By Pirah Aijaz
People learn skills and expect overnight success, not realizing that every growth process takes time. This is what I learned in my entrepreneurship journey. After leaving the 9 to 5 grind, it took me 6 years to build my career. So, I would say nothing happens overnight. Do you know what I did? I just stayed consistent and got success. Due to my self-driven and never-give-up attitude, I just kept on working and got results. That’s what pushed me to do something that satisfied my soul.
Nobody can change your life until you are not willing to do it. I believe that there is a turning point in everyone’s life that changes the entire life. A turning point also came in my life which made me realize that nothing is impossible if you are consistent and aligned with your goals. This helped me to start my freelance career and it turned me into an entrepreneur.
Back then, I still remember the time when I was doing Masters but despite being a brilliant student, I had no sense of writing blogs because of no reading habit. I was inspired by my father who is a renowned, senior journalist/writer/author, I wanted to be like him. Well, I tried to write but failed. I found it difficult to fulfill my dreams of becoming a renowned person, but I didn’t give up. Then, one day I got inspiration while reading (Womenshade Magazine, Quetta based NGO. ), which works for women’s rights and release monthly magazine with both English & Urdu sections. Then, I started writing in Urdu for their magazine. Since then I didn’t look back and meanwhile, I completed my M.Phil (Education) and continued writing for several Urdu dailies.
In 2019, I started my freelance journey. This was one of the unexpected turns of events. Yes…it sounds weird, but it’s true. It was a time when I was offered a volunteer task by a Pakistan-based NGO to translate a document from Urdu to English. And after getting good reviews, again they approached me for a paid task as a translator which was worth Rs.1000/- only. I was motivated by it because it made me realize the power of skills. That was a turning point in my life. Having never looked back since then, I’ve continued my journey. Although I was not tech-savvy and had never used traditional freelance platforms such as; Upwork, Fiverr, etc, I found an alternative- Facebook.
At the time social media became an important part of my life as I looked for work on Facebook Freelancers groups and also created a Facebook page as a portfolio where I posted all my written work as I have been writing since 2013 when I used to write for Urdu dailies and magazines. Due to this, I haven’t had any issues building my portfolio for my clients. I kept promoting my work on social media platforms and luckily, I started getting orders from local clients. During the early stages of establishing my Freelance career, I took some online courses to polish my content writing skills. I started offering content writing services to Pakistan-based clients, and I did some short-term and long-term projects to make myself financially stable. Meanwhile, I launched a website “Zippy Writers” (Zippy means Passionate). It was a small platform for emerging women writers where they can write blogs on different issues.
Coming to the point, when I felt like I have enough knowledge and skills to train others then I started thinking to turn my freelance career into entrepreneurship.
In 2020, I decided to start my brand because I was so inspired by women entrepreneurs who run their businesses successfully from home. My inspiration helped me to launch Zippy Writers as a startup. In addition to content writing & other services, I also started giving online classes to the women on a variety of freelance skills, such as; SEO, Blogging, Copywriting, etc. I had great success with my business venture, which I started on my own without any guidance or mentorship.
We are now registered with SECP/FBR to give all women worldwide the opportunity to learn and empower themselves by creating their opportunities. In the last three years, we have produced several talented content writers who have made their way into the freelance marketplace.
We plan to create a job portal for women so that they can easily find freelance work because the majority of females are not tech-savvy, and may not even be able to access traditional freelance platforms. It would be easy for them to use a user-friendly platform.
All in all, nothing is impossible. You just need to be consistent with whatever you do, and you will be succeeded.
