Kazi Najib Ashraf: vision, what vision! It’s the $ dummy

It’s been a while since I wrote anything; there had been no motivation to share ideas that amount to nothing unnecessarily. I had been contemplating the direction these markets have been moving towards.

By these markets, I mean the Middle East, where I operate from and have observed an uncanny mood of a directionless missile heading nowhere. The trading community and businessmen don’t seem to realize the eternal curse of doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. The Middle East is primarily a resellers market, nothing of value gets manufactured here, and it’s the oil wealth that greases the wheels of the economy, a tourism hub here and there, and that’s where it all ends. The region waits for the next iPhone or the Tesla to bring in a new product to push the Ferris wheel a notch above, and so it goes.

Too many traders are trying to do the same thing working on the same brands and cutting each other’s throats when it comes to price wars; it’s the turnover and no margins. Add to this the recent phenomenon of VAT fraud, and it’s the game of nerves of how much loss a company can take as the prices keep dwindling; the fraudsters claim their money from VAT refunds while trashing good products. Everything from Mobile Phones and Cigarettes has been used for this criminal activity, and there seems to be no end to the mayhem.

For tips regarding smart retail you can always contact me at kazi.najib@playtorium.com Kazi Najib Ashraf The past few months have also taken me into new product categories, such as coffee roasting machines, thus opening new avenues and learnings. However, the deteriorating mood of business owners is a prelude to distressing times. I have been warning for years of over-relying on just one product line and not diversifying, but all that had fallen on deaf ears, and I am in no mood to discuss this again. I realized you could not beat a dead donkey and expect it to move, so why cry hoarse?