In our latest interview, we spoke to yet another passionate entrepreneur Harpreet Singh to understand more about his interesting entrepreneurial journey so far. Harpreet has built two successful startups from scratch. He is the Co-Founder & COO At MoonQuik and Founder & CEO At AutoFlipz. His startup MoonQuik is into event aggregation, destination wedding, royal wedding, corporate events and nightlife whereas AutoFlipz offers online options for car repair and services. Let’s read more!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Harpreet:
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey, please;
As soon as I completed my graduation, I started my own startup. Now, let me share my journey in detail. So being in college, I was always interested to attend as many lectures as I could and spent time in gaining as much knowledge as possible. Unlike others, I applied for as many internships as I could to have some practical knowledge and that helped me a lot. Today all of the learning and hard work is paying off. You see- it always gives you an edge over others when you focus on learning. Just to give you an example; when all my friends were enjoying their college days and having fun trips and vacations, I chose to work hard and spend time on self-learning. I applied for the internships and worked extremely hard for my career. I always had a keen interest in finance so I completed a financial modelling course during my third year of graduation and post that I did an internship in a company which deals as an investment banker for startups.
I was meeting entrepreneurs on a daily basis and understanding their industry trends. It was a delight to see the energy, creativity and passion of those entrepreneurs. I had a lot of things in common so that’s exactly when I decided to start my own startup. That was the turning point I would say, ever since I did that internship, my whole thought process changed and jobs never excited me as much as entrepreneurship does.”
I started building my connection with experts at the startup ecosystem. There is so much to learn every time you meet passionate people. The energy is just electric. I advise others to spend good time in the company of great innovators, thinkers and doers. We have a lot to learn.
I strongly believe in self education and self improvement. My passion, motivation and knowledge led me to start my first company at the age of just 21 where I was helping startups in preparing their deck, financial model, revenue model, fundraising plans etc.
I am also a Co-founder & COO at MoonQuik. We raised our first round last year and have expanded to all metro politician cities.
I am the Founder & CEO at AutoFlipz which aims to connect the potential user’s looking to get their car service/repair with all independent workshops who want to offer those services.
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?
It’s an easy one. So. I take immense pride in calling myself an entrepreneur and am glad I chose entrepreneurship otherwise my life would not have been as exciting as it is today.
I was never meant for corporate jobs because of my passion for solving problems and facing challenges head-on. I could have found decent jobs easily but that’s not something I was meant for, I guess.
I always think out of the box and work towards innovative ideas and products. I wanted to build something meaningful for the market because nothing is bigger than the market itself. Your product should be commercially viable and fit in the market otherwise it may give a tough time holding your ground.
Other reason I chose it was I always wanted to do everything in my own way freely because that’s when innovation happens.
“Build-Fail-Measure-Innovate-Repeat”
I always follow these steps.
What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation?
I always compete with the people who are a lot better than me. I strongly healthy competition is always good. Isn’t it?
While waking up early in the morning, I always read and learn from successful entrepreneurs and people around me who wake up early. It encourages me to wake up early too.
If an average people in India wakes at 6:30 and if I wake up at 6 it means I have 30 minutes more. It gives me the motivation that I am different from the rest also if I calculate these 30 minutes for the entire year then it would translate into 10 extra days. So, I have 10 days extra than average people:)
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
There were a lot of challenges initially. Entrepreneurship doesn’t come too easy We need to try every single door and make our own way.
There was a time when I didn’t have funds to pay salary to my staff everyone resigned from the company, even the core team got separated but I stood up and handled every single situation. I didn’t give up. I started onboarding people on a partnership basis on per lead. We were doing really good. We raised funds and everything got normal.
What comes first for you – money or emotions?
When I started my company I was people-oriented, I was concerned about everyone but later on, I realized my intention should always be good for my company no matter how another person will feel. I always did that thing which is good for my company.
How do you handle the challenges?
I am fond of reading books. At the initial stage of my journey Mr Dhianu Das, I admire him a lot, gave me a piece of advice about my career which was to read a book every month. From that day on I have read around 12 books and it encouraged me to never give up. I read about the case studies of other startups, their success stories, and how much difficulties they encountered at an initial level. These leanings help overcome challenges and obstacles. There is so much to learn.
What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person?
In my journey so far what has helped me immensely is the fact that I always prefer to be in the company of productive people. I prefer to make more and more connection/network with people. The internship has helped me massively to become a founder with 100x ROI from that Internship.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Keep learning! It is key to your success not only in the short term but also in the long term growth, it will help you a lot.
What advice would you give to someone starting out as an entrepreneur?
Never Give Up!!
Do something which you are passionate about.
Always surround yourself with productive people & network as much as you can.
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.
