Introducing “Misl Net” — A Network For Misls | www.mislnet.com | insta: @mislnet |
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Since its inception, Azadism (the world's first Sikhi-based political-economic philosophy) has been very pro-entrepreneurship, and I have advocated for Sikhs to start businesses so to help us transition from a Panth of jobseekers, to one of job creators. And now I want to have a go at it too.
At the moment, I work full-time in data, currently as an Analytics Engineer. I do enjoy my career, and with Maharaj's Kirpa I'm in a stable position with good income that supports me and my parents. Because of this relative safety net, the success or failure of my business won't be a matter of survival. But having this in the back of my mind, might be something that actually hinders me. Many of the greatest achievements have been born from a sense of "life-or-death" urgency, which I don't have in this case. So to help counter that, I'll put my ego on the line instead by announcing my intent to start a business, documenting my attempt and being held accountable by you guys. This all might fail massively and I will be embarrassed, and my ego gets hurt… which isn't wholly undesirable:
ਹਉਮੈ ਦੀਰਘ ਰੋਗੁ ਹੈ ਦਾਰੂ ਭੀ ਇਸੁ ਮਾਹਿ ॥
Ego is a chronic disease, but it contains its own cure as well.
My general outlook to life is you either win or you learn. I am hoping by documenting this journey, at the very least it will allow me and you to learn from my mistakes (and I'm sure I will be making plenty). I also think it will help keep me motivated and focused, I work on so many projects at any one time so I need to prioritise. Maybe it might inspire some of you guys too. If anyone can give me any advice or pointers too when I encounter problems or doubts, I would appreciate that a lot as well!
The specific business idea I'm pursuing also aligns with our "Grand Strategy," a multiphased and multifaceted plan, developed by the Bunga, that we are working on behind the scenes. The end goal being Azaadi in the long-term. While we're not yet ready to reveal it publicly, one part of it is encouraging more Sikhs to enter the security industry, both private and public, whether through military, police or private security roles. You'll see more about this through Bunga Azaadi in time, as an advocacy project alongside the Khalsa Revival and other Vichaars Repos we've published thus far.
My medium-term vision for the Khalsa is for it to be recognized once again for its ability to deliver justice and provide security for all. The Khalsa isn't here to be farmers, it is here to be warriors (another Vichaar area we'll develop in the Bunga too). Guru Gobind Singh made the Khalsa Pargat and gave it Gurugaddi so it could be a force for justice, a protector in this world. But the Khalsa today is behind, vastly outdated and thus mostly irrelevant when it comes to large scale impact in this area.
To help solve this, I have devised the "Dharam Yudh Pipeline" (DYP). This is a pipeline that ingests Sikhs from one end, trains, qualifies, and transforms them, to ultimately output a population of capable Khalsa warriors who can operate as Private Military and Security Contractors or companies (PMSCs). They can then take on international contracts and missions, and fight injustices legally, in full compliance with international law and human rights. This transformation doesn't always need to happen through force either — law firms and other institutions can also play a crucial role in fostering justice. In Azadism, any individual or group that is set up to provide justice and security is known as a Misl, as per Azadism's reconceptualization of a modernised Misl system.
And so, this is the foundation of my new business: Misl Net — a network for modern Misls.
Ideally, it would have been catered for Khalsa Misls exclusively, but since there aren't many yet in this field, (hence the point of the pipeline I mentioned), it would be foolish to restrict the business to just Sikhs. Additionally, building the DYP is a Panthic responsibility. I'll contribute to it as much as I can through Bunga Azaadi, but the pipeline is being proposed as a wider, Sikh social-political movement, where I encourage Sikhs of various organisations, or individuals who ressonate with this to join me in setting this up.
Misl Net, is a separate entity however. The aim is that by the point when more Sikhs are coming out the other end of the Dharam Yudh Pipeline, then Misl Net will be already established to offer them contracts and missions to go on so they can apply their skills to solve real world problems. In the meantime, I need to build a service that is immersed in the security and justice industry, so that we have access to contracts, missions and requests that Khalsai can eventually fulfill. So, to begin with, I will keep my target market open and hopefully make the necessary preparations for that stage.
My vision for Misl Net eventually is that instead of being a traditional PMSC that may hire a full-time staff or "standing army" of sorts, we instead do a sort of "militia" type model, which I believe is more in line ideologically with how a Khalsa Misl should probably be these days as well. Each self-autonomous Singh is their own “Takht” first and foremost, so via this model they would have the freedom to not just only work for us but can also take on contracts independently or elsewhere.
So essentially Misl Net would be a kind of “contract provider”, where we can take requests for security or help, and then reach out to our network of qualified and experienced Singhs or Kaurs who have been through the DYP, and now can be called upon. But crucially it will be their choice as to whether or not they wish to take the contract or not. This provides an incentive for us then to maintain healthy and constructive relationships with Khalsai as partners, and most importantly equals. Which is what the word "Misl" originally means in Arabic. The Khalsa as a whole would be a resource pool to draw from when we want to conduct various operations. In some cases, it would require us to outline a proper plan before pitching to Khalsa contractors to see who is up for the mission, provide necessary equipment and transport, or even provide support whilst they are on the mission itself. But this is far away.
The first step I think is to establish a job board for the security sector. Instead of immediately starting a Private Military Company (PMC), which requires significant expertise and resources, I'm choosing a leaner path that plays to my strengths. Building a job board is more manageable, allowing me to start small, validate my approach, and expand over time. This flexibility is crucial, especially as I cannot afford to hire a team yet, nor would it be wise to overextend without first proving the concept. I believe that by starting lean, growing organically, and learning from each step, I can eventually build something impactful.
Therefore, Misl Net will begin as a job board, I have few other ideas to expand it as well in time, but for now a job board is my focus. This type of service is something called a "two-way marketplace", and in my situation, that means connecting jobseekers with job providers. To make money, my platform charges employers a fee to post a job that potential candidates apply for.
The issue however is that it is kind of a chicken-and-egg scenario. I can't attract job seekers to my platform unless there are jobs posted, but employers don't want to pay to post unless there are job seekers there. So one way I am thinking of getting round this initial hurdle is to offer employers the opportunity to post jobs for free during this launch phase. It would cost them nothing but may increase the visibility of their openings via Misl Net's website and social media. If I can find sites where jobs are already listed, I could ask them for their permission to repost their jobs for free too with all "apply" button clicks on my site redirecting to their site.
This will hopefully then start attracting traffic to my site, that I can then later leverage as justification to charge for postings.
Another thing I was thinking of was producing content relevant to the security sector. I read that this was a good way to offer value on the jobseeker side, and then if they are interested, they may check out the rest of my services. This may also tie in with the Dharam Yudh Pipeline the Bunga will progress too, where I can use the research for my Misl Net articles to adapt Bunga Azaadi Vichaars related to advocating for Sikhs to join the sector.
So that is what I am thinking of at the moment as my next steps. I'll share more updates of this journey through primarily my personal Instagram stories and/or Substack for roundups (links in bio). I do want to keep it all mostly seperate from the Bunga as well. These updates probably won't all be videos like this one, and most will probably be shorter blog posts. In the next update, maybe I'll walk through how I've set up the Misl Net website so far, some of my costs, and the lessons learned to date.
The worst case scenario of all of this is that I burn some money, learn new things and hopefully show you guys something interesting. The best case scenario is that we would be one step closer to Khalsa Raaj.
To conclude, I just want to reiterate. Bunga Azaadi will be working on the DYP, and invite others to collaborate on setting that up. If you want to get involved with that by helping us develop advocacy content, suggest strategies, or be a partner on any of stage of that pipeline, then let me know. Misl Net, will be a seperate, parallel workstream that will serve those coming out the other end of the pipeline. Misl Net might not work, but if it doesn't, this experiment of mine shouldn't affect the pipeline. Please keep this distinction in mind, I appreciate there is perhaps a lot to digest with what I said, so if you have questions let me know and I'll maybe address them in future updates.
Lastly, if you know anyone hiring for security, let them know about Misl Net!
Vahiguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Vahiguru Ji Ki Fateh!
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