Years back during my school vacations I was instructed by my parents to attend our cloth shop and be a part of the working team. Like all young school boys I disliked working in vacations because, like every one I too felt that vacations are just to play and enjoy. I was told that evenings were meant to play but the rest of the part of the day was to learn practical lessons of business. I had two other boys of my age working with me, who, I was told were sons of rich men. They were learning the basics of business.
Guess what were the basics of business according to them? To keep the shelf clean, to check the bills (no calculators used in those days), to pay electric bills, to talk to the customers, to pack the sold good nicely, to order tea and snacks for seniors... These are the essential and routine jobs of a business and many business houses loose lot of customers, good will and money for not paying attention to these routines. Today those two boys earn a lot of money more than many MBAs though they did not do any formal post graduation in famous universities.
I met my friend who is already in his thirties and he wanted to do some more courses in UK, so he was looking for some sponsors. I asked him" Why don't you earn on your own and get money for your own studies?" He said I am fond of learning and learning requires lot of time to focus so I cannot work "!!! This happens to be a common reply from many young men who are already in their mid twenties and still depended upon their ageing fathers to pay their fees and also pocket money.
My Gujarati community is quite advanced in this manner. Teenage sons accompany their fathers to banks and help them write accounts too. If you go through the list of the students in prominent Commerce colleges of Mumbai you will see Shahs, Jhaveris, Patels..most of them Gujarati's. They learn accounts and do part time jobs right from the year they join their colleges. That is the reason why almost all the Mumbai commerce colleges run from 7am to 10 am in the morning.
In my teenage we used to stay in a Gujarati locality so I got to learn a lot about their approach towards earning. A young friend of mine used to give tuition to little children and he earned around 1000/ INR a month,, to huge for a teenager in those days.Today he has taken teaching as his profession and I am told that he earns around a lac rupees a month ! Another young friend of mine helped his father to run his business and by the time he graduated he took over the entire business.
Early experience in jobs, business and sales gives you an edge in your professions as well. Muslim youth should take lessons from this. After all halal earning right from early days is a part of financial education and learning practical lessons in early youth will give you a speed in moving ahead as well as make way for you to get married early (Ahem Ahem Ahem) as many of you delay marriages because you are unable to settle till you pass twenty five. May Allah SWT Help us to chose right Professions so that we can earn Halal Income.