As part of our endeavour to bring compelling startup stories from the ecosystem, we are glad to share the journey of Sushmita Chavan – Founder of Hexa. Through her startup Hexa, she is committed to solving the major hurdles faced by colleges during the placement process. Let’s read more about her journey.
Here are the excerpts from our exclusive interview:
Tell us a little about yourself please;
I started my journey as Medical Coder after my graduation from BIET, Davangere. Last year in July, I quit the job and continued my journey as an Entrepreneur, Revenue Manager, Business Development Manager & Marketer. I am passionate about the process of expansion. It’s intriguing for me to see how campus placements and e-learning industry grows.
Tell us a bit about Hexa;
At Hexa, we’re committed to redefining placements industry for everyone through our platform. We believe there is a better way to increase campus placements!
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?
That’s an irony (Laughs), I quit my job to create job opportunities for all the graduate out there. It started when I got a job offer in campus placements but many of my friends and batchmates did not, this planted a seed of “Why not everyone?” somewhere in my mind.
While doing a job in Chennai, learning about business trends and attending meetups, I met Shubam, Co-founder, Hexa, in one of the networking events. Interestingly, he was also thinking on similar lines and it clicked us that his product designing skills, my business development skills and a common vision would turn out to be a great combination to “Start-Up”
What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation?
The same thing that doesn’t let me sleep at nights, “If not me then who?” My biggest motivation is I have to do it for thousand and lakhs of students struggling out there. So, I start my day in reaching out to colleges, meeting training & placement officers to discuss how their students can get benefitted by utilizing their best potential. Reading books, articles, case-studies and biography of great leaders and entrepreneurs fill my day and keep me motivated.
Why should people choose your products/services?
Colleges prefer Hexa for the value we bring. Right from the day, we started working on product the idea was very clear to practice craftsmanship and deliver the best. We are the pioneers in giving the cross-college comparison and we are doing best at it.
One thing I always think of is Innovation, this is an era of technology and I strongly believe – “Technology will not replace the great teachers but, technology in the hands of great teachers is transformational.”
What’s your competitive advantage and why can’t it be copied?
We have done extensive research, understood the behaviour of students and found out the innovative learning methods for best outputs. On the other side, we have talked to industry leader, talent acquisition specialist, realized their expectations and matching with the candidates’ capabilities. So, it’s not just the technology but knowledge and expertise of our team is the key ingredient of our product that cannot be copied but can be learned and that’s our vision. We want everyone to learn.
What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?
One of the biggest challenges we faced is finding the right team and the right people who are equally passionate about solving this nation-wide problem and can see our vision through their eyes. With God’s grace, today we have one of the best teams.
It doesn’t end here, each day brought a new challenge, finding the first customer, remaining updated on every activity in the domain, efficient marketing to outstand in the overflowing social-media.
But all these obstacles enabled us to find new methods to solve problems and gave tremendous learnings.
Tell our audience more about your failures? How should one bounce back?
I always say “Success has meaning only if there are failures”.
The journey is full of ups and downs, you will be able to appreciate ups only if you have seen downs. Never get disappointed by it rather learn from mistakes but don’t make the same mistake again and you will become perfect in 1 Billion Years (Smiles)
What comes first for you – money or emotions?
I don’t really compare money and emotions at the same time, it depends on when and what decision needs to be taken. When in business it has been logical, not only blindly going towards the money, you should be concerned about client satisfaction, quality deliverables, targets & roadmaps, you planned & how you will achieve it.
I have a soft angle for early age startups [Being one of them]. While proposing our solution to them my emotional side dominates because I know how it feels in finding the right product for your company within your budget.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
I actually work better under pressure and I’ve found that I enjoy working in a challenging environment. Deadlines and tight timelines increase my efficiency and efficacy. I find it exhilarating to be in an environment where the pressure is on. I believe one should act in situations, rather than react. This way, even the most complex situations can be handled calmly. Things were different until the time I learned that our body and mind go hand-in-hand. Physical activity can keep your mind in peace and help manage stress better, for some people it’s running, for some, it’s yoga, meditation for others it could be jogging or exercise, for me its Gym. I visit the gym every morning and it acts a great stress buster which keeps me running the whole day.
What advice would you give to someone starting out, particularly to aspiring women entrepreneurs?
First off, I would say, ask yourself if you are really willing to start up? If this is your own choice? Are you prepared for it?
Why? Because, the life of an entrepreneur is full of challenges, learnings, responsibilities, risks, failures, and success. One can get everything out this life but there is no backing out once you start, be ready to burn the midnight oil.
The advice I would like to give is taking one step at a time, plan well and then execute.
Remember, “You always plant a seed not a tree, start small and make it big”
Read more and follow Hexa at:
http://www.gohexa.in https://www.facebook.com/hexaredefined/
https://www.instagram.com/hexa_placementsredefined/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/go-hexa/
https://twitter.com/HexaRedefined
You may also like ~ Meet Digital Entrepreneur JP Silwania | Founder Of Smart Play Media
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