Tell us about yourself?
I am Founder at mFluencer. I am a Dynamic, results-driven sales & marketing strategist with a 14+ years record of achievement and demonstrated success driving multimillion-dollar revenue growth while providing visionary sales leadership in highly competitive markets.
Solid track record securing key clients and increasing product distribution to grow market share.
Tenacious in building new business, securing customer loyalty, and forging strong relationships with external business partners. Exceptional mentor and coach; combine business acumen with innate leadership abilities to recruit, build, and retain top-performing sales teams.
What do you think is the single biggest misconception people have when it comes to startups?
The single biggest misconception about the startups are that these are a lucrative business. Multi-billion dollar fundings, lavish lifestyle, cool workplaces & rich founders.
In reality it is exact opposite. Startup journey involves a lot of rejections, sleepless nights, insecurity about the future, no revenues for weeks, and many more.
If you could go back in time to any moment from your journey, and give yourself one tip, what would it be?
Whenever you are starting a business please make yourself prepared for a marathon. It’s not like that you will become successful from Day 1.
It takes a lot of things to reach at that level. Good mentors, team, continuous efforts, keep updating your product, persistence, patience, knowledge sharing, learnings etc.
What makes you stand out as an entrepreneur?
Before I started my business I did a thorough research, worked as a freelancer and experienced the real market challenges and then I launched my company.
On very first day I closed a deal and running a live campaign. Within 1 month I was able to close the deals of INR 1M. I believe that proper understanding about the market is necessary for any entrepreneur and then comes your network and USPs.
What are some of the best working habits you’ve gained over the past couple of years?
If I talk about my best working habits I’ve gained over the past couple of years that would be to create a To-do list every morning and complete that before EOD. Time management is something which I learnt during my entrepreneurship journey.
Give us a bit of an insight into the influences behind the company?
During lockdown in 2020 when everything was closed including TV Ad shoot & Outdoor Display Advertising, the brands were looking at Social Media to promote their products through Social Media Influencers & Content Creators.
It was the period when a lot of new influencers were emerged and they were focused on a niche. I saw this as an opportunity and started using my old connections to reach out to the brands directly.
At the same time I decided to build a community of Social Media Influencers & Content Creators.
There’s no denying that influencer marketing is lucrative. The market grew from $1.7 billion in 2016 to $9.7 billion in 2020. In 2021, it soared to $13.8 billion, indicating a steady growth. This year, the market is projected to expand to a whopping $16.4 billion industry.
Where do you see your business in five years?
Right now we are focusing on India market but in the next few years we will be expanding ourselves in global markets i.e. Middle East, Europe, North America & APAC.
Our aim is to build a global community of influencers including Nano & Micro ones so that our customers can reach out to regional audiences with content in their local languages.
What do you think the biggest challenge will be for you in getting there?
When we started there were very few agencies or companies in this field. Today there a lot of agencies are in the market due to which a lot of competition is there.
Brands are getting negotiated deals. However, since the inception of this company we have maintained a standard and working with premium customers only which differentiate from other agencies and companies.
We have premium brands in our portfolio and successful case studies which I think will help us to achieve our targets in the coming years.
Talk to us about your biggest success story so far?
From the very first day we are generating revenue. In past 18 months, we have run 50+ successful campaigns and added 25+ premium customers in our clientele.
And most important thing is client retention & repeat business. We are doing regular business with our existing customers and adding new customers every month.
How do clients and customers find you? Are you much of a salesperson for yourself?
I am a Salesperson myself. We have a strong sales & marketing team who proactively approach the brands.
We are very aggressive in contacting new brands & companies and pitching them our services. LinkedIn is playing a very crucial role for our business.
What one tip would you give to fellow startup founders?
Whatever you dream, just do it and believe in yourself. Find best talents and create a strong team.
And finally, what do you hope the future brings both you personally, and your business?
I hope that me and my business will be growing exponentially. We aim to be the largest influencer marketing company of the world.
Wow, I am deeply touched knowing about the hardwork and commitment that you’ve put into. I would love to hear what Bhupendra is when he is not working. How do manage to get some personal time out and how do you like spend it? What do you do over the weekends?
I also got to know that you also work in collaboration with Dunes Entertainment Company so can you please shed some light on your role in DEC. Please also publish interview with Harsh Bawa, the founder of Dunes Entertainment and DMF, if possible. We want to hear the success story of Harsh Sir and how do you guys stand together with each other?
Good to see my Friend Bhupendra growing like this, All The Best my brother for your Business. I would love to see more successful information in future for mFluencer.