My path

1, 2, 3, [...] 10. Almost 10 moths have passed since I started to work for one of Pakistani company in Karachi.

Coming to Pakistan and joining this particular company was one of my best decisions ever (after joining AIESEC). This company helped me to realize what kind of sales person I am. I used to think, that I can be or I should be a good sales person, but working for different companies in Lithuania I was struggling with realization of my goals and ambitious. Finally when I joined Wavetec, a company which operates internationally, I realized that my strength in sales is to work in distance. Unfortunately I'm not that kind of guy who can go from door to door and offer services or/and products to the customers or B2B.
Even my company is quite old (nearly 20 years) but only ~10 years started to focus on new product portfolio which turned Wavetec in one of the leading electronic queue management and information display systems (LED) supplier in Pakistan, Middle East and Africa is on the way.
I started to work in this company as national sales executive and was given few accounts to handle (RBS and Standard Chartered Bank). However I was disappointed with my role because I still was not confident in product knowledge and had limited freedom (for example, didn't have car to visit clients and etc.). So after several discussions with HR and CEO was decided to move me to international sales department (after 2 months working on national sales). And from that day on I started to enjoy my job. I was accountable to one of the directors of the company and both of us were working on African region. As it was new region for company, I had to pass quite boring and sometimes annoying tasks: researching about markets, calculating market potential, preparing documentation, browsing hundreds of websites and looking for potential distributor in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Libya, etc. African region is complicated... In some cases it reminds me Pakistan culture. Whenever you start approaching company which might be potential for distributing your products, they get so excited about the idea of partnership, but when it comes to financial questions - seems that they swallow their tongue and disappear. Africans, the same as Pakistanis, never say no (or at least they tend not to say that). Such attitude makes communication, believe me, really complicated.
However, after 5-6 months working for African region I learned a lot about our products, about company policies, logistics, supply, payments terms, pricing, product integration into different market segments, such as: banks, telecoms, hospitals, governmental institutions, etc. With this confidence and experience I was given a new region to handle. Central Asian market is considered as one of the growing ones (despite financial crisis, etc.). Countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and other -stan countries are rich of natural recourses and it is their one of the driving keys. International companies and banks are opening head offices in above mentioned countries and it is a sign for us step in as well. Because of my Russian language skills I was given responsibility to develop business in that region. Responsibility is huge. I have authority to make decisions about distributors, make marketing materials, travel to particular countries and meet my partners, I have my own budget with planned incomes and expenditures (I took budget template which was used in my MC term. Senior management was impressed - thank you, Rytis!).
I started to work on Central Asian region in beginning of July. According my plan I'm already exceeding expectations - business opportunities looks very promising. Well, but the time runs really fast and my internship is going to the end. 2 more months left to go. And here comes dilemma I need to solve: should I stay till the end of financial year (2010 June) or should I go back to Lithuania.
Seems that company likes me and they trust in me whatever I do. They are listen my suggestions and willing to support me. However, the country and city I'm living in makes me a bit depressive. I believe if I would manage to deal with my fluctuating depression - I could stay for another 7-8 month.
The fact that I became more and more aware of company structure and work flow makes my role more respectful. Even I don’t have associates but people on the same line treats me equally and sometimes I feel that they act as they are accountable for me. It is really good feeling being respected for who you are and for what you do. It is one of the motivations for me to stay.
The time is still running. Decision is coming soon. Stay tuned!

P.S. Question / Answer session as always in ‘comments’ sections : )

Fighting Against Nature

After 8 months and 20 days living in Karachi I experienced mason for the first time. Actually it was first time I experienced a proper rain in this country. Last weekend I felt that whole nation was praying for the rain but forgot to mention for how much.
And so it started to rain on Saturday morning and continued till late night. The result was awful… Whole streets were flooded, cars stopped in the middle of the street as water was going up to the window (~1 meter high). Children and adults were going out and playing in dirty water which was taking away everything down the stream.

Our apartment where interns are living almost got flooded. Luckily we took actions on right time and managed to arrange some kind of barriers to re-direct the water stream which was coming from the roof. You should see our stairs: it looked like entire waterfall : ) Everyone got wet, dozens of towels and other clothes were wasted just to protect water coming to apartment. We were fighting against nature for few hours until rain stopped. I was joking that a men won against nature. Again. : )

The outcome of this small storm is that we are living without electricity for more then 24 hours (actually this morning when I woke up it was ~36 hours). Our fridge is F#@%ed up, we have no fans working and the time goes by so sloooowly.
I couldn’t wait for Monday morning to go to my office as it makes me feel closer to civilization: uninterrupted power supply, internet, air conditioner and etc.
Well, one more adventure has past. Look forward for another…

The greatest pleasure in the world

As in any big city around the world you can find everything starting from poverty and finishing with amazing luxury! Karachi, the biggest city in Pakistan is not an exception.
Pakistan, as a country exists only ~60 years. In such short time of period Pakistan managed to gain reputation of suicide bombers, terrorist, Islamic fanatics and etc. I heard that in New York City they have more crime acts per day when anywhere else in the world… However today I’m going to leave aggressive topic aside and introduce you with the greatest pleasure in the world which is valued by all nations and in all historical times. Because of all kind of spices, fruits, seeds and other products we had wars and colonies appeared in different continents.
It is quite difficult to understand while being in your home country, that simple rules, behavior or attitude can not be applied here. For example, there are people who always take care of hygiene. Unless you will be eating all the time in the most expensive restaurants, you won’t get a fork and knife in casual street restaurant (a simple place for eating traditional dishes) – everything is eatable with your own hands and usually from the same plate. It is amazing how people still alive. The places where I’m going for lunch during my office time would not be even allowed to start business because of not existing hygiene. 6 months have past and I’m still alive and actually feel just great.
There are few types of restaurants (here I use word ‘restaurant’ as a word describing place for eating). First type is restaurants, expensive ones where you can feel like at home (or even better). In Lithuania sometimes is quite problematic to call waitress to be served or to give order, differently from Pakistan, where each table gets at least three people serving you. Sometime it gets annoying, but I believe that after one year I’ll be missing that back at home (despite that I’m not going to such restaurants too often). In these restaurants you can get any kind of food: traditional stakes, pastas, Chinese food, spicy and regular dishes, snacks, drinks (non-alcoholic), deserts and etc. Everything is served perfectly fine on white tablecloth, with A/C and etc.
Second type is family restaurants, the place where people can come with their family members, friends (I mean girls and boys), sit, and chat and have good time together. Probably this type of restaurants are the most common and most popular. You get tasty food for a reasonable price, there are always enough place to sit for big group of people and they can arrange order from other restaurant which is on the same street (for example if I want some specific juice which are not available in restaurant I am, they will arrange it for me without any additional charges). As per my knowledge, these types of restaurants are mostly crowded in evening after work or sunset when people have more free time and can relax. That is why these restaurants are located in busiest streets and they can offer table inside or outside. While passing one of these restaurants by car or by walk you will meet from 5 to (unlimited) number of guys and small kids running right after you being ready to jump under the car just to convince you to choose their restaurant. You can call them ‘club promoters’. Believe me or not, but their strategy is working (more or less). As soon as you put your soft ass on the plastic chair to be served – their job is done.
The third type of restaurants I wanted to introduce you with is with the lowest quality in terms of service and hygiene. I’m not proud to say that I’m going everyday to one of these restaurants to have my lunch. The best they can offer is a traditional dish for really cheep price. Usually there are one or two guys serving tables. What is the most amazing for me is that they don’t need to write down your order – they always remember what and how much you ate.
Imagine a guy with very oily and dirty shalwar kameez, caring one rag with which he cleans all sh*t from the table (most probably all day long). With the same hand bring you a plate with your ordered food, taking with bred with hands and giving to you and etc. People are throwing cigarettes, small papers or any other useless stuff right on the floor or under the table (and its stays there till the end of the day). Homeless cats with broken tale or leg are common view as well. If you have a good mood today, you can throw a piece of chicken for poor animal.
In such places you will never see women. As once my colleague from office said: “they most probably would forget eating and keep staring at me”. I think she is right. In these restaurants are coming people from lower class, workers and etc.
Depending how strongly you want to feel Pakistan culture you can choose your lunch/dinner place.
Bone appetite!