On what would normally be a sleepy Sunday morning, Rohit Raj, co-founder of The Glitch, rose out of bed and made his way to a crowd waiting at Todi Mill Social, Lower Parel, Mumbai. What were they waiting for? They wanted to hear what he had to say about starting a creative business.
They really wanted to know how does one make it in the creative industry.
The first thing he did was to give everyone a shock. He wasn’t going to explain how to start a creative business. He was going to get people to think about the why and the viability of starting a creative business.
Rohit Raj speaks straight to the point.
He took us into the story regarding his own beginning, when Channel V no longer wanted him to make music videos because the youth were consuming more music online, he realized that his future would need to be online too.
Once creative entrepreneurship begins, there’s no turning back.
He mentioned his difference between an entrepreneur and a creative entrepreneur. “An entrepreneur is someone who, when life hands them lemons, they start a lemonade stand. A creative entrepreneur is one who wants a mojito stall infused with nitrous oxide but gets stuck choosing the right font.” It sounds like a joke and it sort of is, but don’t the best jokes have their roots in truth?
Truth, delivered the way Rohit Raj does, enlightens start-up hopefuls.
The audience received his wisdom well. There were people who from different creative fields who had varying ideas for start-ups. One wanted to start a comic-book company for children to digest stories about history and traditions, but done so in a format that would be enjoyed by the new generation. One individual wanted to start a company that did wall paintings. Rohit Raj appreciated what people wanted to do but also gave them advice about what they need to check into before taking the leap.
You’ll find all of his advice at the end of this article.
The Glitch would have been called Jai Veeru & Co. because Rohit Raj and his co-founder, Varun Duggirala were such huge fans of Sholay. However, thinking a bit more deeply and using the feedback they received from their family and friends, they settled on a name which has grown a lot more memorable over the years.
This is why you shouldn’t be an asshole.
He left the audience with a few pieces of advice and a checklist to follow-up on for individuals who want to start a creative business.
Advice:
1.) It takes 2 to tango. Get a co-founder for a new perspective and to fill up the gaps in your skillset.
2.) Everybody can’t make a dent in the universe. You don’t have to be a billion-dollar company to be a success. Set realistic goals
3.) Don’t build a team. Build a culture. Teams come and go.
4.) Don’t be an asshole. They’re overrated. Be nice to get anywhere in the world.
5.) Don’t do things for free but strategically offer discounts to increase business in the future.
He listened to the audience tell them about their start-up ideas.
Here’s a checklist that one can follow if there’s a desire to start a creative firm:
Identify a problem to fix
Find what makes you different
Validate a market size
Identify a revenue stream
The next step is go out there, do your thing, put in the hard work, make your money and never stop improving because when you are good at something, the only way to go from there is up.
He was answering questions one-on-one for a little while after the talk too.
Rohit Raj, if you’re reading this, a big thank-you once again from the IndieFolio team. We are so grateful that you collaborated to give everyone a much-needed reality check about the creative industry.
If you have any ideas for IndieFolio events in the future, write to either diksha@indiefolio.com or richard@indiefolio.com. We’ll be happy to hear from you and we will credit you if we do it.
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