Peter Drucker, the famous business management consultant, says about managing oneself, “Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves – their strengths, their values, and how they best perform.” He himself popularized the phrase and the concept of the knowledge economy through his best-selling books ‘The Effective Executive, 1966’ and ‘The Age of Discontinuity, 1969.’
Much ahead of his time, Drucker proposed that our primary focus should be on knowledge honing through skills, measurable performance and data analysis, and strategic management by objective – MBO.
The futuristic concept is a 21st-century reality, as today, most of the developed economies in the world depend upon the primary economy of knowledge concentrating on human capital and their intangible assets like intellectual property and proprietary technologies which are advancing at the breakneck space.
This fast and vast expansion of knowledge, increasing reliance on digitalization, big data analytics, automation, and human-machine interface, including AI, Cloud Computing, ML, IoT, RPA etc., has revolutionized the economies of the developed world that they have shifted their dependence from an industrial economy to the knowledge economy.
In this quest, India – which has always been a knowledge-loving nation – is going ahead with full steam with its mantra of Atmanirbharata. The concept of Atmanirbharata or self-sustenance also defines success in terms of individual strengths, values, and carving out one’s own path by performing each time best to the individual’s potential.
However, everybody can live up to their innate caliber if they are properly guided, mentored, coached, and tutored. For that knowledge pursuing, society needs a transformational leader who can transform any individual into a future leader. Fortunately, we have many such leadership phenomena. CA Raj K Agrawal is one of the topmost from that league of transcendental leaders and the Founder and CEO of Study At Home Pvt Ltd, a Virtual Learning and Educational Academy, in 2018, long before the pandemic.
An Incredible Journey of A True Visionary
Speaking about his journey Raj says that he was excellent in his studies, and he topped in his classes, always. Raj reveals, “I was the winner at all competitions. I got an AIR in CA also. I could not leave my love for education, and I started teaching immediately after my CA final exams.
My AIR in CA and, of course, my teaching style had given me a career boost and popularity in teaching. I have taught finance to students of professional courses at various different places across India.”
One more very important observation Raj made during his student life is that the best coaching classes were available only in metropolitan cities. Many students missed the opportunities because of the heavy cost of living in metro cities and high tuition fees. Those were not the time of online education. This was the strong need of the hour. In 2018 Raj made up his mind and jumped into online education from offline.
Raj states, “I started this mission as a one-man army, and today I have my own battalion of young minds with amazing skill sets who are working together to take Study At Home to greater heights day by day.
We in Study At Home believe that when it comes to education, your dedication and quality of content must be on top priority. Apart from it, the lecture delivering style and building personal connect with students leads you to be excellent in the industry.”
Raj also believes that we have 90% Bharat and just 10% India, and he aims to educate that 90% of Bharat. The Bharat, who speaks in Hindi, who learns in Hindi. The Bharat, where 57% of the population earns less than 10,000 rupees per month. The Bharat, who gave birth to Ramanujan, APJ Abdul Kalam, DR. B.R Ambedkar, CV Raman, Savitribhai Phule and many more generations of legends.
Following the Legends
Raj thinks being very much clear in his vision, honest towards his work, his genuine and soft behaviour, dedication to deliver before deadlines, keeping himself on his toes for quality and commitments, and regular learning habits to do better as compared to the last day are some of the values he imbibed very early on.
More than that, Raj says his optimistic approach and risk-taking ability have always been admired; for Raj, be it a success or failure, his optimism never dies. For Raj, his creativity and ability to execute are important. He believes if his idea doesn’t solve the problem of millions of people, he cannot grow.
Raj shares, “My self-belief, My perseverance are paramount. I always make everyone understand that achieving goals never means goals set by others; one should set their own standards and try to break them every day in order to become the best version of themselves.
My willingness to learn; it is very important for all the entrepreneurs to learn from other businesses and people, especially from small startups and other entrepreneurs too. As it is really difficult to keep up the growth and there is no age of learning.”
People always told Raj that his humbleness and honesty make him different from others.
His idea of staying grounded and cultured took him significantly ahead in his journey.
“I have also been told on multiple occasions that my unique style of leadership inspires in others to work with honesty and push past their comfort zones,” feels Raj.
Study At Home, Excel At Everything
Study At Home is an EdTech company offering online education in the simplest way. Differing from very Hi-tech players in the market, Raj and his team of experts are committed to deliver within students´ reach and capacity with very affordable pricing. That is why they are delivering High Quality recorded Video Lectures, unlike live classes. Study At Home’s video contents can be downloaded with a dedicated Support System once purchased.
It actually gives internet-free access to studies as per the students’ conveniences. The virtual academy also has e-books and AI-enabled test series, which are continuously upgraded.
You can also find skill development courses delivered by celebrities. Raj and his team assimilate India’s Top Faculties to give a User-Friendly Experience with 24×7 Support.
Raj shares, “National Start-Up Award 2021 in Education and Skill Development category as a winner proves our worth in the industry and speaks of our success without us saying something.”
Talking about Study At Home’s USP, Raj says frankly, “To be very true, there is no USP with us or any other EdTech company. Even the unicorns don’t have one. Everything which is built by them in a long time can be replicated by a new company in the first month itself.
We find ourselves different as we have built the business without resources as we are better than those with abundant resources. Imagine what we could have built with resources.”
However, for the sake of mentioning-
- Study At Home’s windows-based video lecture does not require internet connectivity.
- The test series it offers is AI-enabled. Also, it has test series for 1400+ exams
- It offers lectures at just ₹ 50/ Month, which can be afforded by lower and lower-middle-class people also in rural areas as well. Hence, lowest price in the entire EdTech space.
- It provides all the four categories under one roof, Academic, Government Competitive, Professional, and Skill Development Courses too.
- It has created this business with almost nil resources. It knows how to make optimum utilization of resources and funds too.
- Well, its Technology is very user-friendly and superfine in such a way that there is just one student out of 500 who needs technological support.
- IP rights of 95% of its offerings.
- In-house technology development team.
Empowering Today’s Knowledge-Economy
StudyAtHome.org is a leading EdTech company dedicated to providing quality pre-recorded lectures for Class 8 to 12, CA, CS, CMA, JEE, NEET, Banking, SSC, Railway, CLAT, Tally, Stock Market, Excel, PPT etc.
It has the backing of several years of experience in shaping the world of Education.
It is on the cusp of modern trends, new technologies, and new ways to deliver education effectively and creatively. One can also prepare from the Best in the Comfort of their Homes for Skill Development, Academic Exams, Professional Exams, and Competitive Exams.
Knowledge is not just profit but an asset. To keep assets free from depreciating, one needs to consistently upgrade it and add more values. “We understand this philosophy very well and so execute it. Our knowledge resourcing team is in continuous endeavours to create the best faculty pool for us.
On the other hand, our dedicated content development team is also updating and editing both online and offline content to make it easier and interesting with the richest of its value. We always keep in mind the affordability and accessibility of our content,” says Raj.
As Raj mentioned earlier, Study At Home also has skill development courses made completely in-house, which has the greatest demand all across the country.
“As we are working forth for it, you will soon see more and more unique and most demanded videos coming forth from industry leaders and personalities,” expresses Raj.
Apart from that, the Study At Home School and College offerings, which are absolutely Free of cost to schools and colleges, has been a mega-hit with teachers. Given the pandemic challenges, this solution has served a perfect need of the hour for schools wanting to enable quality online learning for their students. So far, it has many schools and colleges that are benefitting from it. It provides skill development courses to them, which they don’t have in their curriculum.
Raj expresses, “As a brand, we have grown, and we have managed to reach out to the smallest of cities in India, and I guess that made us stand in today’s knowledge economy.”
Tech Expanding the Rule of Learning
Being an experienced leader, Raj’s opinions on how the adoption of modern immersive technologies like AI, ML and XR impacts the Online Learning and Education space and how Study At Home Pvt Ltd is advancing to the change are illuminating.
According to Raj, definitely, these technologies are creating a new feel. Face to face study model has no alternative, but online platforms are pivotally doing bigger penetration amongst the target market.
Technologies like AI, ML, XR, etc., are bringing well this experience by creating a virtual face-to-face education experience at home. Even much more like teacher access, study material access, library access, repertory-based model, going back and forth in lectures, and even accessing other lectures in real-time.
Talking about technology enhancement – Automation in customer support, the advanced user interface on the website, and other technical support that has been outsourced, will now be created in-house.
Advancing to the charge over Study At Home learning app – Completely revamped and high-level security of the app. The app will also be available to access in different languages. Raj adds, “We will also add some features for gamification; Gamification elements add flavour and fun to learning, encouraging more frequent interactions with the training.” Advance in-app communication as interactions with online instructors will also be more direct and frequent, which helps students resolve issues fast and move on.
“Our in-house team is working on this, and very soon, we will be in an online space with a difference.
Our only wish is to make competitive education not just affordable and accessible, but also simple and understandable so that Young India’s tomorrow is secured creatively,” says Raj.
Surmounting the Obstacles’ Mountain
As per Raj, an over mushroomed market and free offerings have flooded the industry actually. Standing out with a difference and being nationally recognized is something Study At Home has already received in such a small span.
Raj believes that building Study At Home as a big brand can be their main challenge because they already have established players in the market who have big faces as their brand ambassadors.
Apart from that, the emerging challenge for them is to reach every single learner of the country and successfully educate our Bharat.
One of the biggest challenges they have with them today is the availability of funds.
It is a profitable company, generating revenue with almost nil resources. “Imagine if we have a surplus of funds what business we can have and what sort of magic we would have created,” feels Raj.
Every good brand is trying to give its best, so Raj and Study At Home do. But certainly, as they got such a prestigious recognition, coming out from a small city like Varanasi, they firmly believe in their massive success in future.
Raj expresses, “We love to be known for our best business practices and being students’ favourite portal rather than being recognized in a number game.
We believe in quality, equality, and group support to bring out the best in our students and our team members as well. If life isn’t teaching you something new every time, you are not focusing hard enough on learning.”
Life, the Philosophy of Learning Courage and Wisdom
Raj’s advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the Virtual Learning and Education space is wise.
According to him, this industry is proliferating. Every day many players emerge. You can also find a lot of free content available. But anytime, reaching out to the best-suited platform is not that easier. That is why big players are more into creating their all-pervasive presence.
As a budding entrepreneur, one must be original and consistent. Because the contents are more or less the same but your original delivery style and improvisations in it may enable you to stand out.
One needs to challenge themselves to keep motivated and set specific goals and actionable goals for the immediate and distant future that too with deadlines and steps.
Researching the industry, if you’re passionate, explore the current market trend. Researching what other products/services are available could help you refine your business strategy.
By analyzing the market, you can also learn more about potential customers and what products/services they want.
Well, a successful entrepreneur is always networking; the broader your network, the more opportunity you have for investors, mentors, and professional relationships in your field.
Apart from that, the key is being adaptive to the newest technologies coming, seeking venture capital, and focusing on ease of access.
Another key factor is never to let go. If you are facing issues and criticism, take it in a positive light. Stick to your goal, and don’t think a little setback is the sign to leave your goal unachieved. ‘Anything good never came easy’ is actually a bitter truth that’ll yield sweet results if you are courageous enough.
Transforming Today’s Young Minds into Tomorrow’s Leaders
Study At Home has a strong presence in professional, academic, competitive, and skill development courses.
Its continuous focus is to enhance its reach and add up new courses by in house content creation, high on demand, in its bouquet. It is also coming up with aggressive branding exercises and working massively on its market presence. It will offer a few unique courses and try to serve an unidentified customer base by offering courses as per their need.
Raj says, “Our undeterred aim is to keep updating the content inventory by ensuring our students don’t miss out on any opportunity by even that little gap otherwise possible.”
Expansion Plan –
- Content Creation – Hiring more faculties for in-house content creation. Initially in Hindi language and then in Vernacular languages too.
- Courses Addition – Launching different new courses like Coding, Deep Machine Learning, Digital Marketing, Ethical Hacking, Creative Writing, AutoCAD, Full Stack Web Development, and Programming Languages.
- Advance features in Study At Home Learning App – Completely revamped and high-level security of the app. The app will also be available to access in different languages. It will also add some features for gamification; Gamification elements add flavour and fun to learning, encouraging more frequent interactions with the training. Advance in-app communication as interactions with online instructors will also be more direct and frequent, which helps students resolve issues fast and move on.
- Technology Enhancement – Automation in customer support, the advanced user interface on the website, and other technical support that has been outsourced, will now be created in-house.
- It will have highly qualified employees who can easily adapt to the latest technology and work accordingly.
- Social Impact – Study At Home Learning App will be launched in Hindi and other regional languages over the period to be provided at a nominal fee to Primary Government Schools in India.
- Create Engaging Products Different from other EdTech Businesses – Study At Home will make the content that can be customized, personalized, made interactive, and vernacular to increase student engagement and learning outcomes – be it for K12 test prep or skilling category.
- In-house training – Teachers and professors, especially those newest in education, need the greatest amount of professional development to ramp up to the skill level of their colleagues. Study At Home will build trust and form lasting partnerships with educators by providing them with in-house training.
- “We aim to educate BHARAT,” says Raj stating, – As per a Google report, about 93 per cent of YouTube viewers prefer watching content in Indian languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and others. Also, 90 per cent of internet users prefer to use their local language to search and carry out tasks online.
- To cater to this rural population, to most of the learners, Raj is already planning and working towards a road to increase the adoption of vernacular edtech in Bharat.
- Taking the best ever advantage from Government – The government is already taking many initiatives to enable vernacular education at the grassroots level. The government, in its National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, focused on the importance of multilingualism and mother tongue as the medium of instruction.
Different EdTech players are catering to different segments of the value chain already. However, it is imperative for the next level of growth to truly understand what Bharat wants and not what we want to give to Bharat.
Exhibiting the Transcendental Leadership
Study At Home’s year-wise awards and recognition –
2021-2022
- Asian Education Award 2022 for Best EdTech of the Year
- Global Teaching Excellence Award 2022 for Edupreneur of the Year
- Student Choice Award from Sourav Ganguly
- Award of Innovation for social impact through technology by StartIn UP (UP Govt. Initiative)
2020-2021
- Indian Achievers Award for Excellence in Education
- Rising Star Award from Sourav Ganguly
- International Fame Award 2021 for Best EdTech of the Year from Sonu Sood
- National Start-Up Award 2021 from Piyush Goyal
- Cash prize of 5 Lakhs from Honorable Prime Minister
2019-2020
- Start-Up Recognition by Central and State Government
- Eligible Business Certificate from the Government of India
