Welcome to META

Maqsud Safi has had grease on his hands and a love of fixing cars in his heart since he began working for a number of his family’s auto shop businesses at the age of 12. Nine years later, he fled his native Afghanistan for the neighboring country of Turkmenistan to escape the oppressive ruling Taliban regime. During his six years there, he was a legal but non-permanent resident yet was able to own a very successful auto shop business employing ten mechanics.

In the spring of 2005, Maqsud and his young family were allowed to come to Boise through the U.S. refugee resettlement program. Maqsud quickly set out to learn English and began the acculturation process of learning the American systems, laws, and job-seeking skills.

The entrepreneurship “bug” bit Maqsud again. By early summer, still learning English and without his first job, Maqsud enrolled into META’s program to explore opening his own auto shop business. META’s team tried to slow him down a bit and convinced him to work as an auto shop employee as a means of learning the different business nuances and saving the equity he would need to qualify for a start-up loan.

With the assistance of his local refugee agency, Maqsud secured a tire changer job for a local tire and auto shop. Within a few weeks, Maqsud had been promoted to an auto mechanic position due to his hard work ethic and improving English proficiency. During his off-hours, Maqsud began fixing the cars of his Dari- and Russian-speaking friends using money he and his wife had saved from their respective jobs.

Maqsud’s determination to succeed and become a business owner would not waiver. Within eight months of his arrival into this country, Maqsud was approved for a $5,000 META loan for the purpose of launching Brothers Auto Repair. Maqsud set aside some money for working capital and used the rest to purchase auto shop equipment for an auto shop bay rental at a temporary location.

META’s team continued to help Maqsud—they assisted him with his ASE certification pursuit; made sure his business met the insurance and licensing requirements; aided him in negotiating lease, vendor, and equipment purchase agreements; and guided him through an eventual site relocation that improved his company’s visibility and earnings.

Brothers Auto Repair is now a two-car garage that operates six days a week. As a business owner, Maqsud now makes three times the income than he earned as an auto mechanic employee. Encouraged by his full shop schedule, Maqsud allows the quality of his work to build his company’s reputation. “I don’t have to look for clients because they look for me. Sometimes the customers have to wait in line. It is crazy.”

Now that his business is off the ground and his family safe from an oppressive regime, Maqsud has big plans for the future. Through it all, Maqsud is very thankful for META’s financial and business assistance and knows its team will be there to back him up.

In 2006, Maqsud Safi was a featured business owner in honor of Small Business Month in one of META’s Beyond the Bottom Line workshops. He and his wife are now saving money to use as a down payment on their first home and plan to become U.S. citizens when eligible in 2010.