Mohammad Mofidul Alam Saikat is the founder and CEO of Sales Enzine, a digital marketing company offering a comprehensive suite of services from email marketing to AI-powered sales automation. We've known Mofidul for years, since his time at BdJobs Training, where did important work in helping shape the training market in Bangladesh.
A few years ago, Mofidul made the leap from employment to entrepreneurship, starting from a room in his house with a single skill and a determination to solve real problems. That journey—from a solopreneur earning $5 on his first project to building a company with a team of 30 that serves clients across the globe—is the story we're diving into today.
In this conversation, we explore three dimensions of his journey. First, the founding story: how Mofidul transitioned from a job holder to an entrepreneur, the mental pressure that came with it, and how he bootstrapped Sales Enzine in those early days. Second, the business today: how Sales Enzine evolved from a service-based agency to a hybrid model combining services, SaaS, and now virtual assistant placement. And third, what's next: where the company is headed and what Mofidul sees as the future of the digital marketing and sales automation space.
What stands out most in this conversation is Mofidul's unwavering focus on solving real customer problems rather than just selling. He talks about how this philosophy shaped every decision—from the services offered to the team built. He also reveals how he navigated challenges most founders face: customer retention, scaling without a large fixed team, managing finances, and the psychological toll of entrepreneurship. His candid reflections on these challenges offer practical insights that any founder building in the gig economy or the digital services space would find valuable.
The conversation also touches on deeper lessons: the role of sincerity in business, the challenge of building a team that shares your values, the necessity of continuous learning, and the importance of faith and discipline in navigating the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.
This is a conversation about the realities of building a business—the grind, the sacrifices, the pivots, the small wins, and the moments of doubt. It's also a conversation about belief: belief in yourself, belief in solving real problems, and belief that if you build something valuable, the rest will follow.
I hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoyed doing it. Happy reading!
Ruhul Kader: Thank you for agreeing to this interview. Let's start by talking about your path to starting your own business.
Mofidul Alam Saikat: Thanks for having me. For your audience who may not know me, my name is Mohammad. I'm the founder of Sales Enzine. The name came from the idea of providing an engine to help businesses grow and manage their sales. We wanted to help businesses make more sales. The word 'Enzine' is a spelling play—we put a Z instead of a G in 'engine.'
I've always believed we should help people. And the help has to be effective. If I help someone, it should be worthwhile. A result must come from it. That's the foundation.
At one point, I understood that sales isn't about earning money; it's about solving a problem. When I solve someone's problem, a sale will happen. Otherwise, it won't happen.
For example, if I want to sell a training course, I must design it so that it solves a problem for the person I'm selling it to. After taking the training, they should gain something from it.
This concept of problem-solving is basically how our journey began.
Around that time, another core concept emerged from a brand workshop I attended. They introduced the idea of an engine—comparing a brand to a four-stroke engine. It struck me that our businesses need a solution that acts like an engine. If this engine runs, the business—which we can think of as a car—will go from one place to another. When it moves based on this engine, it will generate sales.
From this idea, I asked myself: What can I actually do? I realized I could provide solutions on how to market and sell online.
I started this as a solopreneur. It was built entirely on my own skills.
The first thing I realized was that I needed a skill that solved a customer's problem. I asked myself whether I had such a skill—and I did. I knew marketing, specifically digital marketing. To be precise, I started by offering email marketing solutions for my clients. I decided to focus on a single area—email marketing. Just email marketing—nothing else. I held onto that plan for seven or eight months, believing I would only do email marketing because it's a top-tier solution and most businesses need it.
I'd been a long time Mailchimp user, so I knew its technicalities very well. They offer certification programs. I thought a certification would be helpful to earn clients' trust. So I completed the Mailchimp certifications, and they awarded me a badge as a Certified Email Marketing Expert. I also applied to become a partner and was accepted as an official Mailchimp partner and certified expert. Mailchimp helped me tremendously. We created a directory page on the Mailchimp platform, through which I still get clients. Mailchimp users search for experts on their site, and Mailchimp refers the relevant ones to me.
Later, I noticed that Constant Contact had many users. I applied to become a certified expert, was accepted, and became both a partner and a certified expert—much like with Mailchimp.
Around that time, there was a lot of hype around chatbots. ManyChat was gaining popularity. I completed their free online courses, passed their certification exam, became a partner, and earned certified expert status. One advantage of partnering—whether with ManyChat, Constant Contact, or Mailchimp—is that when a client is under your account, you receive a referral payment every month.
So I had three badges: Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and ManyChat. I finally had something I could leverage. I decided to reach milestones one at a time. I realized I couldn't do everything at once; I had to learn things step by step. I knew what I needed then.
My initial plan was to have something in my "bag" to offer a client. Now I had that. Next, I needed customers. The second step of business is having customers—and that flow needs to be strong to build a sustainable business.
I started thinking: what could I do? I began with very limited resources. I decided not to run paid ads at first. So what else was possible? An idea came to me—online marketplaces already have customers. It seemed the best way to get clients was through online marketplaces, since many companies use them to hire freelancers. I researched all the platforms, created accounts on each one, and started extensive SEO work. I learned how to present myself so clients could easily find me. I took courses and studied as much as I could. Honestly, I left no stone unturned in acquiring customers—I gave 100%. Alhamdulillah, it started working. I began getting work from abroad, and my first job paid only $5. But I approached it with such focus and earned such positive feedback that more customers started coming in from that social proof.
However, the customer flow was never consistent; it rose and fell regularly. The inconsistent growth became a problem. I realized I needed a partner living abroad who could help me with business development. My primary target was the U.S. market. I was working for a U.S. client, and our relationship became so strong that I proposed to him a partnership. He also had a marketing agency. He said, "You know, Mohammad, I was thinking the same thing." I said, "You acquire customers since you're there. Handle the front end, and I'll oversee delivery and quality." We worked together for a long time and built a customer base.
I didn't have my own website or my own CRM yet. Let me mention that every business must have a CRM. Without one, a business is essentially lost. I didn't have a website, and I didn't have a CRM. And I felt we had to build our brand. So I created the Salesenzine.com website and brand, and I hired a professional graphic designer to develop the brand guidelines. The website has been revised four times so far, and we're about to launch a new version soon.
But I kept feeling something was missing: I didn't have a customer database I could communicate with repeatedly to stay top of mind.
The business was growing well, and we were generating substantial revenue. Bringing in revenue from abroad is crucial, and I successfully set that up. For the business to work, three things were required: First, I must have a skill or service. Second, I must have customers. Third, when the customer pays me, I must be able to receive the payment—a proper payment gateway is essential. I set that so clients could pay legally and properly, and we could receive the funds here.
Now clients were coming in, we were providing services, and then they were leaving—mostly one-time clients. I faced two challenges, the biggest being customer retention.
At one point, I understood that sales isn't about earning money; it's about solving a problem. When I solve someone's problem, a sale will happen. Otherwise, it won't happen.
Ruhul: How did you solve the retention problem? And what happened after that?
Mofidul Alam: We thought hard about addressing the challenge. After much thought, we decided to move from a service-based agency to a SaaS product with a subscription model. Although we started as a marketing agency, I realized we needed a SaaS offering on subscription to ensure repeat sales.
I conducted extensive research and found a product that fit us perfectly. It included a complete marketing stack: automation, a CRM, and an appointment system. We white-labeled it under our own brand and began offering it as SaaS because our main challenge was retaining clients and solidifying those relationships. We launched with extensive customer outreach and began to see results.
However, the two platforms enabling subscription payments were not available in Bangladesh at the time. That became a major obstacle. After some research, I learned that, as a Bangladeshi citizen, I could register a business in the UK. I registered the business in the UK, and set up Stripe. With this, we have integrated subscription-based SaaS into our operations. That's how we overcame the challenge and solved our client retention problem.
The next challenge I faced was that my accounting was a mess. I had regular clients. Retention was good. But my finances were in bad shape.
I needed to understand my profit, expenses, and income. So I started using QuickBooks and began searching for a QuickBooks expert. I found an expert and hired him to do my bookkeeping. I explained what I needed, and he's been working with me for a while now.
After we established our accounting solution, managing our business accounts became easy. We could see the state of my business—the profit we were making and the expenses we needed to control.
I then thought: what's missing now in terms of offerings to customers? I realized I couldn't do website development, but a website plays a vital role in digital marketing. How could I help many of my clients who need a website or need help with their website development? I also thought this could help us expand our business.
I felt what I needed was access to experts. I needed a solution so I could easily solve any problem with any level of expertise. For example, if a client needs a Shopify expert, an SEO expert, and email marketing (which I can do), I could hire those experts and provide an all-in-one solution. I explored the buyer account on Fiverr, and it seemed to me this was a gold mine. I opened a buyer account on Fiverr.
There are so many experts there. People also deliver high-quality work. Reviews are very important there, so people take their work very seriously. A bad review can be a serious problem for you. So I solved a big problem: I can hire any expert at any time. When I could do that, I felt it was a big jump for me.
When a business needs to expand, a good team is required. I never wanted to work alone. I always felt that I would work in a team—I would just give them direction and they would get things done. We now have a large team whom I basically hire on a project basis. Our capacity is much higher now.
Ruhul: That’s a wonderful story. Tell us about Sales Enzine today.
Mofidul Alam: We now provide marketing services and a SaaS product to our customers. We're also looking into how we can serve our customers using AI. We're also looking to expand into providing creative services as combo offerings.
We now have a very good solution in an area where businesses face major challenges—cold emailing and business development. We thought of providing a complete cold email engine—one with which they can find their contacts using their ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) and cold email them. Through nurture emails, they can seamlessly close the deal.
Alongside this, we're bringing a creative solution called the 'Self-Selling Business Engine,' where your website automatically sells. How? We review your website and update the content so that people come, read it, and click a button.
Furthermore, we do SEO, which helps the website be easily found on the internet. After doing SEO, we install a Voice AI Agent along with a phone number. If a customer calls, the AI will talk to them exactly like a real human being. It will ask questions, find out their problems, answer them as much as possible, and then request their email address and phone number for follow-up. When the conversation ends, it will email the business owner the complete conversation script along with key insights from the conversation.
Another big challenge was that our buying capacity—the process of purchasing and procuring software—was a challenge from Bangladesh. We eventually overcame that challenge. Our buying capacity gradually increased, and our buying process improved. Now we have numerous subscriptions for various software that are used by our clients.
That was how I started this alone and turned it into a sustainable business.
We truly give clients solutions. It's not like we do email marketing and that's it. Let me give you an example. After doing email marketing, we check whether it resulted in a sale. If I screen-share with you now, you'd see that many of my clients are earning $100,000 to $150,000 a month now. Once a client starts using our service, they never leave us. They refer us to their friends and business partners. We get a lot of new business from referrals.
I check in with clients after service delivery to see if the solution is useful. I would not say we've always produced excellent results for everyone. We've failed sometimes. We did something for a client but it didn't produce any good results. When that happened, we experimented with new strategies to understand what works for a client and provide them with the solutions that work for them.
I operate from the belief that you have to deliver real results to your customers. Unless you do that, your business won't work. Now when I operate from this belief, my team also needs to operate from the same belief. It's not enough for me alone to operate from it. We have tried to build a culture where our people care deeply about our customers.
Ruhul: Fascinating. I would like to ask a few clarifying questions. One question is, could you briefly tell the story of the beginning? You left BdJobs Training in 2020. You mentioned you started working solo from a room in your house. Could you talk about that phase? How did the beginning happen?
Mofidul Alam: To be honest, I went through a lot of challenges—psychological and otherwise. When you start a business, the biggest thought is, 'Will I be able to make it or not?' The transition from being an employee to a businessman requires tremendous internal force. The scariest experience is: where will I get my salary from at the end of the month? Believe me, I started every morning with this thought.
In those days I planned my days strategically. I would list everything well ahead of time so that I could make sales that day—so that I could gain customers without fail.
When you're a job holder, you know that at the end of the month your salary will come to your account. When someone becomes a businessman, they have to manage both sides. I have to work, and the money has to come in at the end of the month.
During that period, I went through significant mental pressure.
There was also the issue of loneliness. When I was employed, my colleagues were around me. Once you start a business, you're alone. Moreover, I was a solopreneur, working alone.
I had to prepare myself thoroughly on how to utilize my experience and skills. In a job, if I couldn't do something, I might ask a colleague. But here, that opportunity wasn't there, and you can't just hire someone suddenly because of financial and resource limitations. So I had to do it all myself.
I had my family's support then, which was a blessing. I needed a focused work environment to work, and I was working out of my home, which means it wasn't easy. I had to work to create an environment where my kids understood that I was working.
Also, in a job, everyone respects you based on your position, but when you become a businessman, you'll see that nobody respects you initially. It was a challenge early on.
I needed to work really, really long hours. Sometimes, I had to work until 4 or 5 AM, or 16 or 17 hours a day. I tried to organize myself.
At the start—many people make the mistake of investing too much in unnecessary things. I need a beautiful office. I need a small team to manage things. I buy all the fancy office equipment which I probably don't need. This is a problematic approach.
It's best to start with the basic necessities, and the cost must be kept to the absolute minimum. You shouldn't even hire an office assistant—you have to do the office assistant's job yourself so that you can save that money. This was a major shift in my thinking, and finance was a major issue.
I had to make sure we were making a profit, good revenue, and customers. Starting a business alone, suddenly switching from job life to business, involved a lot of social, psychological, and financial pressure. But my family kept supporting me by smiling and saying, 'Yes, you're doing good.' If I didn't have family support, I would have been devastated.
Self-discipline matters. Discipline yourself first; only then can you guide others.
Ruhul: You mentioned that you felt you needed something to sell that solves a customer's problem, for which customers will be willing to pay. So you started doing these certifications and partnerships—Mailchimp, Constant Contact, etc. You got those certifications and partnerships. From getting these certifications, how long did it take you to generate the first revenue? How long did it take to start making money?
Mofidul Alam: What I did was, even before I gained the certificate, I'd already registered on online marketplaces. When I was doing these certifications, I was already making money. I communicated with foreign businesses, even on LinkedIn. I was trying all possible ways to convince them to work with me. I was trying to offer both excellent service at a competitive price.
My primary means of communication were the marketplaces and LinkedIn. I used almost all the marketplaces. I worked on Upwork for a long time, which was quite effective at that time. I also worked on LinkedIn where you have many remote jobs. I started applying for various jobs where they hire freelancers.
You might ask where this confidence came from—that I would take such a big jump and land successfully. Frankly speaking, I'll never jump somewhere if I don't know I can stand there successfully. Confidence came from information: the gig economy is growing. More companies are hiring for project time, not full-time. I observed companies where their entire business model was based on 5,000 employees, none of whom were full-time, and everyone worked remotely.
I felt the gig economy and remote jobs had a lot to explore. And I had a strength: I'm a very quick learner. I understand technology. I can look at something and quickly grasp how it works. That was actually my strength, and I understood I had to sell this strength of mine.
My confidence came from my ease with technology and the realization that the gig economy was growing. I realized that there's a big opportunity in the space, and if I work hard, I can capitalize on this opportunity.
Ruhul: Interesting. When you started working on the marketplace, which services were you providing?
Mofidul Alam: We gradually expanded our services. We began with email marketing, then moved into social media marketing. From social media, we started building websites. Later, we added CRM solutions, and eventually we began running paid ads such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads, along with SEO. I didn't initially understand cold email, so I learned it, hired cold email experts, and brought those solutions in.
We offered strong marketing services, but client retention wasn't where we wanted it. To address this, we transitioned to a SaaS product.
We now have our own subscription-based app. By staying within our SaaS platform, clients get a complete marketing solution in one place. They don't need Mailchimp or separate posting tools for different channels. The platform provides funnels, automation, and SEO—all integrated. Clients choose it because everything is centralized, making management easy from acquisition to conversion to retention. Using multiple disparate tools takes far more time and effort. We make it simple: with our product, you can do everything on one platform. This has helped us solve our customer retention challenge.
We have built the platform by using a white-label version of an existing solution, customizing it to our needs. Clients see our domain, our brand, and our logo—everything appears as ours. We couldn't wait to build something ourselves; that would have taken too long. We needed to generate revenue immediately. We needed something to sell now. So we built on top of an existing platform.
Every day I operate with urgency to make a sale. I try to sell every day. We were under a lot of pressure to generate revenue and didn't have time to wait. That's why we took something that already existed, tested it, and decided to build on it.
Sincerity is crucial in business—what I provide must be genuinely useful. I deliver a service, then follow up three months later to ask, "Is what I gave you working?" When I hear "yes," that's my achievement.
Ruhul: So you currently have that SaaS product, and people can take other services separately, right?
Mofidul Alam: Yes—we offer a SaaS platform, and clients can also choose our standalone services. We're also launching something new in the next one to two months. We see that companies need virtual assistants (VAs)—people who handle ongoing email and administrative work. That requires placing a human in the role, which can't be solved purely through services or SaaS.
We've already created a brand for this called "VA Jobs," and we're confident because we've provided this service to several clients. For example, I was doing marketing for a streaming company similar to Netflix. They needed a QA expert to troubleshoot app issues. I went to Fiverr, found a QA expert in Bangladesh, charged the client $20 per hour, and paid the expert $10 per hour, with all work under our supervision. We're now developing a new portal and website—VA Jobs—where the entire hiring process will be fully automated.
Ruhul: Many different products. Does having multiple products make your business complex, or does it become easier?
Mofidul Alam: It becomes easier because we have two main objectives: to genuinely solve a customer's problem—not just to sell or earn money. When we approach it this way, we find they rarely have only one problem. Someone might ask, "Can you do marketing?" but once we talk, we discover issues with their site or weak content. They may not have a proper system to nurture leads. We can identify and fix those issues. Each of our services complements and strengthens the others.
Ruhul: You said your first job was $5. From there, you've come a long way to build a comprehensive marketing services platform. Give us an overview of the company today. You said your team works mostly on a contractual basis. How many people do you work with? And also, give us an idea about revenue size or client numbers.
Mofidul Alam: We currently have an average of around 30 team members who work on and off our projects. We always strive to minimize costs while providing the best service. We have the capacity to onboard an unlimited number of experts. If a client needs 50 employees, I hire 50 employees. I believe the biggest strength of a business is its hiring capacity.
We humans are powerless and we all believe in something. If you believe in Allah, seek His help. I pray Tahajjud (night prayers) often. Even now, when I start a project, I begin by performing ablution and saying "Bismillah" (In the name of Allah). I ask for help and success. I believe that if you ask for help, you'll receive it—you just have to ask with earnestness.
Ruhul: How does your subscription work?
Mofidul Alam: It depends on the services a client is taking. For example, a Swiss company only takes SEO from us and pays a certain subscription fee.
Then we have large US companies for whom we do the entire marketing, from strategy to implementation, including websites, cold emails, funnel development, and paid ads. They pay us different fees per month. Prices vary like this.
What we do is analyze a client's buying capacity and try to see how much they can invest. If their capacity is only $200 per month, we try to give them the solution according to that. We don't restrict ourselves to a high minimum price. Our starting price range begins at $97.
Ruhul: What are the biggest lessons you've learned from your journey so far?
Mofidul Alam: We regularly share marketing tips and updates with clients via email and social media. It helps us stay on their minds. Marketing isn't about pushing someone; it's about living in someone's mind so that when they need help, they come to you.
Pricing is also very important. In the international market, I faced many challenges with pricing. Many people asked, "Why should I pay you this much? I can get it much cheaper." I had to clarify why they should hire me: sincerity.
Sincerity is crucial in business—what I provide must be genuinely useful. I deliver a service, then follow up three months later to ask, "Is what I gave you working?" When I hear "yes," that's my achievement.
Self-discipline matters. Discipline yourself first; only then can you guide others.
Keep yourself open to learning. Don't judge too quickly. Learn something new every day. Never stop learning new skills. Find a mentor.
Finally, this has been a challenging journey. We humans are powerless and we all believe in something. If you believe in Allah, seek His help. I pray Tahajjud (night prayers) often. Even now, when I start a project, I begin by performing ablution and saying "Bismillah" (In the name of Allah). I ask for help and success. I believe that if you ask for help, you'll receive it—you just have to ask with earnestness.
Ruhul: That's beautifully put. I think this is a good place to end our conversation today. Thank you for being generous with your time and insights. Can't appreciate it enough.
Mofidul Alam: Thank you for having me. I enjoyed the conversation a lot.
