Entrepreneurs are not trained in colleges; being an entrepreneur comes from within. These are visionaries who have one thing in common i.e. the tendency to not give up on their dreams. There are many setbacks that cross their path but they have eyes set on the goal and always figure out a way to reach their destination.
They believe obstacles come in everyone’s journey and what matters is how one deals with them. One such entrepreneur is Deepti Awasthi Sharma.
Born in Delhi, Deepti did her schooling from Amity International School, Noida, and is a CA dropout. She did a training with Ernst and Young for two years, before quitting. Her father is a journalist and mother, a homemaker. Today, she runs a successful hoarding business but it is preceded by an event management business that failed miserably on all levels.
Deepti says, “Before GoHoardings happened, I was managing an event company which was formed and shut down in a span of four months. I had a dispute with the partners and the business failed. I became bankrupt and suffered a loss of approximately Rs 40 lakh. My income came down to zero, or you can say negative. My father sold his property for clearing dues of the vendors who were associated with an event. It was terrible. The event was a concert which failed miserably; tickets weren’t sold, and there was lack of sponsors, and tonnes of liabilities.”
This was a huge setback but it didn’t deter the spirits of this Delhi girl, which is saying something. Losses of this proportion can throw you off-guard and dampen the strongest of spirits.
Deepti got married in 2015, and started GoHoardings in April 2016. She, along with her husband, are the founders of GoHoardings, an outdoor advertisement company which provides an online access. Her dream of doing something extraordinary came closer when her husband also supported the idea. Together, they ventured out on the journey and decided to do something that not only satisfied their dreams, but also quenched their souls.
“For any venture you need a kickass team. I am lucky to have my husband as the co-founder. He gives me courage and motivation. The key ingredient of our success is client satisfaction, as the Outdoor Advertisement industry is unstructured and it needs a systematic and an ethical approach in terms of services.”
She is in process of integrating AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) in her website to enhance the user experience. Through this technology, the users will overcome the difficulties in planning their outdoor campaigns. Currently, GoHoardings is functional in all metropolitan cities in India and few tier II and tier III cities in North India.
On being asked about what inspires her, Deepti chuckles and says, “My motivation is to become a better version of myself. I take every situation in a positive way and it helps me in achieving my goals. In the beginning we had no funds, I was lucky to crack the deals in one go and signed big agreements. You can say hard work and confidence are my tools of success.”
Her view on employee base is that keeping efficient staff is more important than increasing the count. The staff, if proper, can function more effectively than a larger group. Currently, she has an employee count of around 10, but annual turnover for her new-born business has crossed Rs 10 crore in just one year.
Her mantra to success is “Never give up. Stay positive in any situation and believe me you can achieve the impossible. All I can say is, whatever you do just enjoy the journey as the destiny is never known. You can keep on targeting higher once you achieve something. So, enjoy the ride and dream big.”
If you like this story, share it and spread positivity. Tell us your views by writing in the comment box below. We read each one of them.
