As part of our endeavour to identify and share some of the unique and compelling stories from the ecosystem, we invited yet another passionate entrepreneur Sourabh Goyal – Founder of The Goalchy Club Community & Associate Partner at 3 Catalysts, for an interview with us to understand more about his exciting entrepreneurial journey so far.
Let’s read more about his interesting story, way forward and his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs through our exclusive conversation!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Sourabh:
Talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
I am the youngest son of my parents born and brought up in Faridabad. We are a traditional baniya business family.
Being the youngest one in the family I was always over protected by my mother. I grew up as a low confident boy with low self-esteem and an average student who could score 75% in academics throughout school life. Schooling never made sense to me and also the way we were living a life following years old traditions that have no relevance in today’s time. As time passed I grew up really curious having questions about everything and soon I found myself in a habit of asking WHY ONLY THIS WAY?, Isn’t there a better way to do things.”
This curious soul fell in the trap of schooling and somewhere buried all the questions as no one could give a straight answer as I wanted. Everyone said. “this is the way it is”.
One fine day I found out that there are TV channels like Discovery and National Geographic. I was fascinated to watch those shows and understood, “if you don’t have an answer to something you are always to free to FIGURE OUT things for self”.
It was those 3 months holidays after 10th standard when most of the children are making decisions of which stream to choose, I chose Science and later mechanical engineering in college in search of my answers, engineering college did not give any answers but as I was now living 150kms away from home I felt homesick for long 2 years but started gaining confidence to deal with life in case I am alone.
Being in a business family we were never conditioned to do a job and live 9-5 for a lifetime. My father never asked me to get 90% marks. He always said, “Do good in life, we have a business to handle. So, my mindset was always there but with a question.
The question was: HOW NOT TO BE IN FAMILY BUSINESS AND START SOMETHING OF MY OWN that belongs to the 21st century?”
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a corporate career?
As engineering time gave me my freedom to make decisions I did not want to lose it now and be the youngest child of the family. I chose a 5000/month paying job over the family business back in 2011.
Now I was curious as well as ambitious to fulfil my dreams, I am not against corporate life. It teaches a lot of things but within 2 years I realized it cannot even take me to think about having a Mercedes E250 and travelling this planet.”
WHY ENTREPRENEURSHIP over CORPORATE: answer can be one-word SEEKING FREEDOM. That corporate structure felt like a jail haha . . . .
A curious and freedom-seeking soul is a dangerous combination for the society we live in. In 2013 my journey as a LEARNING entrepreneur begin with Network Marketing Industry. The first time I found a bunch of people around me who didn’t suppress my questions and at least tried to answer them. Some of them got answered some were still pending, I travelled to 3 countries and could meet some millionaires, listening to them was fun learning because they didn’t teach from books. They shared real-life experiences. Wow, this is real education.
Please share with us some of the challenges you faced in your journey;
As I shared in the first part I grew up with a lack of self-confidence and low self-esteem. This was my biggest challenge to overcome, Entrepreneurship demands everything from you. Especially sales and marketing to generate revenues.
I, an introvert mechanical engineer fought hard to completely transform my personality for a good 4 years. It wouldn’t have been possible without the education I received from the network marketing industry and the leaders I met there.
A new MINDSET and a new SKILL set of getting along with people easily. In 4 years I ended up attending over 200 startup events and did 600+ one to one sales meeting. Once I learned human psychology it became a fun game for me and I became an alien to people who knew me previously. Letting go of years old buddies is not easy but it was required. I do miss sometimes in this new universe I created for myself.
What is your Business Mantra: Money or Emotions?
Emotions, because we are emotional beings. As an entrepreneur, I am driven to FIGURE OUT solutions for problems people are emotional about, We are 65% youth in our country and there are so many seeking answers to their questions and not everyone is lucky to find mentors like me. So, in 2018 I created a community THE GOALCHY CLUB to bring people with goals in life and the QUESTION: How to achieve these goals.
Mantra: Offer solutions to the problems people are emotional about, the money will come.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
This was one of my questions too till the time I found out one hidden vertical of necessary education that is gaining speed in the western world nowadays. This vertical is SPIRITUAL EDUCATION. The core of Indian education that was burnt by the British to make Indian a slave. 2016 I attended the first session from Dr Meenaa Mahaajjan (my Spiritual guide) about metaphysics and how this universe works. I was captivated and understood that there is much beyond a human can think or see. She was answering my questions for which I chose engineering back to back in that 6 hours class. Pressure and stress are just words that are making us miserable. The real problem is when we are not aware of OUR SELF. Self-awareness is my tool to handle everything difficult now.
What has worked well for you so far?
Well, Everything worked well for me. when I failed I learned lessons and applying those lessons made me a better person. Everything that works well or what does not work well comes together for good at some point in life.
Dots connect later in life and we see the things we were most stressful for were good.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Being aware of what is Success for YOU?
Success is a subjective term. I defined my success as BEING ABLE TO ACHIEVE MY GOALS. Many people may not take it as a success. Being happy in my skin is my key to SUCCESS now.
We would love to know your advice for all those starting as an aspiring entrepreneur?
1) Don’t do it because others are doing it
2) Find someone 5-7 years ahead of you to guide you. Don’t visit a CA for a dental issue haha.
3) Make your mind for all sorts of adventure like being outclassed, being broke, being misunderstood.
4) You are not entitled to anything in this journey. if you get something good. Otherwise, FIGURE OUT. Complaining doesn’t work… I tried a lot so speaking from my experience.
Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what are the leadership traits that are necessary for success?
1 – Being Flexible
2 – Learn from the younger generation. I am 30 and learning a lot from college students these days.
3 – Collaboration over competition.
What are the business mantras you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
There are no MANTRAs. There are a DREAM and a burning desire to get it real. I have just started.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures we have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
I started working from home 4 years ago. COVID didn’t impact much but I miss meeting people for coffee. We need to look into the future now and act accordingly.
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.
