The youngest entrepreneur of Kashmir, a CEO at the age of 17, and receiver of the Exemplary Youth Award in 2021, he is a successful digital marketer from Sopore, Kashmir. His name is Wasif Rashid, and here is his success story.
Wasif Rashid comes from an affluent family of fruit merchants. They stay in the Duroo village in Sopore, Kashmir. Since childhood, he had decided to start his own business. He did not want to be a part of their family business; his ambition was to start something new.
In 2016, Wasif applied his technical skills to start investing in the digital market. He studied the digital marketing concepts when he was just 13 years old and soon established his own IMEX and digital marketing company by the name Your World Pvt. Ltd. It was a time when the Kashmir valley was fraught with unrest. However, in those stressful times, Wasif took the courageous step of starting a business, thus living by the adage ‘Invest in Distress’.
Initially, Wasif started an online import-export portal where profits were shared between the dealer, buyer, and him. Online trading was new at that time. He established business relations at the local and global level, and his venture helped introduce many youngsters in Kashmir to the field of IMEX and digital marketing. He worked with a Samsung device and a pair of earphones, which he still uses, and jokingly calls them his business partners.
He has travelled around the world, worked with many successful businessmen and industry experts, and established himself as a successful digital marketer and entrepreneur. Today, around 80 people work in his firm. His digital and network marketing company ‘Your World’, works with the mission to create an infrastructure that encourages Kashmiri youth to start their own enterprise. He earns much more than the income he would have got from any other job. His success story is an example of how one’s skills and sincere effort can help in attaining success.
He always had a dream to start his own company, which has come true due to his hard work and talent. He derives inspiration from his father Abdul Rashid Bhat and owes his success to the support of his father and his sibling Wahid Rashid.
He believes that rather than giving too much importance to academics, formal education and holding a degree, youngsters today, should prefer to take up a career in the field of their interest, focus on their skills, and stay updated with the market trends. He says that degrees don’t matter to him. According to Wasif, rather that acquiring a degree and taking up a job, today’s youth should consider entrepreneurship. He thinks that with the right skill set, if one enters the right domain, it is possible to achieve success in business at any age. In his words, anyone with a sharp mind, social awareness and good communication skills, can become an entrepreneur at any point in life.
Wasif Rashid has been honoured with the Young Scientist Award by NASA and the Exemplary Youth Award in 2021. He was the delegate of Canada in the International Model of United Nations and the Literacy Lieutenant 2021. The National Innovation Foundation of India has also felicitated him. He has also received an award for innovation in the automatic iron press, a multipurpose agricultural tool.
Wasif’s journey has been impressive, given that he has achieved so much at a very young age. He recognized the importance of the digital world when he was only a child and during teenage, he equipped himself with the knowledge and skills required to ace the field of digital marketing. He took the road less travelled and went on to become a successful entrepreneur. Despite accomplishing so much, complacency hasn’t set in. He aims at expanding his business to create employment in his homeland. He wants to change the thinking of Kashmiri youngsters and guide them on the path of entrepreneurship.
