Meet Amlan Jyoti Khanikar, a 17 year old young Entrepreneur, Motivational Youth speaker, Social activist and Blogger from Dibrugarh, Assam. His love for Technology, Design and Innovation led him to pursue what he loved, and here he is; owner of a business from which he generates a revenue of Rs. 5 lakh per month.
At 15, Amlan started this buisness, and now he is the Former Delegate at Young India Challenge and the Chief Operations Officer at Dreamland Event Organisers. digital Kraanti is his blogging platform. Seeing Amlan’s skills, an American organisation selected him for ‘leangap summer programme’ in Boston , along with 40 other students from other countries, to develop his buisness idea under worldclass leadership in USA.
He probably became the only Indian to achieve this feat. Amlan currently studies at Salt Brook Academy Dibrugarh.
In conversation with Amlan:
Q: From where did you start? How did you come up with the idea of this startup?
My journey towards Entrepreneurship started in the summer of 2014, when my friends and I decided to participate in a science exhibition of my school. I wanted to steal the show and do something different that had never been tried in my town – I came up with an idea! Given that I was just in school at that time and didn’t have enough money to pay for labour, I worked on constructing the Ghost House along with my friends. Everyone loved the project and the small ghost house that we made. This inspired me to actually convert this small project of mine into a Business Plan.During Durga Puja in the same year, I got my ghost house displayed in the town hall for 3 days. I put an entry ticket of INR 20 and it turned into a huge success. I made a clear profit of 17000 .The bug of entrepreneurship bit me. I thought of re-investing the money elsewhere, rather than splurging on luxury. I searched and contacted clothing companies in Jaipur and invested the whole amount in bringing stocks of clothes to my hometown. I sold my stock there and made a loss of INR 7,000. This loss was very depressing and I felt like I had lost something very integral to me. I thought of stopping all the business and getting back to my regular schedule. But I decided to get another stock of clothing worth INR 25,000 from the same dealer and this time I made a net profit of INR 10,000 which boosted my confidence and I started investing my money and increasing it with regular profits.
Q: What were the struggles that you faced to establish your idea? How did you tackle them?
There were many struggles that I faced to establish my idea . Some of these were those merchants who were my competitors . But I never stepped back . As I had no advisors or mentors I was facing many difficulties. But I followed the trial and error method and I learnt from my mistakes.
Q: You got the chance to develop your idea under world-class leadership in US. How was the experience there?
That was really amazing. Now I will have the opportunity to work there in Boston from JUNE.
Q: What were the new things you learned there, that contributed into grooming your skills?
There are many skills that I learnt in practical field , like dealing with corporate clients, Dealing with customers, Negotiating price, Managing a company, managing employees.
Q: What is the larger vision of your startup? Who were the biggest supports in your journey?
To be earth’s most customer centric company; to build a system where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy for their store. To organize the disorganized retail stores in India which accounts to nearly 15 million retail outlets. My biggest supports were my Mother, friends, MY co founders and the most important ones are my clients.
Q: What are the other fields you are currently working in? Brief us about your other startups.
The other fields I am working on are Dreamland Event Organizers-Event management, A square collection – garment Supplier (hyper local market) and new clothing brand launching soon.
Q: You are now a globally recognized icon just at such a young age? What motivated you the most in this journey?
As I belong to a lower middle class family and I faced many problems financially . But I don’t want others to face the same . So my biggest motivation is to solve the loophole of the supply chain system in India to minimize the cost of the products.
Q: You have set a great example to the youth of today? What would be your message to them?
Work to fulfil your own dream, Not others. Learn from others but never copy. #DO What you love. Don’t go upon things that looks fancy. My work in not a fancy one But the digits are good than those. Go according to the trend that exist in your place not others.
Q: What are your future goals? How are you planning on to achieve them?
My future goal is to organize the disorganized retail market and create worlds largest retail store chain which will be available in each and every towns , cities and villages. So that I can provide the Cheapest good quality products to the citizens of this country.
Amlan’s Facebook Page
Article on Amlan in eclecticnortheast.in