At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring to our community some of the finest stories from India and around the World. As part of this endeavour, we invited yet another passionate entrepreneur – Sania Abidi for an exclusive interview with us. She is the Founder of Arthashastri. It is an independent blogging site and portal where you can learn about Economics and Finance. Let’s learn more about her inspiring journey, background and advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Sania:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey as a women entrepreneur, please;
I have completed most of my education from Kanpur.
I was always interested in subjects like Business, Finance, Accounting and most importantly Economics. From an early stage, I have gained education in these subjects.
Growing up I didn’t have resources to learn about the subjects other than from books and the internet didn’t have many articles about these subjects.”
So, I had this idea to create something that would help the students of this generation to have a one-stop destination to learn about everything, mostly Economics. I struggled through a lot of losses to get to this place where I’m today and I always adore my Family, friends and mentors for always being there for me.
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
Entrepreneurship has a kind of freedom that a corporate career can never provide. Working with passion towards achieving your goals can always be attained with Entrepreneurship. A corporate Career is not bad at all as it provides stability and makes an individual learn about many things through the process. Both entrepreneurship and corporate career should be an individual’s choice.
Taking risks, investing in the startup, hard work and honesty are just bumping on a road but the destination is always beautiful.
So, whatever you wish to do in the future always work with passion, hard work and honesty. Success doesn’t come that early but with dedication, passion and hard work.
‘Arthashastri’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving?
Arthashastri is what we call an Economist in the Hindi language. As I grew up reading all the aspects of the Indian economy, it has always been my keen interest. I want to pursue further my passion for Indian Economics and the name suggests being a good fit with a perfect blend of my passion, my language and my interest.
In Arthashastri, our main area of focus is making people aware about financial literacy. In such a way that a person who has never studied Economics can also learn about the functions of money and apply it to save in their day to day businesses.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
I started Arthashastri in late 2019. After which the pandemic and lockdown started. I was worried about how I would succeed with no human contact. But then, the government introduced lockdown guidelines which took some time to understand and get familiar with. In reality, it has been the best decision.
a) Our business consists of few people who mainly manage all the stuff and it mainly is work from home which gives them flexible hours to work with.
b) Every meeting and transaction process can be taken out sitting at home in a comfortable environment.
The best thing is to keep learning and in this pandemic, most of the knowledge and services is available on the internet which makes work a lot easier.
Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what are the leadership traits that are necessary for success?
The first and foremost leadership trait I would like you all to know is Adapting. Adapt to your surroundings, the policies of your audience and start from there. The idea of leadership is serving others. For us to know what the audience wants we need to learn about them and adapt their behaviour to find out the solution.
Leading people can be tough but it gives a better feeling when they learn something from you. Treat everyone with equality, doing hard work and always working with honesty are the other major leadership traits.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
Having love and support around is I suppose always a luxury. You get the motivation to work harder and better every day. It can be from anyone – family, friends and loved ones. With support and motivation, the taste seems a lot easier and that’s a fact.
Also with support, you don’t need to prove anything to anyone rather you wish to prove everything to yourself and that’s a positive thing.
My parents and my brother and sister have always been there for me. I’m the youngest so I always got that love and support from them. I lost my mother in September 2020. She motivated me the most and stood by my every decision through thick and thin. She was and is my strength and will always be.”
My mother was an Associate Professor in a Post Graduate College. I grew up watching her being the best version of herself. I learnt patience, humbleness and having the urge to learn new things from her. She supported her students just like her children just like my Father always supported her in every step.
From her, I learnt how to treat everyone with equality and with love, how to practise patience, how to work hard and fail and try harder and in the end how to work with honesty without hurting anybody’s feelings.
I wish she was still here to see me where I am today but, also she taught me a lot of things and I know she would be proud of me. Everything I was, I am and will be, will always be because of my Mother.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
Each person has an individual personality and the person should work with strategies they feel comfortable in. I can name a few of mine.
1) Learn about your passion, make a plan, set a goal and work towards achieving that goal.
2) Being comfortable in what you do.
3) Always be ready to take risks.
4) A leader should always do the hardest work
5) Emotional qualities like being humble, treat everyone with dignity and equality and always be honest with everyone but most importantly with yourself.
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
Motivation, mental peace and a clear mind always helps in achieving your goal before time and more efficiently. To have that you should surround yourself with people who motivate you and support you. Choose your surroundings wisely.
Secondly, personal care is also necessary. You should always take out at least 1 hour of working by yourself. Set your personal care goals for things like eating healthy, exercising, etc. For me personally, I take out 20 mins for my skincare, 1 hour to exercise, 30 mins to pray and 10 mins to meditate. You should try it too because when you’re not happy internally it could affect your work negatively.
I try to schedule my day, the night before. Planning everything makes your job easier and removes all the unnecessary tensions. It also saves time and prevents overload of work. For my hobbies, I try them on weekends, like reading books, playing chess, writing poems, painting, sketching, learning new languages, playing basketball and skating and a lot more. Try and learn 1 new skill every month, it helps in making your brain work more efficiently.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
There are no such keys to success. Success cannot be measured by your education, skills and talents.
It has many more things to it which depends on an individual personality. I can name a few but that’s not all –
(i) Being passionate about what you work
(ii) Being mentally and physically happy.
(iii) Being kind and honest.
That’s it!!
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
My advice for young professionals and students should be as stated many times above is being passionate about your work. Learn about it. Knowledge is free. Ask for help if you are stuck somewhere.
Set a goal, make a plan and work hard to achieve that goal. But, also be mentally and physically happy. Work for a cause and help someone whenever you get a chance. Be always kind and humble. Treat others with respect and dignity. Always be honest to your work, everybody around you and most importantly to yourself.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
