As part of our relentless efforts to identify and share some of the meaningful stories from India and around the world, this week we invited Passionate Youtube and Online Entrepreneur Waqqas Malik for an interview with us. He is the Founder of Dear Sir. Let’s read more about his inspiring journey so far and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with him:
Talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
I did my graduation in Commerce from Delhi University and now pursuing MBA in Marketing and Sales. I always feel attracted towards technology despite the academic subjects I keep learning programming Languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript and now Python as well. Also, Digital Marketing, Search engine Optimisation, Online Brand Creation is something I am Good in. Technology flows like blood in my veins. It gives me the reason to live.
I was aware that so many students don’t have coaching facilities or they can’t afford the fee. Their problems pushed me to think about my responsibility towards them.
“The whole world is just one click away nowadays.”
And that’s the reason why I stepped into this organisation. My Journey began much earlier than we started “Dear Sir”. I was in offline business for almost 5 years but my reach was limited at that time.
I was aware of the fact that “Business without technology is similar to killing the business”. I couldn’t resist myself to come online. God gifted me with the Tech & Business knowledge so I decided to serve those students who are going through financial problems and cant join coaching classes.
Initial few months were challenging but consistent improvements helped us to catch eyeballs. We finally started to receive comments and never ended the love of students from villages.
Then we started making National Record of achieving 1M,2M,3M,4M,5M subscribers in just 94, 120, 150, 175, 210 videos respectively. It has never happened with any Youtube educational channel who could achieve these much subscribers in just a few videos and the reason being we always focus on quality over quantity.
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a corporate career?
Life is very short and living it on the terms of others is something I can’t accept. We humans are not here in this world to make money. It doesn’t matter how much we earn, we won’t carry it with ourselves afterlife but what we will carry is our good deeds which we do for society. I feel I can serve a large number of people only through entrepreneurship. Everyone in this world comes for a reason and I came here to help students become eligible to represent INDIA on a global scale. That’s the reason why I choose Entrepreneurship among all doors.
How is your product different from traditional products? Tell us more about your product and your startup’s journey this far?
Our method of teaching is creative and innovative. We have developed a teaching technique which we call “View call”. It works with visualisation of things and human psychology of remembering it. Our human brain remembers things in the form of images and it helps it to recall things easily.
With this technique, we help the students to visualise the concept through real-life examples, animation and concept related jokes. Also, through our channel students learn the concept in less time because of creativity and to the point teaching.”
Due to our innovative teaching style, we got lots of love from our students. Our “Tenses” video got more than 1.5 Crore of viewership which is a record view on any educational video. Our Maths Short Trick is famous around the globe, even we get viewership on our Maths Short Tricks video from outside India which shows the uniqueness and wide acceptance of our products.
Please share with us some of the challenges you faced in your journey;
We all are human and we all have a struggle story. If there is no struggle, there are no learnings. Starting journey wasn’t pleasant at all. We had giants in front of us who were ruling the YouTube world. It was hard for us to enter their kingdom and make the students realise our existence. We were creating quality content but nobody was there to consume it. We were investing and improving but results weren’t satisfactory at all. Every single night screams why we are doing it, why shouldn’t we leave this and do business where we can see conversion.
But where there is a will there’s away. I decided not to quit, I had a dream which I wanted to live. Thinking about the day which I dream of helped me to stay on the path. As a famous saying “if you want to quit remember why you started”, I remembered it.
What is your Business Mantra: Money or Emotions?
One of my Mentor Ms Nivedita Jha taught me “There is no place for Emotion in business” and “Always be humble and responsible towards your consumers”. And when our consumers are the future of this great country then I have to be humble in serving quality product and strict in taking tough organisational decisions. Students are my priority and I am very emotional towards them. Due to this attachment, “Quality” became my mantra.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
Stress and pressure is a part of life. I don’t see them as the rest world sees. For me, these both terms are something Which brings out my best and hidden ability. It is not new to me. Since my childhood, I faced lots of problems and challenges which I don’t want to discuss here but all those situations helped me to perform better than my ability. Whenever I feel stressed, I try to find all possible solutions and gives my best to the situation and remember the quote Birbal says to Akbar “Yeh Waqt Bhi Guzar Jayega” Which means “This time will pass”.
What has worked well for you so far?
The education industry is changing in India after decades and fortunately, I am a part of it. It’s a pleasant feeling that students started to get an education without investing lakhs of rupees. I want to make education as easy as anyone buys a T-shirt online. Our viewers can see this vision and that’s why they always stand by us in our all decisions. I am working on one of the big projects of my life and in the mid of June, we will announce it through our YouTube channel. I believe that it will change the entire life of the one who has a vision.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
I would love to share once I feel I am successful. This reminds me of a quote from my friend & business partner Mr Aadil “So much to do, So less done”, and that’s true. I just took my first step towards my vision and its a long journey from now.
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
Yeah Sure! I would love to share what I have learned so far in this journey.
1) Life is very short, Utilise each and every second effectively if you want to make an impact on society.
2) Never go for money, Always solve the burning problem of the society and the society will solve your problems.
3) Remember, “If there is an excuse, there won’t be any rescue” and that’s my mantra I apply in my life.
4) Never hang out with those who can’t think as big as you can, they will stop you dreaming.
5) Challenges are opportunities, remember it.
6) And last but not least, “Your happiness is more worthy than anything” So always take care of it.
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.
