ABP LIVE hosted the inaugural ‘Future Forward Startup Conclave 2024’ on Tuesday in New Delhi. The summit began with a panel discussion on 'India's Startup Landscape 2030: Navigating Challenges, Seizing Opportunities' and included Abhishek Agarwal, CoFounder, Farmley, Nitesh Singh, CoFounder, Blue Tea, and Dharamveer Singh Chouhan, CEO & CoFounder, Zostel as the panellists.
Sharing their experience of starting their entrepreneurial journey, the founders talked about their thought process in the beginning and how they scaled up their idea to make it a successful business.
Chouhan shared that his vision was to take Zostel to every corner of the country. “I personally started out when I was 22 and I truly did it for the revolution. Then, we tried to figure out how to make money because all revolutions must make money.”
The entrepreneur said that today they have built a huge community and continue to maintain a supply-constrained market.
Learnings And Technology
Looking back on their learnings, the founders then talked about what they would have done differently if they started today. Agarwal stated, “I would have this thought process of doing this (business) as fast as I can. Secondly, the important thing is team building.”
The Farmley founder said that it is crucial to focus on the people you choose to work with as the team you select has a massive impact on how to scale and grow your business.
Meanwhile, Nitesh talked about focusing on the ‘why’ of it all. “I would have focused more on why, why we existed, why customers should buy on us. When we started focusing on the why eventually, we found the results to be non-linear. Anyone who wants to create a legacy brand, they have to focus on the why.”
The Zostel founder, Dharamveer Chouhan, talked about the importance of technology. He stated that his focus would have been on including more technology in his business and using it to scale higher. ‘Using AI agents, blockchain technology’ to reward customers for their continuous support would have been his priority, the founder said.
Emphasising the growing role of technology in today’s start-up world, Abhishek said that tech has played a major role in enhancing access to customers residing in Tier-2 or Tier-3 regions. He added that tech helps provide more personalised services for customers as customisation is a major demand from customers nowadays.
Meanwhile, Nitesh said that it is important to keep a track of changes happening across the industry in the world to keep up with the changing landscape.
Work-Life Balance
Talking about finding work-life balance as an entrepreneur, the leaders shared their perspectives on balancing professional and personal life.
The Blue Tea founder stressed the importance of focusing on mental and physical health. “Being a health specific brand, I give atleast 2 hours to my body. That's my motto that I have to be fit to work for longer years. To the family, it becomes difficult so I have kept my Sundays only for family, no matter what unless it's a major emergency situation. As entrepreneurs, every second we think only about our brand, but in the meantime, you forget your family and if your relationship suffers, your mental health will suffer as it iss a marathon and a long journey. Family is very important as it keeps you on the ground,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Abhishek said that it is crucial to focus on the team you are building to ensure that you can rely on them to make some time for yourself and your family. At the same time, he said that the family needs to also be very understanding to grasp what an entrepreneur is working on and building.
Advice To Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Sharing advice for the aspiring entrepreneurs, Dharamveer urged the younger generation to be more bold and confident in themselves. He suggested that entrepreneurs should doubt themselves less and also take care of their physical and mental health.
Nitesh urged people to dream and go for it no matter what it takes. “I believed this and I am still believing,” he stated.