A lifelong career is not always a decision made based on our own preferences. There are different factors and different circumstances that lead us to the career path that we choose for ourselves today. It is quite amazing how things we learned at the university may be adaptive to completely different settings as we enter the current job market that calls for holistic and future-resilient graduates. However, this is not an argument about the relevance of pursuing higher education and its outcome in penetrating specific sectors in the job market. If anything, those who have steered far away from their initial plan for a career have nothing but praises and gratitude for the years they spent studying at the university.
Khaled Tarmizi is a testament to this. He graduated from Management and Science University (MSU) in 2016 with a degree in computer engineering but decided to venture into pastry and bread-making in his home country Kuwait. Today, at 40 years old, Khaled is the owner of Bakery Line, a company he started almost 20 years ago. Bakery Line makes all kinds of bread to be supplied to restaurants, hotels and catering companies in Kuwait.
“After my graduation in 2016, I started looking to establish my own business. I took my time and did a lot of research to understand the market demand and what could be the most profitable business to start. I was being very careful because it would be my first time ever starting a business on my own. I wanted to make sure it will be a business that I can sustain for a long time and hopefully pass down to my children in the future,” shared Khaled.
His venture into foods and beverages (F&B) business is a complete 180-degree turn from the field of technology that he initially chose to study at MSU. Khaled believes that in order to become a successful businessman, one should not only acquire knowledge from the book, but make some effort to study the current market. It is crucial to know the demands of the consumers today, as well as how many other businesses that already exist within the same perimeter as future competitors. Khaled decided to start his business on a smaller scale with low capital. Today, Bakery Line has two separate factories; one for only bread and another one for different kinds of pastries with over 30 employees working every day making buns, biscuits, cakes and puffs to fulfill orders from all across Kuwait.
“I have employees working with me from all over the world. My pastry chef is from Egypt and I have another chef working at the bread factory originally from Kathmandu, Nepal. I have employees from Sudan, India and Syria too. We supply our bread and pastries all over Kuwait only at the moment because most of our products have a very short shelf-life of three days only,” Khaled explained.
What sets Bakery Line apart from other competitors in the market is Khaled’s attention to detail. He refuses to use nothing but fresh ingredients in the making of all the bread and pastries. Good quality and price are the ultimate focus of his business as he believes that these are two main elements that can make or break a business. Khaled aims to centralise his production to just one big factory building within the next five years. Even though there is no immediate plan to expand the business to other countries, he will never say no to the opportunity to bring his business to Malaysia, a country that he used to call home all the four years he spent as a student at MSU.
“Malaysia is far but never say never. We are using palm oil from Malaysia in our production. Our direction is mostly business-to-business (B2B) as we supply buns for burgers and hotdogs to restaurants as well as other types of bread and flatbread like chapati. We even supply for airlines like British Airways too. As for our pastries, we are selling them straight to customers. All the big orders usually come at night. We check and confirm the orders in the morning from as early as 6 a.m. Our drivers will then take the products to our clients. I always make sure that the invoices have no errors. I even check the fingers and hair of our factory workers before they start working to make sure that they are clean. Cleanliness is very important in food production,” Khaled said.
Information technology (IT) might not end up being a career of choice for Khaled but he truly cherished the time he spent at MSU as he learned a lot of new things and how to solve problems on his own. He also found ways to challenge himself and become a leader. It is a lesson that he carries with him until today as a business owner. Not only that, he learned about new cultures and traditions, got to know new people and lived on his own in a foreign country.
“I love MSU. MSU has helped me in so many ways. It gives me so many things in my life that I can never forget. The institution is highly rated with top-notch professionals as its tutors. Computer engineering at MSU is a good programme but I decided to go with what is currently in great demand in my country. My focus is on Bakery Line. I don’t think I will go back to IT,” he stated.
A lifelong career is not always a decision made based on our own preferences. There are different factors and different circumstances that lead us to the career path that we choose for ourselves today. It is quite amazing how things we learned at the university may be adaptive to completely different settings as we enter the current job market that calls for holistic and future-resilient graduates. However, this is not an argument about the relevance of pursuing higher education and its outcome in penetrating specific sectors in the job market. If anything, those who have steered far away from their initial plan for a career have nothing but praises and gratitude for the years they spent studying at the university.
Khaled Tarmizi is a testament to this. He graduated from Management and Science University (MSU) in 2016 with a degree in computer engineering but decided to venture into pastry and bread-making in his home country Kuwait. Today, at 40 years old, Khaled is the owner of Bakery Line, a company he started almost 20 years ago. Bakery Line makes all kinds of bread to be supplied to restaurants, hotels and catering companies in Kuwait.
“After my graduation in 2016, I started looking to establish my own business. I took my time and did a lot of research to understand the market demand and what could be the most profitable business to start. I was being very careful because it would be my first time ever starting a business on my own. I wanted to make sure it will be a business that I can sustain for a long time and hopefully pass down to my children in the future,” shared Khaled.
His venture into foods and beverages (F&B) business is a complete 180-degree turn from the field of technology that he initially chose to study at MSU. Khaled believes that in order to become a successful businessman, one should not only acquire knowledge from the book, but make some effort to study the current market. It is crucial to know the demands of the consumers today, as well as how many other businesses that already exist within the same perimeter as future competitors. Khaled decided to start his business on a smaller scale with low capital. Today, Bakery Line has two separate factories; one for only bread and another one for different kinds of pastries with over 30 employees working every day making buns, biscuits, cakes and puffs to fulfill orders from all across Kuwait.
“I have employees working with me from all over the world. My pastry chef is from Egypt and I have another chef working at the bread factory originally from Kathmandu, Nepal. I have employees from Sudan, India and Syria too. We supply our bread and pastries all over Kuwait only at the moment because most of our products have a very short shelf-life of three days only,” Khaled explained.
What sets Bakery Line apart from other competitors in the market is Khaled’s attention to detail. He refuses to use nothing but fresh ingredients in the making of all the bread and pastries. Good quality and price are the ultimate focus of his business as he believes that these are two main elements that can make or break a business. Khaled aims to centralise his production to just one big factory building within the next five years. Even though there is no immediate plan to expand the business to other countries, he will never say no to the opportunity to bring his business to Malaysia, a country that he used to call home all the four years he spent as a student at MSU.
“Malaysia is far but never say never. We are using palm oil from Malaysia in our production. Our direction is mostly business-to-business (B2B) as we supply buns for burgers and hotdogs to restaurants as well as other types of bread and flatbread like chapati. We even supply for airlines like British Airways too. As for our pastries, we are selling them straight to customers. All the big orders usually come at night. We check and confirm the orders in the morning from as early as 6 a.m. Our drivers will then take the products to our clients. I always make sure that the invoices have no errors. I even check the fingers and hair of our factory workers before they start working to make sure that they are clean. Cleanliness is very important in food production,” Khaled said.
Information technology (IT) might not end up being a career of choice for Khaled but he truly cherished the time he spent at MSU as he learned a lot of new things and how to solve problems on his own. He also found ways to challenge himself and become a leader. It is a lesson that he carries with him until today as a business owner. Not only that, he learned about new cultures and traditions, got to know new people and lived on his own in a foreign country.
“I love MSU. MSU has helped me in so many ways. It gives me so many things in my life that I can never forget. The institution is highly rated with top-notch professionals as its tutors. Computer engineering at MSU is a good programme but I decided to go with what is currently in great demand in my country. My focus is on Bakery Line. I don’t think I will go back to IT,” he stated.