As part of our endeavour to bring compelling stories from the start-up ecosystem, we invited yet another passionate entrepreneur, Shailabh Verma, for an interview with us to understand more about his interesting entrepreneurial journey so far. Shailabh is the founder of Basyl Education, which aims to provide a platform for students to test their knowledge. Let’s learn more!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Shailabh:
Tell us a little bit about yourself (background) and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
Well, honestly, it wasn’t planned. I wanted to jump into entrepreneurship at one point of time but a little late in life. I am one of those “Bhed Chaal” engineers (laughs). After my 12th boards, I decided to do engineering as most of my friends were doing and joined BTech in Chemical Engg. After graduation I joined a company that was into the distribution of chemicals, I worked there in a sales profile. That is when I got to know about my skills. I started looking for options to polish my skills when I got to know about MTech in Industrial Engg and Management from IIT (ISM) Dhanbad. It is one course that gives tremendous learning and hands-on industry experience which was good for me I guess. I applied for the course and luckily got an admission into the course.
After the completion of my Masters, I joined the EdTech industry, for some time a B2C company and then for about a year the company that made customized eLearning modules for the corporate sector. This gave me ginormous knowledge about the eLearning sector. One thing that I saw lacking in the sector was the affordability of the services for a common man, standardization of content for the regular classes and opportunity of innovation that could be done in the EdTech sector
That is when, after a lot of thought, I decided to take a step forward from what I was already doing.
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?
I’d say that was meant to be. I definitely wanted to take this plunge as I wanted to do a lot more with my skill sets. At the same time, I wanted to bring about a change in the quality of education along with a level of standardization. There’s so much we can do to level up the sector. So, why not!
How do you find the industry/niche that you’re in?
It’s challenging, of course. But at the same time, a change is needed. We need to give students different avenues to challenge themselves. Basyl is one such avenue to help them better their skills.
What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation?
To be true with you, my source of motivation is my emotion with education. Every morning when I wake up, I have a target in my mind that I have to do something for the people around me. You know, most of the times when you see a bad situation around yourself, it is usually because of illiteracy.
I aim at bridging the gap between the privileged and underprivileged and with Basyl’s concept of active learning, I want to make sure that every child gets his or her right to education.
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
Primarily, disbelief. I have had major struggles in roping people in. Unless you are a parent or a child, you would not really connect to the business model on that level. So, introducing something novel to people and convincing them why they should be part of it was one of the first struggles.
What comes first for you – money or emotions?
For me, both are as important. As far as what I have experienced, you cannot make your wishes come true without money and without fulfilling your wishes, you will always be emotionally dissatisfied. Same is what goes the other way around, that is no matter how hard you work but to achieve what you have always been aiming for in your career, you need to channelize your emotions towards achieving that target and earning as much money.
I believe, if you find the perfect balance between both, there is no stopping.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
It’s my belief for what I do. In my heart, I truly believe that all the sleepless nights and early mornings are worth it. It sets me going.
What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person/startup?
Well, it’s an ongoing process. To be engaged as an entrepreneur means you learn something new every day. Each day has challenges, success and failures. So, to be able to cope with it, I have to be consistent and keep my beliefs strong.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
For me, perseverance has always been my boon companion. If you walk in a field full of grass for 1 month following the same route every day, the grass on your path will disappear and you will have a clear road to walk upon.
Consider the grass as your problems and your footsteps as the constant effort to remove that problem. I hope you have the answer now.
What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
“The day you stop learning is the day you die”
Never stop learning. If you can, go for an academic course or give 25-30 minutes every day to learn something new. Also, keep pushing. There will be obstacles much more than what you would expect or have planned for. You can never be 100% prepared. So, give it a kick and keep going.
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.
