2018’s New Year’s Resolution: Changing The Game

I’m sure those who have been following my articles will be judiciously looking over this piece, ensuring that I live up to the four pre-requisites to making a New Year’s Resolution that I explored in this piece here. Well, far be it from me to not taste my own medication before prescribing it, hence after sharing a more qualitative exploration of the past year and beyond, the reflections behind my resolution this year are as follows.

One of the things I came to realise as I mulled over my journey as an entrepreneur and humanitarian thus far, is the time it took for me to really find my mojo, so to speak. I liken myself to a football player running around the pitch trying to get into the game. In the early years of my business, I expended a lot of energy (and resources) and didn’t really get very far. Despite edging closer to the action, it took a while to gain the trust of those around me and indeed for me to develop confidence in my own abilities. Just like an amateur football player, I threw myself in the thick of it, made some mistakes, picked up some injuries but slowly began to understand the dynamics of the game.

It wasn’t too long before I had relinquished my amateur badge and began earning my stripes as a professional. What was difficult before now came to me almost effortlessly. SingleMuslim.com had made its mark as an industry leader and whilst I was proud to be captain of the team, I was hungry for more. Enter Penny Appeal. A new pitch, different players but it wasn’t long till I picked up the rules of this space. This time, I moved from running around the pitch to directing my team from the side-lines. I was managing their strategy on the pitch and developing and motivating the troops off the pitch too. Together, in a few short years, our outstanding team at Penny Appeal has been able to surpass the effectivity, reach and impact of charities founded decades ago and we’ve been earning trophies, nurturing our competences and developing new partners and patrons as we go along.

This past year, Penny Appeal has been able to achieve something distinctly new. Epitomised in our #AsBritishAs campaign, we’ve been able to move the goal posts; in our own little way, change the game. The response to the campaign has been amazing. With support pouring in from every segment of society and equally so, a debate lifting off on the fault lines of our operation. The discussion is valuable and we’ve been musing over all the feedback that has come our way. What I’ve come to realise is, as valuable as it is to get into the thick of the game – and Lord knows I’ve put sweat, blood and tears into it – there is an art to reframing the entire industry.

(I hope I’ve not lost you on this metaphor!)

Whilst our #AsBritishAs campaign directly sprang from our crucial domestic humanitarian work, serving the most vulnerable across British society, it has had (and intentionally so) far reaching reverberations. We wanted to contribute to the conversation around faith, identity and belonging; propelling the all too often silent-middle-grounded-majority. Asserting to both Muslim communities and wider British society the innate capacity to reconcile both Muslim and British identities, without compromising either. Not by looking for the lowest common denominator but rather through seeking the highest common factor; the spirit of service and giving. The ensuing discussion revealed a healthy tension and beyond the millions reached online and offline through this campaign, I’m proud that we’ve been able to spark a whole burst of conversation and who knows what may emerge from it all.

Taking a step back, I can see this past year, on numerous occasions we have been able to shift the goal posts a little. Each time, I see the value and potential in creating new platforms; building new arenas to fill out with new generations of players, captains and managers.

With SingleMuslim.com we were the first in the game and, through God’s blessings, we’ve remained on top of the proverbial league. The game, however, has been changing. Back in the day, we had customers literally install dial-up-internet in their homes for the first time just to log on to SingleMuslim.com, it was truly mind-blowing for me as a young budding entrepreneur. Today, having ultra-secure, encrypted, seamless transition between your web, mobile and app platforms is a minimum to just stay in the game. 

There is a certain flair and imagination needed to build new markets and transform existing spaces. When Steve Jobs launched the iPhone, and even more so the iPad, there wasn’t a market for their new products. Apple created never-before-seen innovations and then created the market space for them, creating a platform for generations of talented people to fill the space to this day.

There are many levels of innovation; a player can craft a new skill, a manager can draft a new strategy, but, they are still keeping to the rules of the game. Now, if there’s one lesson every entrepreneur should learn, it’s that some rules can be bent and others, must be broken.

In 2017, truth be told, our efforts to change the narrative or shift the goal posts were mostly haphazard, accidental almost. My New Year’s Resolution for 2018 is to be much more intentional about this; to nurture the art of shifting paradigms, in my industries and beyond. What this looks like and how will we achieve it remains to be seen. I invite you to join me on the journey and perhaps together, we can reach a little further, dream a little more and once again, accomplish more than we might ever be able to imagine.

Bismillah.

Adeem Younis

Founder of the UK's largest Muslim website SingleMuslim.com and chairman of Britain’s fastest growing Muslim-led charity Penny Appeal, award-winning entrepreneur and humanitarian making a difference around the world.

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