We invited Anu Sehgal from Digital Mill for an interview with Most Popular Stories to know more about her entrepreneurial journey.
1. TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR JOURNEY AS AN ENTREPRENEUR
I was a student of marketing. Post my MBA, I was hired by THE ECONOMIC TIMES as a Business Correspondent. I worked in ET’s newsroom for 10 years breaking big stories. After quitting ET, I started the social media agency, DIGITAL MILL, catering to the needs of CEOs, Industrialist, politicians, brands for managing their online profile & promote them! We specialize in Image Management and personal profiling. Digital Mill is a great way to leverage my content writing expertise and the learnings & insights to add value to our clients’ projects.
2. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ENTREPRENEURSHIP OVER A JOB?
I chose entrepreneurship because I always wanted to make an impact. I have always been intrigued by entrepreneurship and read the success stories of almost all successful entrepreneurs. It’s incredible how you build something from the scratch and scale it. Not everyone can do it. It takes a lot of courage, planning, perseverance, hard work and team work, combined with good strategy and execution skills.
3. WHAT WAS THE VISION BEHIND IT?
The digital marketing industry is evolving as a major marketing trend of the 21st century intensified by digitization and rapid internet penetration. We at Digital Mill, wanted to be a part of this flourishing domain significantly.
4. DESCRIBE THE SERVICES THAT YOU OFFER TO YOUR CUSTOMERS AND IN WHAT WAY THEY ARE UNIQUE?
Digital Mill has an excellent team equipped with new-age expertise related to research, content creation, graphics designing, media planning and video editing. Digital Mill brings a lot of holistic digital marketing solutions to the table. Our company is abreast with international trends and we keep upgrading our skills which are essential for digital marketing. I feel privileged to share that we handle a lot of political clients too. We are one of the very few companies in India that have done so much work for politicians and political parties, understanding the nuances in political geography.
5. WHAT DIFFICULTIES YOU HAVE FACED OR YOU ARE FACING?
During the COVID years – 2020 & 2021 – managing a team was an issue. The work had to be delivered but teammates were forced to leave for their home towns. Re-assembling the team was a big issue at that time. However, I managed a lot of good talent who were ready to work from home.
6. HOW DO YOU HANDLE PRESSURE AND MANAGE STRESS?
From my trainee days as a correspondent in THE ECONOMIC TIMES till date, I have been into several stressful situations. I have started practicing mindfulness, meditation, work-life balance, workout, fitness regime, self-care in every aspect! This has really helped me manage stress.
7. HOW DO YOU MARKET YOUR BUSINESS?
Word-of-mouth has really worked for me. With the background in journalism, people have immense faith in my content writing. We do use ad promotions on Instagram and Facebook to promote our services. I am a Twitter influencer & I put my thoughts across in a very candid way! People like my style of working.
8. HOW MANY HOURS A DAY DO YOU WORK ON AVERAGE AND CAN YOU DESCRIBE/ OUTLINE YOUR TYPICAL DAY?
My typical day begins with reading news reports. I like to workout in the morning so that it’s out of my way! During the day I have client meetings, zoom calls or team meetings. Social media is a very dynamic field. We are always in a rush to do the best for our clients & with great alacrity! I take pride in the fact that our client servicing is exceptional and we are available 24×7 for them.
9. IN YOUR OPINION WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO SUCCESS?
I have learned in my life that nothing beats hard work. Hard work outweighs talent and intelligence and is necessary if you want to succeed. This not only means working hard when things are going well but working harder when things are not. It means taking calculated risks and sticking to them, no matter how challenging they are. This is very important to keep in mind as an entrepreneur. No business is perfect, and just like people, they too have their faults, no matter how successful or unsuccessful they may be. Recognizing and accepting these faults as an entrepreneur, facing reality, and doing your best to work around these faults is the best way to move forward and I believe this is the secret to success.
10. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE STARTING OUT AS AN ASPIRING ENTREPRENEUR?
I believe entrepreneurship is not easy stuff – you need to put in 150% of yourself to get things done. If you are ready to give away your sleep, weekends, vacations and time with friends for your idea, for years, where the result is still unknown, you are welcome. I am not scaring the aspiring ones, but that is the reality. As I said above, it’s all your passion, and how you implement the same tested idea or a new one, is where you are going to get noticed.
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/anu-sehgal-94021214/
Email Id : [email protected]
Website : https://www.digitalmill.in/
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