In this episode of our Learn Better Podcast, host Stuart Pedley Smith, Head of Learning at Kaplan, looks at personal and professional failures, and how this has a significant factor on success.
Our guest is Asif Muhammad, CEO of Main Course Associates which has offices in London, Italy, Spain and the USA. The company specialises in providing financial, accounting and management support to those in the hospitality industry. But alongside this, Asif is also an investor, turnaround specialist, serial entrepreneur, writer and philanthropist and much more…
Accounts and finance professionals not only have the ability to change the world, but they have the responsibility to do so. If we aren’t going to do it, then who else is going to do it?
Key topics
Personal growth is a choice
Asif discusses his remarkable journey from growing up in Pakistan, to moving to the UK and finding himself homeless, which helped him to become the hardworking and determined entrepreneur he is today.
Change is inevitable, but personal growth is a choice.
After receiving a college scholarship, he started his finance journey, which led to his ambition to study for his ACCA qualification in the UK. Moving to the UK, and not knowing anyone, led to a dramatic turn of events, he was mugged and left homeless with nothing.
And yet, despite such terrible circumstances, he continued to choose to grow, building up his resilience to the hand that life had dealt him.
Deal with the hand that life has dealt you
Asif searched for work and eventually found himself working numerous jobs. Travelling from place to place on the bus, the loneliness and lack of people allowed him to reflect on life, leading to him eventually setting up his own business. But it certainly was not that easy.
After his studies, Asif gained the opportunity to work in a finance department for Gordon Ramsay. He loved working in the fast-paced and dynamic hospitality industry, where he met an associate who eventually offered him a job at a consultancy company.
This job led to becoming a partner, and then the full owner of a global business.
Mentors and motivation
Stuart asks Asif about his motivation and any mentors that inspired him to get to where he is today. Asif breaks it down into two points.
- 1
The space of possibility
He views life similarly to having a big vision but needing to break it down into small steps through strategy and tactical planning. An example of doing this is by breaking your life down into decades, such as having a ten-year vision and working backwards from that.
- 2
The importance of having mentors
Asif reflects on how between the ages of 15 - 25, having the right mentors can help you achieve things more quickly.
Mentors can look at your life from a different perspective than yourself, your family and your friends. They can also provide their direct and honest opinions which will guide you to where you want to be.
Another topic of conversation is the word ‘attitude,’ where he highlights the importance of understanding what this means.
Your attitude is a reflection of who you are as a person. If you think you’re not in the place where you want to be, you need to change your attitude.
Education and women empowerment
Asif talks about the importance of asking yourself what you’re doing for yourself, your family, friends, the community, your country, and then the wider world, which should create a ripple effect.
The two things that are close to his heart are…
- Education
- Women empowerment
Therefore, Asif aims to “educate, empower, advance and invest” in these two groups.
Wherever there’s a human being, there’s an opportunity for kindness.
The Butterfly Effect Foundation was set up to educate, empower, advance and invest in women and children, as doing this for one person can create a ripple effect across a whole community.
Asif also co-founded the World Women Organisation. This is currently active in over 60 countries but they aim for it to be worldwide, and the biggest headquarters for women's advancement.
Finance skills
Asif closes the podcast by discussing how his technical skills allow him to identify problems before they come. He believes that the skills he achieved through studying for his ACCA qualification can be transferred into business, and have been hugely important in helping him get to where he is.
Linking these financial and business skills to his philanthropic achievements, mindsets and wants, he advises that accountants and finance professionals have both the ability and the responsibility to change the world and that you should be proud to be an accountant.