"Patience, Wisdom, and Understanding "

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1. Tell us more about your company and your journey.

The Hobby Tribe is Indias and possibly the World's First Online Live - All Hobby Learning Platform, founded in January 2020. This venture started out with offline classes, where we provided affordable and convenient hobby classes.

The Hobby Tribe, we hire a studio and run a class for everyone interested in that hobby in the specific area. We also provide hobby accessories on rent for people to enjoy their passions without any financial commitments!

The Hobby Tribe started off as a small venture - run by friends and me. We did not have the best traction and hence was often advised to drop the venture and focus on my studies. However, the low traction did not bother me as I really enjoyed doing what we did at The Hobby Tribe!

Fortunately, the business picked up, and we began to gain more traction down the line. We expanded from guitar lessons to teaching 5 different hobbies! We were ready to further take this venture into the next phase when the CoronaVirus Pandemic hit.

I was worried the business would not work as well online, and the quality of teaching the classes would reduce. However, we decided to give it a shot. We moved the lessons online and started adapting our business to the 'new normal'.

It was a success! Our user base began to grow steadily, and we expanded into teaching 40 hobbies all amidst the pandemic! We also became India's first-ever live online hobby company, and we now cater to people all around the globe.

In addition to this, we also provide opportunities to people who are keen on pursuing their hobby as a career. We have also started The Hobby Service where we believe everyone has the right to pursue their favorite hobby and money shouldn't be a barrier, so for the underprivileged, we provide workshops for FREE.

So come join the Tribe and help us build this hobby ecosystem.

2. How did you come up with this idea and go about executing it?

I am Joshua Salins a 21-year-old Entrepreneur from Mumbai who is currently studying Biomedical Engineering. I have an ecstatic love for all things to do with hobbies. I play 5 different instruments, I sing and also have a love for theatre.

From a very young age, I have been engaged in extracurricular activities. Having being involved in these activities, it has enhanced my personality and molded me into an outgoing confident person.

In my initial years of studying at the university, I had begun teaching music to my friends for a small fee. I began to realize that people are eager to learn. However, life catches up with them. They either found it difficult to make time for their hobbies, the commute was a problem as well as the costs involved in buying the required equipment! It was a total commitment.

I wanted people to get back into learning something new or pursuing the hobbies they left behind in their childhood. I also realized that there are artists who wanted to teach and are passionate about the hobbies they teach however they never got the recognition they deserved.

Taking all this into consideration I Founded The Hobby Tribe, a one-stop solution to pursue your favorite hobbies. I knew something was still missing the bridge to connect the gap between Hobby enthusiasts and world possibilities we needed a medium, I achieved that by not being “I” but now being a “We”.

I roped in my Friends Mr. Gaurav Mirchandani and Mr. Charles William who are now the Co-Founders at The Hobby Tribe. They helped bridge this much-needed gap, by not only building the amazing web application but also managing the entire operations which makes work so much easier.

3. What has been your biggest challenge that you faced and how did you overcome that?

I feel getting the right tutors, and getting students. Well, all I can say is persistence and believing in the service you are providing, is how I'm conquering it.

I am a man on a mission and our tag line is blessed to be a blessing, we are blessed by our gifting and talents and now we want to be a blessing in someone else lives.

4. What do you think are the most important qualities of a successful entrepreneur?

Integrity

Passion

Persistence

Being Active and Discerning

Patience

No ego

5. What are some of the most important factors for running a successful business?

Patience, wisdom, and understanding are key I feel more so making sure your dreams and aspirations become your employee's dreams too. So they feel and know they are part of something huge.

I cannot thank God enough for blessing our company with such amazing hobby tutors in their respective crafts, I feel everyone that joins us, and are onboard are just a blessing in disguise.

The more you respect the people that build your company up the higher you will soar.

6. What are your tips for the first time and aspiring entrepreneurs?

Don't listen to the masses, you are 1 in a million. People will not understand you and that's fine as long you believe in yourself and know you are destined for greatness.

I always tell myself and the people who want to be entrepreneurs to motivate them I say, “look at your bank account and ask yourself are you really worth that much? If your answer is no show the world what you are worth !”

Think about it, believe it, achieve it.

7. How can one overcome a hurdle of lack of funds when starting up?

The term that we use is to be bootstrapped, where you use your own money to get thighs started I have been advised by my seniors not to take loans and to be debt-free, and that's what I need I collected and made my own money and then started my venture, you can also ask friends and family to start you off but just avoid loans and getting into debt, the moment you get used to that it will be very difficult to come out of it.

- Joshua Salins, Entrepreneur

- Interviewed by Shilpy Sharan