This Entrepreneur Says That Age And Degree Aren’t Barriers To Success
Entrepreneurship is a mindset, and the ecstasy lies in thriving in the space, irrespective of any societal barriers...
Stylework, a coworking space aggregator that makes it easier and flexible to choose where and when you work. Started in 2017, with over 150 partners coworking spaces in prominent metropolitan cities like Gurgaon, Delhi, Noida, Bangalore, and Mumbai.
The brainchild of young entrepreneur Sparsh Khandelwal (23), Stylework is on a journey to change the way we perceive work and where it happens. To bring change in the corporate-startup ecosystem, Stylework is revolutionizing the way people looked at ‘workspaces’.
Talking to Gairika Mitra, Khandelwal gives us an insight into his entrepreneurial journey. Edited excerpts.
You are too young to be an entrepreneur. How is the entrepreneurial world treating you?
It is an exciting and enthralling world to be a part of. When I started my entrepreneurial journey at the age of 19, it was tough to carve out my own space. I faced a lot of rejection along the way since the idea of coworking aggregation didn’t appeal to investors, especially since I didn’t hold a degree from an IIT or IIM. However, those rejections helped me understand how competitive this world is, and that I need to hold on to my beliefs without letting the hardships discourage me.
We stepped into coworking aggregation in the year 2016, when the coworking market was picking up in India. I had envisioned the aggregation of the coworking market to be in high demand after 4-5 years, and aimed to build a technology with a futuristic outlook. In the last 3 years, the coworking market has picked up at an exponential rate in India giving rise to level 1 of aggregation market, which is now ready to step into level 2. However, with the recent equity setback faced by WeWork we are seeing a dip in the investor sentiment and confidence. Although, the adoption and need of flexible coworking office spaces continue to rise up with the modern millennial flexible work style. In my opinion, the negative sentiment from WeWork’s decline will soon pass. In the meanwhile, we are making our processes, services, and awareness stronger to continue to forge ahead.
What kind of tech startups operate from your co-working space? Could you give us some numbers?
As aggregators of coworking spaces we have helped our partner coworking spaces accomodate all kinds of startups & corporates. There is a wide range of tech startups operating out of these coworking spaces: fin-tech, health-tech, agri-tech, ed-tech, food-tech, e-commerce, automobile-tech etc. Adapting to coworking is maximum with these emerging new age tech based startups/startup turned corporations. Some of the popular names working out of coworking spaces are: OLA, Swiggy, Byju, Olx, Nyka, Phonepe, 1mg etc.
While Finance department occupies almost 21% of the seats, IT & Ecommerce collectively make up for approx 24% followed by Retail, Design, Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical, Media and other industries.
On a tentative basis, how much investment went into your venture when you kickstarted?
When I started in 2016, we bootstrapped it with an investment of almost 20-25 Lakhs, that was spent primarily on research, technology, product and MVP operations within a time span of 12-18 months. This capital was raised on loan from friends and family, which is almost repaid now. In October 2018, we raised our seed equity round from a pool of angel investors, an amount of approximately INR 1 Cr that boosted our operations, product and revenues to almost 20x in 5-6 quarters, where we stand today, looking to raise the next equity round to scale our operations to Pan India.
What kind of revenue have you seen in the last fiscal? How much are you willing to reap in this fiscal?
From the first year revenue of INR 25 Lacs, and second fiscal revenue of INR 1.2 Cr, we have witnessed INR 8 Cr revenue this year, March 20 end. An exponential growth cycle that we have worked hard to achieve. This year, FY 2020-2021, we aim to have a INR 30-40 Cr Revenue line.
How do you plan on scaling up in the near future?
We are working towards our second round of investment, and have entered into a unique alliance with 360 Realtors. We aim to capitalise 5 more major cities after NCR, including Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai. Later next year, we are planning to expand to other Tier 2 cities, and even take the venture international with expansion into the Middle East.
Lastly, any word of advice for your wannapreneur peers?
Keep hustling, believe in yourself. It doesn’t matter how young you are, you can be an example to others. It’s going to be hard in the first 2-3 years, every fruitful thing is, so take the pain, plan well, work hard for it and take the world forward with entrepreneurship. The world needs most of us more than ever before.
