Gone are the days when young minds were graduating from college and decided to work for some big company and worked for the rest of their lives, doing the same thing again and again. Times have changed, and people are exploring the options they have in the current industry. The startup culture is spreading like wildfire in India, with more and more people entering this area. People from every field are willing to open up their startup or be a part of a startup as it provides them exposure to the market and provides various opportunities.
One such young entrepreneur is Suraj Pandit, belonging to the city of dreams, Mumbai, this 20-years old young techie is bringing changes in the website development field. Suraj’s dedication and love for the technology fields and computers can be seen as the idea of launching their startup sparked in his mind while he was watching a standup comedy on YouTube. Standup comedians have a significant following, and most of them are millennials, and the influence they have on them is huge. He decided to build a platform that would help these standup comedians in personal branding, and he knew that the essential tool for this would be creating their website.
In the beginning, they decided to start personal website projects for standup comedians, corporate trainers, and investors. He was also active on LinkedIn and followed many entrepreneurs who started their journey at a young age, and this inspired him to begin his journey. This is how The Pass was born, and these young entrepreneurs started their journey.
A story that started at a young age
Suraj Pandit belongs to Mumbai, and he has done his schooling from the city itself. Belonging to the city of dreams, and his love for computers and new technologies that started from 8th Standard, he knew that he would find a way to fulfill his big ideas and do something well. He is pursuing his degree in civil engineering from the University of Mumbai, but his curiosity to understand the working of startups has inspired him to start his business.
The Pass was started when he was in the first year of his engineering, and his interest in the IT industry has helped him actively participate in the company. Even though he handles the sales department for the company and the developers do the coding, Suraj is continuously learning new things in the industry.
The Pass for personal branding
The Pass is a website development agency that is based in Mumbai, and it started its operations in 2017. The company has been growing since then, and to date, they have worked with over 60 clients, and the list is still counting. They started as a personal website development agency, and once the platform picked up the pace, they decided to move in the corporate sector as well. They began developing websites for companies from different industries and to stand out from the competition; The Pass focuses on using trending technologies that will suit best for the customer’s brand.
They provide services like personal website development, corporate website development, web apps, e-commerce site, etc. The development process takes place differently as they request the customers to fill a questionnaire, which helps them in understanding the needs of the client.
The challenges faced in the outset
Like every startup, The Pass also faced many problems in the beginning, and the first challenge was how will they approach individuals for their website. As they were still in college, no one was willing to give them projects because it was a risky move for the companies to provide plans to the newbies. They started to take free projects for promotion, and their website was for Mandar Bhide, a standup comedian.
With the development of a website, more clients started knocking their doors, and that’s when the company started taking paid projects. Many freelancers and small agencies are offering the same service to people at a lower price, but Suraj is confident that the websites they develop a value for money projects.
Collaborations by The Pass and their first milestone
Suraj tells TimesNext about the partnerships that they have collaborated with personal branding experts for giving branding solutions. They even worked with SEO agencies for SEO for the client’s website, but the experience was terrible for them. They decided to hire freelancers to do the SEO work, and he is happy with the work.
The first milestone for them was when they handled the first project to their first client and delivered it once it was completed. This successful delivery inspired them more to work well in the field of website development.
The current growth status and his vision for the company
With an increase of 50% year-over-year, the company has managed to double its client base from last year. They have an in-house team of 6 members, and 20 freelancers are working with them as well, depending on the project requirements.
The IT market in India is expected to grow by $14.3 billion in 2020, and they are trying their best to be a renowned web agency in the market. With plans of expanding their services in 2020, they wish to be a full service IT agency in the market in the coming years.
