It is the right moment, the right idea and the right approach that can make miracles happen. All you need is a little boost of confidence, faith, and understanding to have yourself on top.
Similar is the story of a young man from Bihar named Syed Arshad who rose from a small Rs 20,000 revenue-generating start-up to a $1 million company.
Who is Syed?
Syed Arshad, the son of an inspection officer in Bhagalpur, Bihar first saw the city of Delhi in 2002. He moved there to finish his studies and join the Indian Institute of Aeronautics, a no minor achievement. However, he saw how it was very difficult to actually get a job in the aviation industry after his course on aircraft maintenance engineering.
Hence, he joined IBM as a collection expert agent to have a stable job. His time in IBM was also where he discovered his talent for writing books and wrote a novel named – If it’s not Love, romantic fiction indeed.
Writing a novel wasn’t the end of it though. He tried to get his book published but failed to have a published back in his book. Finally, in Kolkata itself, he self-published his book. Surprisingly, he then started receiving doubts and calls regarding the whole self-publishing business that he managed to pull off, which made him realize, self-publishing is pretty high in demand.
What was the right idea at the right moment?
When Syed saw the high demand for self-publishing, he decided to launch BlueRose Publishes in 2015, invested Rs 5 lakhs and hired two employees. At the end of one year though, it was just a Rs 20,000 revenue-generating company.
However, year after year, the revenue went up to Rs 10 lakh, 1 crore, 3 crores and above $1 million in 2019.
BlueRose is involved in self-publishing where it provides end-to-end services to authors of all genres regarding editing, designing, copyrighting, formatting to listing online. It gives an all in one package and competes with big names like Patridge India (Penguin books imprint). However, considering Syed’s own struggle, BlueRose charges a low amount to its customers.
After all, there is a reason why authors like Rashmi Trivedi who have become Amazon No. 1 bestsellers are regular customers of BlueRose.
The big future?
Expansion is what Syed is looking at. Launching a reading lounge in Delhi, the place where it all began for him, it a starting point for BlueRose in the coming year. The company has also announced its decision to be part of the London Bookfair, to venture out for partnerships and tie-up opportunities.
Infact, BlueRose is here to stay, willing to explore and find benefits in the $8 billion publishing industry of India.
