Any bookworm would agree that it is the literary magnetism that is keeping them grounded in this digitalized world. When it comes to technology, books were the least effected or so we thought until e-books, online platforms, and other digital documents invaded the space and changed the reader experience. However, that is not the only change that technology has persuaded.
Technology today has transformed long texts into hypertexts. Everyone is now trying to find a way to gather information easily and in nutshell. They are not willing to dwell into the content given in the book (fictional or non-fictional), analyze it, comprehend it and lead along a fully thought-out trail of logic.
Recognizing the same and disturbed about how the ubiquitous use of social media is leading to a decline in reading books, a group of book lovers at MEENA are advocating individuals about the importance of reading books. Fascinated by this unique service and its perks, Insights Success has listed MEENA among ‘100 Startup to Watch in 2020’. The below conversation with Trushna Meena Yagnik, Founder of MEENA tells us what inspired her to start such an innovative and distinctive company. She also sheds light on how the company is encouraging the digitally-savvy generation to indulge in the author-driven line of reasoning and work their way through books.
Kindly tell us what inspired you to put forth such an innovative initiative.
Ms. Yagnik: The prime vision behind initiating this venture MEENA (Mental, Emotional & Educational Nurturing Academy) is to develop leadership through readership. In the era of digitalization, people do forget the touch of books or the habit of sincere reading. So the main idea behind inventing MEENA is to nourish healthy reading habits among individuals. We do provide 360-degree development programs based on practical implications of books and reading activity to bring a reading revolution.
This idea emerges in mind from my mother Meenaben because she was an enthusiastic reader. No page was unturned of whatever reading material being offered to her and she kept sharing all the insights of her reading with me which helped me to pass through so many important situations of my life like an academic presentation or my further study group discussion project or my first job personal interview. So taking inspiration from all her efforts this is just a small tribute I am paying to my mother for making me whatever I am today.
Tell us how MEENA functions, including the service or products the company offers.
Ms. Yagnik: We do offer a range of programs of a different category based on books and reading activity. We do cover all the segments starting from educational institutions to all the small, medium and large industries and organizations across all the sectors. Some of our famous and widely subscribed programs are Faculty Development Program for school teachers, Happiness Programs for MNC Employees, Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development Program for College Students, Self-Branding Program for housewives, Marketing monk program for the sales team, Campus to corporate for business houses, unleash your potential for young aspirations and many more.
In total, we do offer 136 programs for all individuals from the age of 6 to 60 regardless of their professional or educational status. We do convert books into structured summaries, pairing them with a practical implication of the books in the various areas of life through case study, games and activities, brain puzzles and some on-field activities.
MEENA has currently 25+ MNCs, 60+ Educational institutions and 50000+ Individuals on its client list. Our succession and renewal ratio for all the programs we conducted is 94%.
What were the challenges you came across during the inception of your startup?
Ms. Yagnik: In the beginning days, we had quite a lot of challenges like no availability of the books by the international author to our local market and we have to pay hefty delivery charges for all our online purchases. Another major problem we were facing during inception was the adaptability of people for this new concept. Since the digitalization is at the boom, people are losing their ability to concentrate on the same thing for long and shuffling between various screens has become quite normal which is resulting in less mental attentivity and concentration on the same thing for a longer period. In this environment, maintaining interest and delivering results working on books was a challenge for us. But as the people get to know about our unique activity and program and as they start doing experience for one or two sessions it becomes very easy for us to get flood like subscription only by word of mouth advertising.
Is your company bootstrapped or have you received funding or do you plan on approaching investors?
Ms. Yagnik: As of now, we are a completely self-sustainable bootstrapped organization. But now as we have sufficient subscription and success ratio in our local market we have some expansion plans on our cards. And for that, we are looking forward to if some attractive investment offers will be available. The only criteria we are looking for in our investor is, they should genuinely be interested in being result-driven organization and sustainable development through impactful work rather than being only profit-driven organization.
As the founder, what is your opinion on the current landscape of startup culture in India?
Ms. Yagnik: Every decade has a few milestone magnets that define that time. This decade is indeed the one that belongs to start-ups. In recent years, start-ups have been receiving increased attention in many parts of the world. In India, the number of start-ups has increased fast and more support has become available in all dimensions. Their numbers are on the rise and they are now being widely recognized as important engines for growth and job generation. Through innovation and scalable technology, startups can generate impactful solutions, and thereby act as vehicles for socio-economic development and transformation. The Indian startup ecosystem has evolved dynamically over the last two decades. the current state of the Indian startup ecosystem and has three goals: to provide an understanding of the growth drivers and motivations of Indian startup founders; identify challenges facing these startups, and outline the pillars in place that support them.
Explain to us what impacts can technology make on human life and the industry as well?
Ms. Yagnik: Technology is inescapable. It pervades every facet of our life. From how we work, play and live our lives, technology has created a revolution that will grow for as long as humans continue to advance in their capabilities. Training and development have always been a structured and semi-predictable formula using age-old formats. With the rise of millennial workers and their affinity for social media and quick and ‘now’ learning methods, our focus for training and development is shifting from traditional layouts to online and in-time learning.
So to update ourselves in this digitalization era we have developed some vital training programs. Virtual training methods can still give the just-in-time feeling but can align with and capture the learner’s training in their development plan, thus building upon their plans, virtual training consists of e-learning (self-paced, web-based), blended learning (a mixture of various options per course), rapid e-learning (quick online micro-learning sessions), mobile learning (the course is accessible anywhere the learner is) and ubiquitous learning (available anytime/anywhere, and activities are led by daily tasks). Many of these methods are useful to our subscribers who are remote workers, learners with very little downtime and employees who enjoy learning at their own pace. In this people can learn via smartphone, tablet, laptop, and other portable methods have increase engagement in self-led professional development.
In years to come, what more are you planning in terms of expansion or approach to serve?
Ms. Yagnik: Scaling growth for us is about creating business models and designing MEENA in a way that easily scales to generate consistent revenue growth and avoid stall-points without adding a ton of extra cost and/or resources along the way. As we are entering into expansion and touching some new market boundaries at the national level, there are certain things we are focusing on are Boost Renewals, Lifting renewal rates compounds our revenue base and top-line growth, Hire Good Impact able result- Minded People, Package Value-Added Services for Repeatable contracts, Fire the Sales & Marketing Engine on Multiple Cylinders.
