of months. He has described Lahore as a very competitive space. He has said Retailo is also looking at places such as Haripur and Abbottabad, and wants to run pilots in far-away areas that are two to three hours' drive away. [1]

He has said Retailo's purpose is to enable a person he calls Maqsood bhai, and that Retailo exists because of Maqsood bhai. He has said Retailo wants to sell to the end consumer, but through Maqsood bhai. He has described Retailo as the link between Maqsood bhai and money that could potentially be deployed to him. He has said Retailo does the financial feasibility and scoring for retailers because it has access to their data. [1]

Views

Sarwar has said core things will have to be done in house. He has said a hybrid online and offline store, such as Maqsood bhai's, is probably going to be more efficient than a dark store. He has said that for a $5 order, a logistics cost of $1.5 is the average in this model, and that Maqsood bhai's son could make the delivery, a five-minute cycle ride. [1]

He has said prices begin to inflate the further one goes from a metro city, because the supply chain is not optimised. On personal progress, he has said it completely depends on the individual, who has to create their own path. [1]

Timeline

2004
Started at Cadet College Hasan Abdal.[1]
2012
Graduated in late 2012, six months before his classmates.[1]
2020
Reported to have left a job.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2021-11-22 Why Retailo is betting on Maksud bhai instead of dark stores Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Where did Naukhez Sarwar study?

Naukhez Sarwar spent five years at Cadet College Hasan Abdal, a boarding school near Islamabad. He chose Economics and Political Science as his majors at LUMS and completed a dual major.[1]

Where is Naukhez Sarwar from?

Naukhez Sarwar is from Gujranwala. His parents come from a small village about one and a half to two hours from Gujranwala, towards Narowal.[1]

What was Taza Daily?

Taza Daily was a business-to-consumer grocery delivery company that Naukhez Sarwar ran. It used a subscription model with milk as the subscription product. At its peak it had around 250 subscribers.[1]

What is Retailo's reach, according to Naukhez Sarwar?

Naukhez Sarwar has said Retailo serves about 35,000 retailers in Pakistan. He has said it operates in Karachi, is opening in Islamabad and plans to open in Lahore within the next couple of months.[1]

What early jobs did Naukhez Sarwar have?

Naukhez Sarwar has said the idea was to secure a job before the university graduates came out, but nobody was hiring at that time. He joined a very small company that belonged to a LUMS graduate, and joined a company called Shopistan.[1]

References

  1. Why Retailo is betting on Maksud bhai instead of dark stores . Thought Behind Things , 2021-11-22.
Show the source passages (53 statements)
  1. Naukhez Sarwar is described as an entrepreneur. In conversation with a 30-year-old Entrepreneur
  2. According to the episode description, Naukhez Sarwar joined Careem. Why did he join Careem?
  3. According to the episode description, Naukhez Sarwar left a job in 2020. Why did he leave his job in 2020?
  4. He is from Gujranwala. I am so I am based I am I am you know from Gujranwala
  5. His parents come from a small village about one and a half to two hours from Gujranwala, towards Narowal. my parents, they belong to a small village. Gujranwala se dedh do ghante door towards Narowal
  6. His father was a banker and his mother was a school teacher. And my my father was a banker. Right. And my mother was a school teacher.
  7. He is one of three brothers, and all three attended boarding schools. hum teen bhai the. All three of them were in boarding schools at some point
  8. He has said he almost got into the army. I was I was on track. I almost got into the army
  9. He spent five years at Cadet College Hasan Abdal, a boarding school near Islamabad. I went to Hasan Abdal, Cadet College Hasan Abdal. It's a boarding school. Islamabad ke paas hi hai. And I spent five years there
  10. He started at Hasan Abdal in 2004. this is 2004 when I went there
  11. The first fee his parents paid was equivalent to four months of salary. So the first fee that my parents paid was equivalent to four months salary
  12. His family used its savings, took many loans and sold small properties. So savings exhaust ki, bahut sare loans liye and bahut sari you know, jo bhi hamari choti moti properties thi, woh sell ki
  13. He has said that during what he thinks was his first year at school, there was a LUMS programme called NOP, the National Outreach Program. during I think first year, there was this program from LUMS called NOP program. And this is National Outreach Program
  14. The NOP programme aims to get students without exposure or financial resources into tier one universities in Pakistan. Aur is program ka maqsad hai ke jo log exposure jinke paas nahi hai aur jinke paas financial resources nahi hai to get into tier one universities of Pakistan
  15. NOP picked students, prepared them for SATs and university entry tests, and paid the costs. they identify those students and phir unko woh tayari karate hain of SATs, of entry test of universities. And then they do all the expense in the process
  16. NOP promised to pay for a student's university education for four years if the family could not afford it. if you get into a university and they know your parents cannot afford a university, so they will pay for your education for the next four years
  17. The first university he saw was LUMS. And that was the first time I actually saw a university. And the first university I saw was LUMS
  18. He chose Economics and Political Science as his majors at LUMS. in LUMS, I had to pick my major, right? So after a year, we pick our majors and I picked Economics and Political Science
  19. He completed a dual major. toh I I did a dual major
  20. He graduated early, in late 2012, six months before his classmates. So I graduated in end 2012. So six months before my classmates
  21. He took summer courses because most of his credits were free. I took summer courses because I mean most of my credits were free
  22. He has said the idea was to secure a job before the university graduates came out, but it did not work out because nobody was hiring at that time. Idea was to secure a job before, you know, all of the university grads come out. It didn't work out because us time pe koi hire nahi kar raha hota tha
  23. He joined a very small company that belonged to a LUMS graduate. I ended up joining a very small company jo ek LUMS grad ki hi company thi
  24. He has said that he and his colleagues were trying to create a B2C marketplace for Pakistan, an "Amazon of Pakistan", but in essence were selling t-shirts. we were trying to create a a B2C marketplace for Pakistan, Amazon of Pakistan bana rahe the. Achha. But in essence, what we were doing, we were selling t-shirts
  25. He joined a company called Shopistan. I joined a company called Shopistan
  26. He has said he spent almost three years at a company and then transitioned into his own startup. I didn't leave. I never left. So I I spent almost three years there and then I transitioned into into my own startup
  27. He has said he ran his own company, Taza Daily, from an incubator. I moved into an incubator called Plan9. Right. Um, and then I was running my company from there. And that company was called Taza Daily
  28. Taza Daily was a B2C grocery delivery company. Taza Daily was a a B2C grocery delivery company
  29. Taza Daily used a subscription model, with milk as the subscription product. It was a subscription-based model. So subscription product was milk
  30. At its peak, Taza Daily had around 250 subscribers. So at peak, I had around 250 customers, 250 subscribers
  31. Taza Daily sold 300 to 400 liters of milk a day. I was selling 300 to 400 liters of milk a day
  32. Taza Daily's growth stalled because its milk capacity was capped at about 400 liters. my growth was stalled. So the capacity of milk that I had was 400 liters
  33. Growing past that capacity would have needed a large infrastructure investment. The next to unlock the next capacity, I needed, you know, huge infrastructure investment
  34. He has said he was selling cow milk at that time, while Lahore is big on buffalo milk. I was selling cow milk at that time. Lahore is big on buffalo milk
  35. He has said he sourced directly from the mandi. I was sourcing directly from the mandi
  36. He has said fruit and vegetables were part of the business, but not a big part. fruits and vegetables was was part of this, but not big
  37. He has said Retailo serves about 35,000 retailers in Pakistan. Aur in Pakistan we serve around 35,000 retailers
  38. He has said Retailo operates in Karachi and is opening in Islamabad. we are only operating in Karachi, Islamabad we are opening this week
  39. He has said Lahore is a very competitive space right now. A less competition here. Lahore is a very competitive space right now
  40. He has said Retailo plans to open in Lahore within the next couple of months. We want to open Lahore in next couple of months
  41. He has said Retailo is also looking at places such as Haripur and Abbottabad. we are also looking at uh you know places like Haripur, Abbottabad
  42. He has said Retailo wants to run pilots in far-away areas that are two to three hours' drive away. we want to, you know, run pilots in those far away, you know, jo do two hours, three hours ki drive pe areas hain
  43. He has said Retailo's purpose is to enable a person he calls Maqsood bhai, and that Retailo exists because of Maqsood bhai. Our purpose is to enable Maqsood bhai. We exist because of Maqsood bhai
  44. He has said Retailo wants to sell to the end consumer, but through Maqsood bhai. We want to sell to end consumer but through Maqsood bhai
  45. He has said Retailo is the link between Maqsood bhai and money that could potentially be deployed to him. So we are the link between Maqsood bhai and that that money that can potentially be deployed to Maqsood bhai
  46. He has said Retailo does the financial feasibility and scoring for retailers because it has access to their data. it's basically financial feasibility and scoring all of that for the retailer. That we are we are gonna do because we have access to the data
  47. He has said core things will have to be done in house. that's why core things will have to do in house
  48. He has said a hybrid online and offline store, such as Maqsood bhai's, is probably going to be more efficient than a dark store. Maqsood bhai ka jo store hai wo online aur offline hybrid store hai, it's probably going to be more efficient than a dark store
  49. He has said that for a $5 order, a logistics cost of $1.5 is the average in this model. $5 ke order ke liye agar aap $1.5 logistics cost incur kar rahe hain jo average hoti hai is model ke andar
  50. He has said Maqsood bhai's son could make the delivery, a five-minute cycle ride. Maqsood bhai ka beta bhi wo delivery kar sakta hai. It's five minute cycle ki drive
  51. He has said prices begin to inflate the further one goes from a metro city, because the supply chain is not optimised. jitna aap Metro city se dur jaate hain, aapki jo supply chain kyunki optimized nahi hai, aapki jo prices hain wo bhi inflate karna shuru kar deti hain
  52. He has said it completely depends on the individual, who has to create their own path. I think it it completely depends on you. Right. And you have to create your own path
  53. He memorised an SAT preparation book. woh SAT ki book maine, uska ratta lagaya tha