Innovation and Leadership: An Exclusive Interview with Sarim Nadeem, Founder of Tech and E-Commerce Ventures
I had the pleasure of interviewing Sarim Nadeem, Founder of multiple startups, including a tech company, e-Commerce logistics, an Omni-Channel platform called PixelOne, and a phone cables manufacturing brand called Connect With Taar. Sarim’s diverse 15-year career has been full of leadership, bringing together great teams and developing amazing products around the IT sector.
He started his career as a freelancer during university and very quickly developed that into an IT services company of more than 20+ people in just 3 years. He also started a Print on Demand business where customers would place customized t-shirt orders online and get them delivered to their doorstep. Later, he developed several SAAS-based products and among them, Omni-Channel was the most prominent. Sarim then launched 3PL services for Amazon, eBay, and Shopify sellers, which is now expanding in UAE, UK, and the US. He also owns a phone cable manufacturing facility where his brand is sold globally via e-commerce.
What motivated you to launch your startup?
Business has always fascinated me; the financial freedom, the ability to create products and services with a team is something that I enjoy the most. I started coding in grade 6th and I have been writing software ever since. IT, to me, came as a passion and ultimately became my everything. I started off as a freelance web developer and eventually formed a software house which would employ 40+ people. I worked with amazing brands and developed their business in the e-commerce area. My understanding was very clear that one day e-commerce will take over a big chunk of sales and this vision gave me a first-mover’s advantage in the industry. I was keen on learning new things and then imparting that knowledge to my teammates. We serviced over 100+ clients and developed their e-commerce ecosystem from website to fulfillment, and opened new doors for revenue for their businesses.
What is it that excites you about what you’re building?
I love creating brands and businesses, developing teams in small bits and pieces to achieve great products and services in my passion. I have had the opportunity to do this for hundreds of projects over the last 15 years. When you’re working on a product or a service, it’s like your baby. Whatever you are doing is going to impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who will use that product or service. Today, our services are not only software or just making an e-commerce website, it’s a complete ecosystem where we have the warehousing service, the omni-channel, agency, backend support, last-mile delivery, and much more. Anyone coming to us gets a 360-degree service under one roof and that is what differentiates us from the competition.
What has been your biggest challenge when growing your startup?
Finding the right team, and making sure that the dream team works with the exact same passion as per the leadership has been my biggest challenge. When you’re working towards a dream, it’s not always the case that your managers, executives, and teammates are aligned with your vision and passion. Instilling the same tenacity and drive in them would be your biggest challenge. Because anyone who is joining you for a paycheck will leave for the next employer who is willing to offer more. The only holding glue will be the underlying passion. The change that you are generating with that product or service is going to be the single most powerful force that will keep the team going every day.
What are your future plans for your startup?
I want to expand both in the physical space and software with my e-commerce projects. I strongly believe that e-commerce has now become a strong economic pillar on a global level, and it requires multiple services and industries. For example, if you have an online store, you will need a warehouse for fulfillment of orders. And then you need digital marketing to siphon the customers to your site from social media and search. The ability to coherently deliver outstanding 360-degree services is going to be the future of e-commerce. Companies like Amazon have been so successful in e-commerce is because they have given you the platform to shop, they have given you FBA which is pick-pack-dispatch and storage services, and finally, they have prime delivery, which is your last-mile doorstep delivery. They have covered the complete chain of the product.
If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a Founder who’s about to start their own startup, what would they be?
In business, just do whatever you are passionate about, because it’s going to get really difficult out there, and if you’re not passionate about what you do, you are eventually going to quit. Learn the art of selling, equip yourself with the skills that you believe you are passionate about, and then just start working. It will all come easy to you.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
I'm only active on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarimnadeem/
I would love to hear about your brands and see what we can contribute.
This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!
