Sheikh Asif, a 28-year-old entrepreneur, shines brighter with each passing moment.

Sheikh Asif, a school dropout, is a self-made Kashmiri entrepreneur who operates a renowned information technology (IT) company in Manchester, United Kingdom. He offers free classes in digital marketing, web design, and graphic design. Asif has successfully educated over 1000 students and assisted over 100 enterprises in becoming digitally active. While Asif’s major source of income is the company he founded in the United Kingdom, he says he will continue to mentor and teach for free online. Asif has received numerous honors, including “Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 by The Fireboxx Bangalore” and “Digital Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 by The Fireboxx Bangalore”. Sheikh Asif was also nominated for the 4th highest civilian award, Padna Shri 2022.

Sheikh Asif has published three books on business, including “Digitization in Business,” “Online Business Idea,” and “Start a Business.” Apart from businesses and classes, Sheikh Asif has conducted many awareness programmes about hacking and assisted over 300 businesses and individuals in regaining control of their social media accounts that were hacked.

Sheikh Asif started his first job with a salary of Rs. 1500, and thanks to his hard work and dedication, he is now the CEO and founder of Thames Infotech, a U.K.-based firm with a valuation of Rs. 5 crores and a monthly salary of Rs. 2 to 3 lakhs.

Sheikh Asif, the founder of Thames Infotech, says that: “Most people don’t succeed because they do not want to cross their safe zone in life. Success is achieved only after crossing the safe zone”. He further states that: “In the job, people are not able to fully utilize their abilities whereas an entrepreneur can make full use of his abilities and enjoy his life as he deserves”.

Asif was nominated for the fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri 2022 and is the only Entrepreneur from the valley who was nominated for the award.

In a message, Asif says, “From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, parents want children to either be a doctor or an engineer. They feel IT is useless. But they need to look at Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, they’re all IT legends and billionaires today.