How did Sharpener grow organically?

As a startup, we start with zero everything. Zero customers. Zero reputation. Zero money. So the last thing we want is to spend what we don't have.

At the beginning of our startup journey, it's easy to get thrown by the fact that most businesses we interact with are prominent and successful. Unlike many other costs, marketing expenses are relatively easy to cut. And that's precisely what we did!

We see big companies around and unknowingly get into competition with them. But, a startup is the exact opposite. It is tiny. It had no success at all. Probably not even a single customer. And yet our first instinct is to have what the big companies have. Oh yes, a fancy logo. Definitely. An expensive website. Of course!

But, a Big NO!

We sell knowledge and skills to anyone and everyone willing to invest their sincere efforts and time in learning new skills and making their dream come true! And so, we needed our first customer! It might have been family, friends, a distant nephew, or a friend of a friend. Finding that first customer was necessary. Our first customer paid us with their hard work and efforts and got 7+ LPA in a reputed company. We were more than happy! From there, all we did was try to grow. And we didn't need Ads for that. There's a temptation to buy ads because ads attract customers. When you're a startup, your two sources of customers are you and your existing customers.

An ad is a tool but a blunt one. To cut through ads, we needed super creative work behind it and, of course, a lot of money, big enough to buy enough levels of coverage! So, a better idea at the beginning of our startup was to avoid buying ads to see how we did without them.

And we had already found our first customer and then second and third and tried to retain those, built relationships, kept updated with networking, and let our work speak on our behalf. And since then, not only have we grown monetarily, but we have also helped so many students make their dreams come true. A large population of India is uneducated, and the primary concern is money. And so, we designed a model where any student, before enrolling with us, doesn't have to pay us a single penny and can acquire the required knowledge free of cost. After getting placed in an organization with 5+ LPA, we start charging them some percentage of their salary.

This model has helped us find the right audience and deserving students. With this business model, we are not only assisting students in finding the right employment opportunity but also making a change in society, contributing to the growing literacy rate! This is what we are proud of!

From hereon, we realized that our story had just begun, and we didn't need ads to validate the love people gave us. Students who got placed easily recommended at least one more person to join Sharpener, and we saw a 200% increase in enrollments Quarter on Quarter in our successive quarters over the year. We see our competitors with their massive ad campaigns and marketing strategies.

For us, it is simple:

Give high-quality learning to the students, and they will help you grow. This is precisely what we have been doing, and that is what we will continue to do!

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