A former taxi driver who turned adversity into advantage during the Covid-19 pandemic has joined the Wellingborough & East Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce to connect with other local business owners and inspire others.
Sharing his employment journey in a bid to inspire others Mujahid Khan from Wellingborough explained: “Having completed a degree in from University of Karachi Pakistan I went back to the mountains and worked for more than 15 years as a tour operator, adventure tour guide and photographer in Hunza, Pakistan.
“I lost my business and relocated to the UK in 2004 and studied for a HND in Business and Tourism whilst working part time at Tesco to support myself.”
His management skills and drive were soon recognised, and he received an offer to join Tesco’s management training programme. On completion of his HND and management training programme he became a department manager, working in different departments in three different stores.
He added: “I met my wife Anna at Tesco, and we started a family. Both of us working in retail left us with little time to spend as a family.”
It was after the birth of their son, Sikandar, that Mujahid had to make a difficult decision to change his job to give the best start to his son.
“Flexibility was very important to me, so I decided to become a private hire taxi driver allowing me to spend more time with my son.”
Mujahid believes nothing is carved in stone. He added: “We should be prepared to deal with challenges.”
When the Covid 19 pandemic hit he could not work.
Mujahid Khan, put his down time during the pandemic to good use and registered with the London Institute of Banking and Finance to study a Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA) and a Certificate in Mortage Advice and Practice (CeMAP).
Following eight months of study, Mujahid qualified as a Financial and Mortgage Adviser but was prevented from putting his new skills to use when a second and third lockdown was introduced to help contain the spread of Covid-19.
He explained: “I continued studying Level 6 Pension Transfer (PETR) and a Certificate in Regulated Equity Release (CeRER). As soon as lockdown eased, I started looking for a job, however, due to my lack of experience in the finance industry, coupled possibly with my age (51) and the fact English is my third language, no one would employ me.
“I used LinkedIn to connect with hundreds of financial industry professionals and posted my CV to everyone I could think of. One day the magic started to happen.”
Mujahid was contacted by an Academy Manager from St James’s Place (SJP) Wealth Management and Investment Advice and after nine interviews and interactions was accepted onto one of their Academy programmes.
He added: “I spent six months in the academy, which involved hours of studies, completing numerous tasks, observations and passing 49 internal exams. On completion I was ready to launch my business.”
In May 2022, aged 52, Mujahid launched Mujahid Khan Wealth Management. Offering his services as a Principal Financial Adviser he has joined the Chamber to get support and exposure to the wider business community as well as help to access further training and grants.
He said: “Through joining the Chamber, it will give exposure to my business in the wider community through digital marketing and access to business training.
“In turn, the Wellingborough community will benefit from my knowledge and expertise in financial services, marketing, and networking. I am great believer of people and how businesses can work together for the greater good of the wider community. If I can inspire one person with my journey, I would feel I have given something to the community.”
To find out more about Mujahid Khan Wealth Management and to connect with Mujahid visit https://linktr.ee/mujahidkhanwealthmanagement or e-mail mujahid.khan@sjpp.co.uk.