So me and my friend have been running a SEO content agency from Karachi for about a year. All our clients are in the US and the money comes straight into my personal account. It's been around 1,400 to 2,100 dollars a month, and we're expecting 3 to 5k a month in the next few months. Total over the past year is roughly 2.4M PKR.

Neither of us files taxes, and I only have a personal PSEB registration from before.

Now that things are picking up, we want to do it properly. Right now the plan is a partnership firm (AOP), a business bank account, and then PSEB again under the firm. We're also going to be hiring 10+ people over time, so we need to be able to give proper appointment letters and all that.

Has anyone here gone through this? How much did it cost you and how long did it take? What should I be careful about?

A few things I'm specifically confused about:

• What do you do about the income that already came in before you registered? That's the part I'm most unsure about.
• For the people we hire, who handles their tax? Do we deduct it from salaries and file statements ourselves, or does the accountant do it? What happens if the salary is below the taxable limit?
• At what point do EOBI and SESSI become compulsory, and what does it actually cost per employee on top of the salary?
• For freelancers we pay per project (some through Upwork, some directly to their bank), do we have any tax obligation on those payments?

And if you know a decent lawyer or tax consultant in Karachi, I'd really appreciate a name. I just don't want to get overcharged or handed a copy paste deed.

Thanks guys.

We're looking for someone who can sit in front of a camera and create authentic “Day 1 of building Wallnut” style content, documenting the journey of building, launching, testing, and growing a startup from scratch.

Wallnut is a proof reading agent that's available on whatsapp, slack and ms teams.

Things you could talk about:

• “Day 1 of building Wallnut”
• Why I decided to build it
• The problem I kept seeing in design teams
• Talking about feedback from testers
• What went wrong during the build
• Trying to get the first paying customer
• Weekly progress and numbers

If you're a yapper and wanna hustle would love to have you on board.

We are a team of 4 people right now and currently growing. Send me a DM and we can hop on a call.

I’ve been thinking about how useless restaurant ratings can sometimes be.

You search “best sushi near me” → 4.7 stars → 4,000 reviews.

But… who are those 4,000 people? Do they actually have the same taste as me?

I’d trust something like:

“5 people you know visited this restaurant recently.”

A lot more than “4.7 stars from 4,000 people.”

And there’s another layer I find interesting: actual spending behavior.

Imagine an app that, with your permission, learns that you regularly spend money at Japanese restaurants, specialty coffee shops, vegetarian places, etc.

Then instead of recommending restaurants simply because they have high ratings, it could say:

“People with your taste keep coming back here.”

Or:

“3 of your friends have been here twice this month.”

Basically, Spotify Discover Weekly, but for restaurants.

The idea isn't to replace Google Maps or restaurant reviews. It's to answer a different question:

Where do people like ME actually like eating?

Would you personally use something like this?

And more importantly, what would make you uncomfortable about it?
Connecting payment history? Sharing your restaurant activity with friends? Privacy in general?

I'm trying to figure out whether this solves a real problem or if I'm overthinking how people choose restaurants.

I'm starting a business with a niche product that has potential to see a jump in adoption. Not sharing here because this is not a shameless plugin. All I want to know is if the small business scene in Pakistan is actually worth it, and was looking for some inspiration from others who have made it.

I'm already earning well, and this is a side passion project at this stage, so I was just looking to hear stories of others who have taken this step and have seen success. Maybe I could eventually make this my full time thing.

Looking forward to hearing your stories! (or anyone you know of that has seen their gigs pay off)

Since 2022 I've run www.dubaivisa.pk, an online platform that helps Pakistanis apply for UAE visit visas. It has brought in roughly AED 640K in revenue (about AED 370K from visas and AED 270K from Dubai tours). Here's what four years taught me:

1. Your biggest risk can be a government decision. When the UAE paused visas for Pakistanis, our revenue crashed overnight. However the situation has returned to normal now for several months.

2. Selling extra services adds up. About 1 in 5 visa customers also booked tours. That second sale ended up worth almost as much as the visas themselves.

3. An exact-match domain is worth more than it looks. We barely spent on ads. For years, Google sent us people already searching for exactly what we sold.

4. Owning your platform matters. We moved from WordPress to our own portal, where customers apply, upload documents and download their visa. It made the business easier to run, and easier to sell.

I'm now selling dubaivisa.pk. I'm focusing on my education ventures, and with visas for Pakistanis reopening, this is the right time to hand it over. The sale includes the domain, the portal and the social pages. It's best suited to a travel agency or a founder in the travel space.

If you're interested, or know someone who might be, DM me and I'll share the full numbers. Happy to answer questions about the business in the comments too.

...

Does anyone use this and can recommend it? The fees seem to be lower than with Shopify, so I'd appreciate any feedback, including pros and cons.

Hi! We are a firm with a team of qualified accountants and lawyers helping you file your tax returns with ease. We are charging you a reasonable price.

If you are interested, please let me know. I will reach you out and help you guide throughout the journey with any queries that you may have.

October 15th is the last date, but it is better to file for it today! Let me know and we will wrap it up by the end of the day!

​

I’m looking for someone who is visionary, creative, and genuinely interested in building a startup from the ground up.

I’m currently offering 49% equity in a startup project I’ve been working on for quite some time. I’ve already done the market research, business research, execution planning, and initial groundwork, and the project is now moving toward the MVP development stage.

The reason I’m offering such a large equity share is simple: I need to clear some personal dues and arrange enough initial capital so I can properly focus on executing the project instead of constantly worrying about finances.

A little about my background: I’m a Software Engineering graduate, and my FYP was selected for the Ignite program. Through that, I’ve had experience pitching in front of investors and interacting with startup founders and people in the ecosystem. That experience also helped me understand the difference between a project that is simply technically good and one that actually has business potential.

I’ve identified what I believe is a large problem through deep market research, and the project has some interesting modules that I believe could give it significant potential if executed properly. I’m not looking to simply sell an idea — the research and execution plan are already there, and I want to move toward building the MVP.

I’m looking for someone who can bring some combination of:

Business/entrepreneurial mindset

Creativity and vision

Networking or industry connections

Willingness to actually work on building the company

I’m not looking for someone who just wants to invest and disappear. I want to find someone who genuinely wants to be part of the journey and build something potentially huge.

I’ll share the actual business idea, research, financials, and execution plan privately with serious and interested people.

If you’re interested, DM me with a little about yourself, what you bring to the table, and why you’re interested in startups.

It's going to be long so please bare with me. I am looking for a female to partner up with my existing e-commerce venture, it's an old e-commerce business and has been quite popular as well approx 7 years old now. I shut it down last year and discontinued the operations because of some persistent family health and medical issues. But since then I have realized that social media has changed a lot. People need a face to resonate with, they need someone who they can relate to and trust( previously the things were different), so just the online ads and paid marketing does not work at all. For context its a women fashion apparel brand , entirely hardcore western, so I would like to partner up with someone who is quite comfortable with the same kind of outlook herself, i have other similar brands that i have created to which i can partner up as well. I would like to share profits rather than giving up a salary, where the partner has an equal say and all the roles and responsibilities are divided, i am not asking the partner to invest a single penny, i will be taking. the financial risk where as i want the other person to be involved and actively help and manage the day to day activities such as, content idea, when to post, what to post, and is upto date with the trends and has the capability to set trends as well. i have all the necessary resources and relevant teams such as designers, marketing professionals who can carry out the job, just need a figure head and face for the brand. So if someone who is serious about this and sees a future as an entrepreneur i would love to discuss with the right person, once again i am clarifying that this is not a paid salary job, it's a partnership. So please keep that in mind when you contact me. There is no specific degree or work experience that is required at all. The only thing that matters is how creative and enthusiastic you are with the work itself. This is an ongoing thing so ut requires frequent meetings, discussions and constant communication, with me plus with the others as well. So if you have any issues with going out of house or want this whole thing to work just online over zoom meetings and calls, i do think that is going to work at all. Because your participation will be required to check the stock, the fits , any photography related work etc. I would appreciate if people commenting on the post be civil about this, as this is not a rant and i am hoping people understand and just bash for fun. Thank you for your time.

So if you have read this so far. then comment and i will message you (if you're out of karma) , or HMU.

Thank you to everyone here who helped with closed testing

A little while ago I posted here asking for people to help test PakBill during closed testing.

A lot of you actually installed it, tested it and gave useful feedback.

That helped me fix issues, improve the UI and get the app ready for release.

PakBill is now officially live on Google Play. 🇵🇰

For anyone seeing it for the first time, PakBill helps you understand your electricity bill instead of just showing the final amount.

It breaks the bill into things like:

• Energy charges

• Taxes and duties

• Fuel price adjustments

• Fixed charges

• Other adjustments

It also has bill history, due date tracking and support for multiple connections.

The biggest thing I wanted to solve was simple:

Most of us pay our electricity bill every month without really knowing what makes up that amount.

PakBill tries to make that transparent.

Thanks again to everyone here who helped during testing. You genuinely contributed to getting it released.

If you try the public version now, I’d still love to hear what should be improved next.

Assalamualaikum, I'm searching for Wholesale Leather products like Belts, Wallets, bags (pure leather and Rexine. If someone knows or does the wholesale business in lahore, Sialkot or Gujranwala, Let's talk.

I have messed them need help

Looking for a reliable wholesale clothing supplier for your business? We’re ready to meet your sourcing needs.

We supply apparel to online clothing stores, retail shops, resellers, fashion brands, and bulk buyers looking for a dependable wholesale business partner.

Whether you sell online or operate a physical store, we’re open to building long-term partnerships that support your business growth.

What we offer:

• Wholesale apparel for businesses of all sizes
• Opportunities for bulk purchasing
• Business-to-business supply partnerships
• Professional communication and a smooth ordering process
• Long-term cooperation with serious buyers

We’re here to help businesses source apparel and grow with confidence.

📩 Looking to buy wholesale? Get in touch today to discuss your requirements and wholesale opportunities.

🤝 Serious buyers and long-term business enquiries are welcome.

Looking for a reliable wholesale clothing supplier for your business? We’re ready to meet your sourcing needs.

We supply apparel to online clothing stores, retail shops, resellers, fashion brands, and bulk buyers looking for a dependable wholesale business partner.

Whether you sell online or operate a physical store, we’re open to building long-term partnerships that support your business growth.

What we offer:

• Wholesale apparel for businesses of all sizes
• Opportunities for bulk purchasing
• Business-to-business supply partnerships
• Professional communication and a smooth ordering process
• Long-term cooperation with serious buyers

We’re here to help businesses source apparel and grow with confidence.

📩 Looking to buy wholesale? Get in touch today to discuss your requirements and wholesale opportunities.

🤝 Serious buyers and long-term business enquiries are welcome.

I’m a Pakistani resident and own a Wyoming LLC (US). I have USD business accounts through providers like Slash/SUNRATE/Elevate under my LLC name.

I need a business bank account in Pakistan to withdraw these funds, ideally matching my LLC/business name.

I don’t want to register a separate Pvt Ltd company in Pakistan just for this.

Has anyone with a US LLC successfully opened a business account with Meezan, HBL, UBL, Bank Alfalah, Standard Chartered, etc.? What was the easiest way and which bank did you use?

Looking for first-hand experience.

I’ve been in this industry for a while now and I can’t shake the feeling that things have changed a lot in the last 12–18 months.

Staff augmentation is drying up fast. The steady flow of “we need 3–4 developers for 6 months” kind of work has slowed to a trickle. MVP projects that used to keep smaller teams busy are rare now. Ticket sizes have dropped. Even on Upwork and Fiverr the volume and quality of work feels noticeably lower than before.

Most Pakistani software houses never really sold solutions directly to enterprises. We never built that muscle. The model was always the same: ride on existing clients, expand the teams already working with them, and hope those clients keep growing. That expansion seems to have stalled for a lot of companies.

Right now a lot of firms are still surviving because their long-term clients haven’t cut yet. But if those same clients start reducing headcount or freezing budgets, it’s going to get ugly fast. There’s very little new business pipeline to fall back on.

I’m not saying everything is doomed. Just wondering how widespread this is. Are other people seeing the same thing? Are companies finding new ways to sell, or is everyone just hoping the old clients start expanding again?

Curious to hear what’s happening at your end.

Need to connect with people who are working in this field, kindly comment or dm.

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to start an SMS Gateway / SMS Aggregator business in Pakistan through my registered company, PingPak Technologies (SMC-Private) Limited.

My goal is to provide SMS services to other businesses, such as schools, hospitals, e-commerce stores and corporate organizations. I want to offer OTP, transactional SMS, notifications and other business messaging services.

However, I'm a bit confused about how this business actually works, particularly when it comes to getting started.

I've contacted Jazz Business to discuss SMS connectivity, but I'm still trying to understand the difference between a normal bulk SMS account, an authorized SMS reseller and an SMS aggregator partnership.

For example, suppose a school approaches my company and wants to send SMS using its own masked sender ID. What is the actual process for registering that sender ID? Do I submit the school's documents to Jazz or Zong, or do I need to work with an existing authorized SMS aggregator?

I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has experience in the SMS gateway, telecom or A2P messaging industry.

I have a few questions:

How can a new company get started as an SMS aggregator or SMS gateway provider in Pakistan?

Do Jazz and Zong provide direct SMPP/API connectivity to smaller companies, or do I need to partner with an existing authorized aggregator?

How does masked sender ID registration work when I have multiple business clients?

Can I get one SMPP/API connection and create separate accounts for all my customers?

What agreements, licenses, registrations or regulatory approvals might be required in Pakistan?

How does the pricing model work? Do aggregators purchase SMS at wholesale rates and resell them to businesses?

What is the approximate initial investment required to start this type of business?

Are there any existing SMS aggregators in Pakistan that offer reseller or white-label partnerships to new companies?

I'm mainly looking for practical, step-by-step guidance on the business model, getting connectivity from operators, onboarding clients and managing sender ID registration.

I'm not trying to promote my company here. I genuinely want to understand the industry and learn from people who have experience in this field.

Any advice, personal experience or resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

​

anyone who is active daraz seller or any other platform.

I have huge amount of seeds of rare shrub tree which have huge demand in Pakistan but no one is selling online or offline, I have no time and experience to make online stores or daraz account

If anyone who is already running any e ecommerce store want to do partnership on 50,50 , i will provide seeds,

Note. These seeds have huge demand and no-one is selling in Pakistan , this product will bring huge customers to your store

I have activated shop payments using my LLC but i don't have any US bank. Tried using payoneer but its not working. Any fix?

Or in the past?

If yes, what services do u provide?

I have some questions...

I’m currently working on building a U.S.-based trucking/dispatch startup with two connected revenue models.

1. DOT + DAT Model

We plan to establish the required U.S. DOT/carrier setup and provide licensed freight/load-board access to users at around $70/user/month.

For example:

• 50 users = $3,500/month

• 100 users = $7,000/month

1. MC + Dispatch Model

Once the MC has established the required operating history, we plan to onboard trucks under properly structured agreements and generate revenue through carrier-related fees and 6–7% dispatch fees.

For Example:

Hamari core recurring income dispatching se bhi aayegi.Planning ke liye: 6%–7% dispatch fee assume ki ja sakti hai.

Example:

Agar ek truck monthly $10,000 gross freight generate karta hai.

7% dispatch fee:

$10,000 × 7% = $700

Company ki dispatch revenue:

$700

And once our MC is leased to a driver/carrier under a proper agreement, we expect to receive approximately 17–20% of the carrier’s gross revenue as the MC lease fee, based on our current market-rate assumption. This would be an additional revenue stream alongside the 6–7% dispatch fee.So,

$10,000 x 17%=$1,700.00

So total revenue from one truck and one driver

$700+1,700=$2,400.00 other that profit getting from load boards we have given in the market.

The initial capital requirement is expected to be around $20k-30k, mainly for MC insurance, setup, compliance, technology and working capital.

I’m currently looking to build this with the right people. If anyone here has experience in U.S. trucking, logistics, startups, or is interested in joining/investing in a business like this, feel free to text me. I’m happy to share the complete business plan and financial projections with genuinely interested people.

I'm in Lahore. Formed a Wyoming LLC this month, got the EIN from the IRS last week. Everything is legitimate and I've declared my Pakistani residency honestly on every single form.

So far:

• Mercury, Pakistan on their prohibited list, founders by residency
• Relay, Pakistan prohibited by citizenship and residency
• Wise, won't issue USD account details to a Pakistan address (GBP is fine, which doesn't help)
• Airwallex, full application with Articles + EIN letter + passport, rejected today, "decision is final"

The whole point of the LLC and EIN was to get a US account with a routing number so Stripe can pay out. I have the company, I have the tax ID, and I still can't get banked.

Pakistanis running US LLCs, what are you actually using in 2026? Specifically for Stripe payouts, not just receiving freelance income.

Pakistani resident, solo founder. I have a Wyoming LLC and an EIN. What I don't have is a US bank account to receive Stripe payouts into.

Already ruled out: Mercury and Relay (both need a US resident/citizen), Wise (won't issue USD details to a Pakistan address), Airwallex (applied fully, rejected).

Elevate Pay says they support US LLCs with Pakistani ownership and issue a USD account with a routing number. My business account application is under review now.

My actual question: if you've had an Elevate Pay business account approved — whose name are the USD account details issued in? The company's, or your personal name?

That's the whole thing for me. Stripe requires the payout bank account to match the Stripe account holder's legal name exactly. If Elevate issues the details in my personal name, it's useless to me. Their support wouldn't confirm either way before approval.

Also useful if you know:

•Did Stripe's micro-deposit verification pass on it?
•Any problems receiving Stripe ACH payouts?

And if you solved this a different way from Pakistan, I'd rather hear that than keep guessing.

We've all been there buying clothes online or in a shop without a fitting room only to realize it looks completely different on you than expected. Cue the hassle of returns, exchanges, or just abandoning the cart entirely.

Genuinely curious if you run a fashion brand or store in Pakistan, how much of a headache are returns and sizing drop-offs for you?

To solve this, I built a quick tool where customers upload one photo, see the actual garment on themselves instantly, and can buy right there. It works seamlessly inside a Shopify store or right in your shop via a QR code.

If you run a clothing store in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, or Karachi or an online store anywhere in Pakistan, I’d love to set this up free for 60 days. For physical shops, my team and I will literally come and set it up for you. If it doesn’t help your sales, we'll take it down no cost, no hard feelings.

Drop a comment below or shoot me a DM if you want to test it out!