“Good guys never win.”
The Most Popular Stories team got a chance to invite Shubhankar Biswas to know more about his entrepreneurial journey.
- Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey as an
entrepreneur
My name is Shubhankar Biswas. I did my schooling at St. Joseph’s College, Allahabad. I did Mechanical Engineering from BMSCE Bangalore. I was never good in it. People usually enter the Business world or become an entrepreneur after working in the IT sector for years for me it was opposite. I started back in college.
In the beginning it was hard managing the classes, conferences and investor meetings altogether simultaneously.
I needed funds to start something but I also knew NO investment is small which a lot of people I see ignore. Millions are not made over a night and that small investment only lays the groundwork for future Ideas or Businesses. So I devised a technique of constant money flow. I call it the Small business cash flow.
I met a friend of mine, he belonged from a lower-class family and was about to open a Dosa stall back in my hometown. He asked for my help. So I invested Rs. 10,000 for buying the stall and the first month expenses for running the stall. With 50%-50%
Profit of the sales we agreed upon I used to make Rs. 750 per day i.e. upto Rs 21000
per month, that laid the foundation for future endeavors.
2. Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?
I won’t say I chose entrepreneurship but I would say entrepreneurship chose me.
I was born and brought up in an upper-middle-class family. My dad is a contractor in railways. So knowingly or unknowingly I always knew I can’t do a 9 to 5 job. The direct or indirect lessons given by my dad to me came a long way. But I never knew from to start. But as destiny has it, it was all conspired.
I had 4 stones in my gall bladder so I had to survive a 12-hour long surgery, which I missed my second semester and got a year back. I became so physically weak that I had around 12 shoulder dislocations. I was under the medications of epilepsy. I was under depression for a year for personal reasons. And then finally came I say and quote this,” My College senior, friend, brother, godfather, teacher and guru “, Mr. Devesh Singh Vishen to my rescue. He asked me to work with him in CauseKey Social and if I excel he will help me out with everything. That’s it I just needed someone to stand beside me to take the leap of faith. In a year we expanded from CauseKey Social to CauseKey Films to Crafting Innovation.
I went on to invest in Vocabguru and Valley Rental Bikes in Nepal. He took me to all the conferences and investor meetings in Bangalore and gave me all the entrepreneurial knowledge
That’s why I always meet and help young kids with new ideas as soon as possible and don’t keep them waiting.
3. What was the vision behind it?
The vision behind CauseKey social was to bring transparency in the social sector.
Usually in NGOs people don’t get a clear picture of where did their money go , sometimes it’s even harder to track and know that how much and where the money was used. In order to tackle this problem and maintain a transparency between a person who donates and a person who receives it , we build this model.
In crafting innovation we develop future-ready technology supported by Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and IOT. Crafting Innovation smart solutions is focused on complementing your lifestyle with products that can cater to multiple domains like, Home Automation, Safety Devices. Water Management System, IOT Infrastructure, and Health Tech.With the Vision to provide the ecosystem with future-ready, reliable technology.
We empower customers and power their infrastructure to make it smart.
4. What difficulties which you have faced or you are facing?
I started from the bottom and everybody said I won’t succeed, but when my father said the same that hurt a bit. Funds were always the issue and that was the reason we took time to expand. Building contacts and waiting for hours to get a meeting was extremely exhausting. People weren’t keen to invest or work with us too because we were new and building trust takes time. Building an effective team that will be with you for the long run was the most difficult part.
5. How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
Pressure will always be there when it comes to startups, businesses, or investing. So when the heat is on, a lot of people panic and take hasty decisions and crumble under pressure resulting in a bad performance which in turn results in a bad reputation for the company which you do not want to have in the early years.
So I calmly, discuss with everyone, take everybody’s opinion, even the juniors who have no experience because you never know it might work out. Listen to everybody doesn’t matter if you take their advice. That is what I learned from Devesh Sir.
My biggest stress buster is calling my college friends Aishwary, Harsh, Niraj, Uddish, or Ishan and asking them what to do, sometimes they joke, most of the times they give the right advice because you DON’T have a GIVE and TAKE relationship with them, it’s completely innocent and pure. They understand it properly because they have the same mentality.
6. How do you market your business?
I can tell you 100 ways but I don’t want to spill our secrets to success. But one is extremely important and I would advise it to everybody, Word of mouth. That’s the best. If people like your work, your services will talk about you everywhere, from social media to give reviews so make sure you deliver what you promise.
7. How many hours a day do you work on average & can you
describe/outline your typical day?
24/7. I am not joking. Because I think this the time to grind, to learn, and to go beast mode. If not now then when? I want to tell everyone always remember there is always someone working hard to catch you and outwork and outrun you so this is not the time to stop, we can do that later in life.
I get up by 5:00 A.M. and go for a run. Finish breakfast by 7:00 A.M. and before working I at least read a page from the book Chanakya Niti. It’s old school but if anyone wants to be a master persuader can read it. I finish up my work by 5:00 P.M.
And start attending all the calls from the younger entrepreneurs and students.
At 8:00 P.M. one episode of Friends sitcom is a much watch because even Ross was ON A BREAK. By 10:00 PM I set the targets of the next day and try finishing the pending work of the current day, and then I switch off the lights.
8. In your opinion what are the keys to success?
You will have to emotionally cut off some people, lose friends, distance yourself a bit from society and never ever, ever give up and don’t ever say no. Don’t you think when people will see you are just about to succeed they will try to drag you down, the devil on your shoulder will distract you and in the end just delete all social media except linked for some time.
9. What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring
entrepreneur?
Just imagine you are about to start a race. Visualize the racetrack. Imagine where will you slow down, speed up, turn, jump… you might even fall but always remember you are doing it for yourself, not for the world so stay positive. Last but not least always remember in life or in business GOOD GUYS NEVER WIN SO BE SELFISH IN THE BEGINNING SO THAT YOU CAN BE GENEROUS LATER IN YOUR LIFE.
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