Week 0 Masterclass Why Entrepreneurship Part 2

Summary

In this inspiring narrative, the speaker shares their journey of turning a passion for music into a successful business. They began by helping friends find students, and through personal interactions, gathered insights to make music classes more affordable. A pivotal moment came when a taxi driver couldn't afford the fees, prompting a shift towards more accessible lessons. Despite skepticism about online learning, the speaker persisted during the pandemic, growing their business into a leading hobby tech company with thousands of students and teachers. Their message: embrace unique ideas and don't let peer pressure deter you.

Takeaways

• 🎼 The speaker started a music class business by convincing students to join and renting places for classes.
• 🚂 The speaker used their daily commute to Navi Mumbai to network and gather market feedback by talking to new people on the train.
• 📝 They noted down potential students' interests and affordability, which helped tailor the music classes to the market's needs.
• 🚖 A conversation with a taxi driver inspired the idea of making music classes affordable for everyone, including those with limited budgets.
• 😔 The speaker faced a challenge when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and in-person classes were no longer feasible.
• 🌐 The pandemic became a turning point, leading to the idea of teaching music classes online, which was initially met with skepticism.
• 🏆 Despite the doubts, the speaker pursued the online teaching model, which eventually led to the company's success and expansion.
• 🌟 The company became one of the first in the hobby tech sector to offer online classes, attracting thousands of students worldwide.
• 👨‍🏫 The business now employs over 60 teachers across India, showcasing the power of persistence and innovation.
• 💡 The speaker emphasizes the importance of not succumbing to peer pressure and having the courage to pursue unconventional ideas.

Q & A

What was the initial challenge the speaker faced with their friends' music classes?

The speaker's friends were having trouble getting students to join their music classes.

How did the speaker initially help their friends to attract students?

The speaker used their communication skills to convince people to join the classes and rented places around the vicinity to hold the classes.

Why did the speaker travel to Navi Mumbai for biomedical engineering?

The speaker is a resident of South Bombay and needed to travel to Navi Mumbai for their studies in biomedical engineering.

How did the speaker utilize their train commute to gather information?

The speaker used their extroverted nature to interact with different people on the train, asking about their interest in learning musical instruments and taking notes on their feedback.

What was the turning point for the speaker in making music classes more accessible?

The speaker's conversation with a taxi driver who couldn't afford the high cost of music classes led to the realization that learning should be affordable for everyone.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic influence the speaker's approach to teaching music?

The pandemic forced the speaker to shift to online teaching, which initially was met with skepticism but eventually became a successful model for their hobby tech company.

What was the initial reaction of the speaker's students and teachers to the idea of online classes?

The initial reaction was negative, with students and teachers making fun of the idea of online hobby classes, considering it impossible and not viable.

How did the speaker's decision to pursue online teaching impact their business?

The decision to teach online allowed the speaker's business to grow exponentially, reaching thousands of students worldwide and expanding their teacher base to over 60 across India.

What advice does the speaker give to students about pursuing their dreams?

The speaker advises students to never succumb to peer pressure and to stand their ground when pursuing their dreams, even if others doubt their ideas.

How does the speaker feel about other companies entering the music class market after their success?

The speaker feels proud that their success has inspired other companies to enter the market, seeing it as a validation of their innovative approach and a sign of their impact on the industry.

Outlines

00:00

🎵 Entrepreneurship Journey in Music Education

The speaker recounts their initial foray into entrepreneurship by helping friends with a music class. They leveraged their communication skills to attract students and rented places for classes. The speaker's passion for interacting with people led them to engage with commuters during their train rides to Navi Mumbai, where they gathered insights into people's interest in learning music and the affordability of classes. This experience laid the foundation for their entrepreneurial venture in music education.

Keywords

💡Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship refers to the act of starting and managing a business, often characterized by innovation and risk-taking. In the video, the speaker reflects on their journey of creating a music teaching business, initially unaware that their activities were entrepreneurial. They naturally pursued opportunities like gathering students for teachers, learning from market feedback, and expanding into new teaching methods.

💡Market Feedback

Market feedback is the information gathered from potential customers to understand their needs, preferences, and price points. The speaker in the video mentions how they engaged with new people during train journeys to ask questions about their interest in learning music, using this feedback to shape the service offerings and pricing structure.

💡Affordability

Affordability is the ability of customers to pay for a service or product at a reasonable price. The speaker discusses how a conversation with a taxi driver made them realize the need to make music classes more affordable, lowering the cost from 2,400 to 1,500 rupees per month. This shift aimed to make music education accessible to a broader audience, including those with lower incomes.

💡Online Learning

Online learning is the process of taking educational courses through the internet. The speaker highlights how the transition to online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic was initially met with skepticism, as teaching hobbies like music remotely seemed impractical. However, the shift to online learning helped the business grow, leading to a large base of students and teachers from around the world.

💡Peer Pressure

Peer pressure refers to the influence exerted by a group to make an individual conform to certain behaviors or decisions. The speaker advises against succumbing to peer pressure, encouraging people to stay true to their own ideas and beliefs, which is a key message of the video. This approach allowed the speaker to innovate and move forward despite doubts and skepticism from others.

💡Problem Solving

Problem solving involves finding solutions to challenges and obstacles. In the video, the speaker describes how they faced the issue of making music classes affordable and accessible. By moving classes online during the pandemic, they were able to solve this problem, turning adversity into an opportunity for business growth.

💡Passion

Passion is a strong enthusiasm or dedication to something, often driving success. The speaker's passion for talking to people, understanding their needs, and offering music education is a central theme. Their enjoyment of this process led them to create a successful business, demonstrating how passion can fuel entrepreneurship.

💡Adversity

Adversity refers to difficult situations or obstacles. In the video, the speaker describes how the COVID-19 pandemic initially caused a significant challenge when students stopped attending in-person classes. However, they viewed the situation as a 'blessing in disguise,' using it as an opportunity to innovate by moving classes online and expanding the business.

💡Innovation

Innovation is the process of introducing new ideas, methods, or products. The speaker's shift to online music classes, which was initially met with skepticism, represents an innovative solution that transformed their business model. This willingness to innovate allowed them to become one of the first 'hobby tech' companies in the music education space.

💡Growth

Growth refers to the expansion and development of a business or individual. The speaker illustrates the growth of their business from a few students and teachers to a company with thousands of students and over 60 teachers. This growth was achieved by adapting to market needs, making classes affordable, and embracing online learning, showing how resilience and innovation can drive success.

Highlights

Started by renting places and convincing students to join music classes.

Traveled to Navi Mumbai for biomedical engineering studies.

Utilized train rides to engage with new people and gather market feedback.

Realized the need to make music classes affordable for everyone, including a taxi driver who could only afford 1,500 rupees.

Covid-19 pandemic became a catalyst for change, leading to the idea of online classes.

Initially faced skepticism about the feasibility of online hobby classes.

Decided to pursue online teaching despite the naysayers.

Successfully transitioned to an online platform, becoming one of the first hobby tech companies.

Grew to teach thousands of students worldwide with over 60 teachers across India.

Emphasized the importance of not listening to peer pressure and having the courage to pursue unique ideas.

Highlighted the impact of persistence and the mindset of not taking 'no' for an answer.

Mentioned that being the first to do something can lead to others following suit.

Described the feeling of pride in being a pioneer in the field.

Noted that companies like White Hat Jr. have started offering music classes, inspired by the success of the speaker's venture.

Encouraged students to stand their ground and not succumb to peer pressure.

Transcripts

[Music]

I told my friends who are all into you

know music I told them Hey listen I know

the problem yall are facing is you can't

get students I'll be the one because I

can talk very well I'll convince them to

join your class right you just teach so

I went whatever money I earned I started

renting places around the vicinity I

started getting students to join their

classes that's how it all started it

started by just doing that you know I

started getting people started put when

I should I should travel to Navi Mumbai

I don't know how many of you are are in

Bombay I stay in South Bombay so I

should travel all the way to Navi Mumbai

for biomedical engineering and I'm a

very extroverted person so every time

the train I to find a new set of people

right every time in the train there

different people there so I used to make

a note I I have a book in my hand I used

to go randomly and talk to them and say

hey you know what if you want to learn

your favorite instrument what would why

would you not want to learn it what was

the problem how much can you afford for

the class all of this I just kept noting

making points and it was a new set of

people every time it was getting I was

getting feedback in the market I was

trying to understand what was happening

again not knowing this is called

entrepreneurship I was just doing it

because I just enjoyed it it should give

me an adrenaline rush just talking to

new people uh so then when this happened

um there was one point that changed you

know changed the whole spectrum of how I

was thinking things to do now I was

going by taxi one day and back then I

was scaring the keyboard and you know

dropping it to places and stuff uh the

taxi driver turned behind and looked at

the keyboard in my hand and he was like

sir this is really interesting I really

want to play the keyboard so I told cool

he's like how much did it cost I said

2,400 rupees per month his happiness

suddenly became sad and he was like oh I

can't afford that so I asked him okay

how much can you afford he's like I can

afford 1,500 rupees I was like you know

what hobby learning is not something

where only the rich people and people

who can afford can do it but I want

something where everyone even a taxi

driver should be able to afford it that

got me thinking for my next problem I

was wondering how can I make the class

affordable to everybody how can I make

the class which is 2,400 in the market

make it at 1,500 that is the time the

answer came through covid and I know

it's still a good thing but for me in a

way it was a blessing in disguise what

happened was uh after having like three

students and no sorry I had around um

three teachers and then 10 students and

all of them start of stopped coming for

classes then they started being like you

know what hey I can't come join your

class anymore um because Co we have to

stay away from each other and all that

stuff they start making fun of me when I

tell them what if we teach you online it

was it was nonsense to think to think

about uh you know taking classes online

hobby class online was stupid no one

thought it was be possible and they all

made fun and they laughed at me they

like it's never going to happen never

going to happen uh well long story short

because I know you have a lot of

questions uh it happened I I didn't

listen to the 99 people who said it's

not going to happen I went with my gut

and I was like you know what if I have

to make a difference in this world you

do something with the people think it's

not possible but then you do it and

prove them wrong right so I went on I

did it online in doing so we became one

of the first hobby tech companies and

being that being a hobby tech company

we're not only teaching around few 10

students now we have thousands of

students and we're teaching them all

around the world and we have more than

60 plus teachers now all over India and

that was just by not listening to what

people have to say and getting you down

you the number one cause of why people

do not pursue what they want to do is

because they come with a wacky idea

where people be like

P have you ever heard of something like

this and that is when you know that

you're doing the right thing because if

no one's heard of it You' be the first

one to do it and when you do it people

start copying you know it's it's a proud

feeling for me right now but I can

openly tell BYU whad Junior they were

doing something uh they were doing

something in uh uh they were doing

coding right white hat junor but now

after seeing us they're doing music

classes like a unicorn like them is

looking at us now and trying to get into

our market so this is the kind of change

that you can bring by just having the

mindset of not taking no for an answer

or you know not listening to 99 a lot of

times when I like go and talk to

students right because you I'm a student

uh what I tell my friends is never

succumb to peer pressure so the moment

you can not succumb to peer pressure you

can like exhale on the you know

people can come to you and be like hey

you know you have to do this and you can

stand your ground and say no I don't

want to do it that is when you know you

have the qualities of being someone

[Music]

different