Hustling for a living, not to impress others while living

Pune: A journey that was incepted by 4, managed for a decade by 3 and is now being successfully executed by 2 brave hearts that did not give up on each other even when the people in the process tried to create a dent in the work, ethics & their bond.

Taher Mandiwala & Shabbir Hussain have successfully sustained in the industry for 11 years with their digital advertising agency Hats-Off Digital Pvt Ltd while facing all the ups and downs during these years and are now going stronger than ever today to set an example for the Gen Z.

They started a business in their early 20s, just like any other millennial in their early 20s even today, dream of casually hanging out with childhood friends, are tired of their current personal/professional life conditions, have the urge to do something big at life and make a name for themselves. That’s how they ended up deciding to build a digital advertising agency in 2011, i.e. Hats-Off Digital Pvt Ltd. Unaware of the industry …… and stepping in it with just one thought crossing through their minds - “JO HOGA DEKHA JAYEGA, KUCH NA KUCH TOH KAR HI LENGE”

2011 was the year when people had somewhat started understanding social media like LinkedIn & Facebook, while Instagram was still very new for users to even consider in the first place. With almost zero understanding of this industry & services or terms like SEO, SEM, and SMM. They self-learnt literally every bit of these services; today, one heads the technical aspect while the other heads the creative aspect of digital advertising in their organisation.

The hack to starting a bootstrapped company and surviving for 11+ years is self-learning, resilience, and being a jack of all so that if you are ever put into a situation where you face a resource crunch or have deadlines that need extended support, you can step in and cater to it along with your employees. Learn from others, be ready to listen to their perspective, how they do what they do, and how you can incorporate that and do things differently. Creativity, technology & ideas are present in each and every element of our life. It’s just for one to change their perspective & realise that.