The Year Gone By!
Posted on January 11, 2016 at 11:00 AM
Our journey started sometime in June, an afternoon sitting across the lunch table debating about life goals and entrepreneurship. Well, we all wanted to build something that we could call our own, be called an entrepreneur; but except for knowing the spelling of a fancy French word and it’s correct pronunciation (very important) we had no idea what we wanted to do, just like the rest of the world I guess :P
The idea of starting up a Digital Marketing and Web Design Agency struck all our heads almost at the same time. I think all of us were buzzed with the word marketing and we anyway spend 70% of our day on Facebook, so why not use it productively is what the initial thought was. However when we actually drilled the idea to paper is when we realized the fancy word of entrepreneurship came with way too many un-fancy tasks and responsibilities and that, I think, was the KICK we needed.
After the kick, came by another huge and very important task; finalizing a name that all of us could agree on. Trust me, the hardest thing so far!
We called ourselves ‘Media’ – ‘Holics’ – The MediaHolic Co.
(All of us are alcoholics, well it drives us to be creative)
Three not so intelligent but passionately driven ‘alcoholics’ became The MediaHolic Co.
(There is a lot more to us than just the ‘Holic’ bit, just saying)
Dhananjay: That’s me, a mechanical engineering graduate from Cardiff University, UK. I joined my family business to take care of the marketing and with time realized that marketing drove me more than anything else. Being able to decide the voice and brand of a product interested me more than my own business. That’s when digital marketing struck me in!
Nihar: Probably the only engineer by trait amongst the lot, this IT grad from TSEC had a good stint at Accenture leading a team of well-talented youngsters to battle the software complications arising in his project; he brings to the team immense experience in areas of technology and development.
Kunal: His priority for ManU just slid a space down once the company was formed. The operations head clearly knows how to get things done. Working in the operations team of Accenture, Kunal learnt all the necessary skills to operate and effectively manage a team. His skill of managing time to complete work is probably the only reason the team can party even after a long day at work.
The experience of starting a venture and swimming against the tide has so far given us that high that even Malana Cream didn’t. It’s been a journey of rediscovery, professionally as well as personally!
When we started, we hardly thought work would pour in immediately (yes, I like my modesty too :P) but it did. With projects flowing in we realized the missing link to the mad jigsaw we make; a strategist. We realized everyone, can do every work, but planning and executing the same in the right direction was not either one of our forte.
So came in the dynamic and fun plugin of our team, Jinal. The maestro of content and strategy of our team, her ideas and awesomeness just add a whole new variable to the team.
Briefly some of the lessons we learnt:
1. Always be available, always!
Your client thinks you are a Robot that works 24/7 and has no life of his own. Once he assigns work to you, you are his property so it’s only fair you are available always!
2. Never lose hope; the end of the tunnel is just a minute away!
The odds of winning a pitch are anyway negligible and when you are a startup just know that everyone is going to close doors on you. Basically, you are like the salesman on the door no one wants to entertain; but then there will be that one sweet aunty out of the 100 doors you knocked that may not buy your product but offer you a glass of water; that’s it! Someone that is willing to hear you/your idea out is all you need and that’s been our only motivation since the beginning because good things always follow!
3. Quality of work is the only core requirement.
So what do you do when out of the 250 homes you visited, someone actually wants to hear you out? Are you really going to make a sale?
Well the only way to be sure about that is the Quality of what you are going to put in front of the table. When your product is good, your start-up status won’t matter. It will actually be a bonus, knowing such young talent can possess such immense maturity in work.
4. Fun? What's that?
You must have often heard start-ups are fun!
Well let me clear that myth out right away, we are fun people but starting up something is not fun. It’s work, very serious work.
We have lost count of how many sleepless nights we have had, how many evening plans cancelled, how many friends disappointed; but at the end of this year when we looked back it all seemed worthwhile.
So yeah was kinda fun in that way, afterall!
2015 was kickass and 2016 looks promising, so before our calendars get blocked and we have to decline your requests, hire us right away :D