Subuhi Khan

Tell us a little about your organization and your organization’s journey so far;

Well, I am running my father’s dream, a publishing house. It was my father’s dream that I should work for our family business and achieve new heights to bring it to the next level. So, after working as an Executive at CWT and Study Circle, I decided to proceed towards achieving my dreams through the vision of my father.

Tell us a little bit about yourself (background) and your journey as a entrepreneur, please;

About myself, I would like to apprise that I am born and raised in Old Delhi, and I did my graduation in Business Development Professional Abilities from Acharya Narendra Dev College New Delhi. With certain unpleasant circumstances happened with me I remained some time in depression due to some or the other reasons as I belong to a family which does not allow us to openly talk with someone which is not known to us. But I am thankful to Mr.Rishabh Pushp Tiwari, one of my friends who helped me to fight with my depression and Mr. Arman Khan for bringing positivity and self confidencein me. After working as Executive at CWT and one of the study Circle, now I am looking after my father’s dream of Yahya Book Depot.

Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a job?

As I narrated earlier, it was my father’s dream that I should work for Yahya Book Depot and that is the reason that I choose this entrepreneurship over a job which I was doing earlier.

What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e. what’s your source of motivation?

Regarding my source of motivation, I would like to share that I am always fond of figuring out something niche or new, which may create a proposition for me and the public at large. I usually keep this mode on all the times which I learned with my upbringing, and it serves the source of my motivation all the time. By GOD grace, I have been able to do that as well, where either has created it or worked on something related to it. Also, I am currently in the process of developing something niche on these lines and I believe that I will surely achieve one day which I dreamt of.

During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?

During the COVID-19 crisis, each measure we have taken to ensure that the model aligns with the challenges of the pandemic.

Since our business model consists of a lean team which is not resource-heavy and has minimal overheads. Our freelancer model ensures each and every work can be handled remotely, where we don’t need to do physical meetings and, every aspect of our business is online and tech-enabled to ensure automation as much as possible.

What challenges/obstacles did you face in your journey so far?

About the challenges or obstacles, as you know Every business has risks. Our business model too has risks which are associated with a right skillset that we look for expansion in future. We already have a core niche team, but I see from future expansion perspective, we would need innovative minds, with the flexible thought process. Although, with a clearly defined process, and innovative means to reach out to search resource, we are confident enough that we will mitigate it.

What comes first for you - money or emotions?

I am an emotional one. Since business needs to have emotions, not personal, obviously, but business ones like concern for quality deliverables, client satisfaction, targets & roadmaps, you planned & how you will achieve it, etc. Money is obviously the priority, but I believe if your value creation process is right for others, money will automatically come as an outcome of it.

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How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?

About handling the pressure and managing stress, I would say that I have successfully carried out Pre IPO advisory for a government undertaking under the supervision of great mentors I have. It was a challenging task as the sector for which we were executing it, was bit a complicated one. Even, parallel hired consultants were not that much effective as compared to our work and Organisation fired them. But due to the continuous trust of my immediate supervisor in me, I have been able to carry out successfully. So stress and pressure are the parallel happening in every business so as in ours too but we handle it to proceed further growth of our company.

What is one strategy that you believe has helped you grow as a person/start-up?

In my journey so far what has helped me immensely is the lean methodology. As you know lean methodology is through a way of optimizing the people, resources, effort, and energy of our organization toward creating value for the customer. We see it on two guiding tenets, continuous improvement and respect for people. So, I can say Lean methodology is the one strategy that I believe has helped me grow as an entrepreneur.

In your opinion what are the keys to success?

In my opinion the key to my success is Communication and trust which are the two most important things and to achieve it, one need to empower his team and give them the resources they need to succeed. There are a few instances, and you can learn it on your way while into the business. As long as you have growth-oriented mind set it is not a problem for any one, I believe.

What advice would you give to someone starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?

I always work on a tag line ‘Add Value to Get Value’. Do not focus primarily on money or investments but keep your focus on creating a sustainable venture & value creation. I believe, rest things will automatically set with time. Also, if you are starting up a venture, feel free to reach out to us. You will find us a great partner or mentor to you with innovative means.​