Civil engineer at BUET, now entrepreneur

Faisal Mostafa was then in the fourth year of Bangladesh University of Engineering. The final test is ahead. But another thought in the head of this student of civil engineering. Some of my friends were saying, ‘Prepare for BCS.’ Many of my classmates were also planning to go abroad for higher studies. And Faisal was thinking, how to recognize the path of online income. In 2010, Odesk (now Upwork) started freelancing as a means of getting online outsourcing work. He is now the CEO of a digital marketing company called Vizer X. There are 28 permanent and temporary employees working in Faisal's organization.

At the beginning, I would like to know from Faisal Mostafa how his organization is doing in Corona. "We have lost a number of US customers since the outbreak of the coronavirus," he said. That's when we had to change our marketing strategy. We run marketing campaigns targeting countries with low incidence of corona, such as Canada, Belgium, Romania, and Switzerland. As a result I get some new clients. I have also made some special offers to retain my old customers. 'Faisal said that even during the disaster, he had to hire staff due to work pressure. Everyone is now working day and night sitting at home.

Hard work, however, is not new to Faisal Mostafa. In the beginning, he used to take work from Upwork and work with freelancers in the Philippines. But it turned out that most of the income had to be paid as wages. Meanwhile, even after working all night, one has to listen to people's harsh words. Friends say, ‘Now get a job.’ But Faisal started dreaming of becoming an entrepreneur in those days.

At one time, Faisal made a group of workers by training a few people. Freelancers in the Philippines are no longer dependent. On the roof of the house next door, he rented a room and set up his first office. The number of workers, foreign clients and income also keeps increasing. In the beginning, the name of the organization was Fimast Software. Later the scope of work continues to increase. Started anew in 2019, named Vizier X.

Now his company is providing various services including global web development, web application development, SEO, online marketing, social media marketing, reputation management. In addition to the international market, Vicer X also does digital marketing and affiliate marketing for some local organizations. In addition, SEO Vicer Limited has registered the name of a subsidiary of Vicer X in the United Kingdom. There is also a lot of work coming up. Faisal thinks that there is no shortage of work if the project can be completed on time keeping the standards.

He wants to spread the knowledge he has learned to others. This BUET graduate thinks that freelancers will get a strong position in Bangladesh only if everyone can move forward together. So for those who work in the online marketplace Fiber (fiverr.com) in Bangladesh, Faisal Mustafa is running a group on Facebook. "I started working at Fiber in 2015," he said. Since then, I have noticed that those who work in Fiber in Bangladesh need a community to give them the right direction or to solve small problems. From that thought I started a group called Fiber Bangladesh. Now the number of members in the group is more than 1 lakh 12 thousand. 'The members of this Facebook group not only help each other, but also have formed a friendship among themselves. Last year, a meeting was held with 700 members of the group in the auditorium of the BGME building, Faisal said. Freelancers have shared their experiences there. They are organizing various sessions through Facebook Live during Corona.

Faisal Mostafa wants to go farther with Vizer X in the future. Laughing at the end of the talk, he said, ‘Those who once expressed uncertainty about my freelance career, smiled, now they are also proud of me. Maybe I never got tired of trying to fulfill my dream with love. '