Sahel Jindal is a marketing enthusiast and a budding entrepreneur with Quill House— A revolutionary publishing business under his name. He talks to us about his entrepreneurship and hustling journey, from working with different start-ups in college to finally running a business of his own.
Coming from a family of businessmen in the traditional publishing business, he willed to do things differently. That made him work toward revolutionizing the publishing industry with the help of technology— so that the struggling writers could be guided towards success. Let’s have a look at his inspiring journey so far!
Hey Sahel! We are delighted to have you with us today! Can you start by telling us about what ignited your passion for entrepreneurship?
“Of course! Basically, I come from a generation of Businessmen. Naturally, I have been inclined towards entrepreneurship from a young age because I grew up in that environment.”
“I was interested in commerce and business, but my family— like every typical Indian family, nudged me to study engineering so that I can, ‘get a perspective of things.’ And like every obedient Indian child, I packed my bags and left for an engineering college.”
Since you were more inclined towards business, how was it like being in an engineering college?
“It gave me the needed exposure and helped me gain a new perspective. I was fascinated by the E-cell, and I interviewed for it as soon as I went to college. After being rejected for the first time, I finally made it in my second attempt.
It was my first close encounter with start-up culture. I then started exploring and began working as an intern in various start-ups. For the first two years of college, I was always interning in one start-up or another, trying to learn about their business and upskill myself.
“In my third year of college, I finally decided to set up a start-up of my own. We were a team of four people, and we invested all the time and money we had to make Quill House a reality. The business began to bloom shortly, and we had a few orders. But then, we started with our placements and had to shut it down.”
Taking a step back, you mentioned that you come from a family of businessmen. What motivated you to start a start-up of your own instead of being a part of the family business?
“As the generations change, so do the business ideas and execution plans. I did not want to follow the traditional family business path but explore things on my own. What I wanted was to do something new in this niche itself.”
“Also, my family always urged me to make something of my own. So, even if I had wanted to be a part of their business, they would have flat-out rejected me— not even an interview this time.”
That is awesome! Can you tell us a little more about how Quill House is doing?
Currently, we are working with full force on Quill House. It had been my dream since college— one which I just could not give up. What we do is nurture new writers and help them publish their craft. And it is not just about publishing— we want to guide them through the complete process of writing and publishing a book. Right from writing and editing the drafts to marketing them once they are out.
All they need to do is to provide us with the content, and we will take care of the rest.
You have talked about how you had to shut down Quill House in college. What were the problems you faced back then? And how are they different from the issues you are facing now?
Back then, we did not have many problems regarding starting the business. But we were young and inexperienced, and we got stuck in figuring out how to set up the logistics to sell.
This time though, we have all the logistics figured out. But the problem we are tackling right now is to communicate how exactly we aim to revolutionize this industry using tech. It becomes challenging to reach out to people and explain how we will help them resolve their issues.
We know that Quill House is growing very fast. How do you manage your time between your job and your business?
The thing is, if you want to do something desperately, you somehow spare time for it. What I do is dedicate the required eight hours to my job, and then spend the rest of the time working for the success of my business— It is all about how you manage your time.
The fact that I have a venture to attend to also helps me complete my job faster. It is because the sooner I will finish my work, the more time I will be able to give to my business.
We will make a note of that one. From your experience, what do you think is the most crucial part of setting up a business?
Whether your business will be successful or not depends heavily on what core team you have. To put it simply, it is your team that either makes you or breaks you.
When someone starts a business, they usually go solo. And it is a great thing, but we must remember that we can’t do everything alone. The key takeaway is to find people with similar goals with the skills you need and utilize them. Good leaders know how to use their team’s skills to their full potential.
Setting up the core team and the work culture dictates how far your start-up will reach. And in this era where all that matters is going fast and strong, I believe every start-up needs a team to boom.
That is so true. What are your following milestones when it comes to Quill House? What do you want to achieve in the upcoming years?
I want to set up the work culture for Quill House and build a strong team so that the quality of the work we deliver is never compromised. I believe that when you provide a service to your customers, setting up the core principles ensures the correct delivery.
This is what differentiates service from product-based start-ups. Building the product and getting it out should be your first focus when selling it. But if you are providing a service, remember that your core principles will strongly affect service delivery.
Many people have strong ideas but are unable to start— majorly due to financial worries. What advice would you like to give them?
If you want to start a business, do not just sit around doing nothing under the excuse of waiting for the right place or the right time. Start now. Worrying about money, success, and failure is a thing for later. You will figure it out with time, but if you continue fussing over it, you will never be able to start.
“You would not know how much money you will put at stake until you have to part with it. So, take the risk today. Losing money right now is better than losing money in the future. I can assure you that you will learn a lot irrespective of whether you succeed or fail.”
What keeps you going during the tough times? Who is your inspiration?
My family is my inspiration during tough times. They have always inspired me, provided me with wisdom, and supported me. My father and grandfather had been 50 years in this industry, so I can always turn up to them for advice without fearing disappointment.
Thank you so much, Sahel! I am sure our audience had a lot to learn from your journey!
Sahel’s story has perhaps just begun, and we want to bring more such motivating stories to you! Go check out his publishing business— The Quill House, especially if you are a young and hustling writer. We wish him ample growth and success in his upcoming endeavours!