Mustafa Khanwala, Founder and CEO of MishiPay shares his journey from Venture Further 2016 winner to CEO of a rising fintech company, revolutionising the shopping and customer experience. Director of Masood Entrepreneurship Centre, Lynn Sheppard interviewed Mustafa as part of the Entrepreneurs@Manchester series.
The idea for MishiPay originated when Mustafa Khanwala, CEO and Founder, waited in a queue at a supermarket for 20 minutes in the summer of 2015 to buy a single can of soda. Frustrated, he thought there must be a better way to do this, for both stores and their customers. And thus, the journey began.
MishiPay is the new way to shop in-store. With MishiPay you can use your own mobile phone to scan the barcodes on products, view enriched item and promotion information in real-time, and then pay with the tap of a button using a variety of convenient digital payment methods - all from the comfort of your own device.
MishiPay has recently expanded its deployment with travel retailer Paradies Lagardère to 20 more airports in the US.
Mustafa shared the importance of finding the right co-founder, especially at the early business stages. He cites fellow The University of Manchester alumni, Co-Founder Tanvi Bhardwaj as an important asset to MishiPay with her skills in computer systems engineering.
Mustafa’s best advice for students looking to start a business is – just do it! Don’t fear getting started at a young age as you’re able to fail more with fewer repercussions, giving young entrepreneurs more chances to learn and develop.
Mustafa reiterated that nothing anyone can do or say will matter as much as going out there and trying, failing and learning yourself. Even if the first, second or third ideas are the wrong ones for you, his advice is to just do it and not be afraid to ask for help.
Entrepreneurs@Manchester with Mustafa Khanwala, Founder and CEO of MishiPay >>
Mustafa Khanwala was speaking as part of the Entrepreneurs@Manchester speaker series organised by the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre. Entrepreneurs@Manchester invites the UK's leading entrepreneurs to The University of Manchester to share their insights and talk candidly about their highs, lows, and lessons learnt. These are real stories from those who have done it - from initial concept through to enterprise.
If you want to follow in Mustafa’s footsteps, why not sign up to Venture Further and help kick start your business idea. For more information on support MEC can offer, please email entrepreneurship@manchester.ac.uk
