When Akshay Kashyap went to Patna for JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) teaching, he had a troublesome time discovering second-hand books. Coming from a lower-middle-class household, the then-teenager needed to endure a few weeks of looking out earlier than securing a number of books as a result of low inventory.
Regardless of a number of makes an attempt, he couldn’t crack the IIT entrance exams. In 2021, after one other unsuccessful strive, Akshay shifted his focus in direction of entrepreneurship whereas persevering with his engineering research on the Sitamarhi Institute Of Know-how.
This wasn’t an remoted incident for Akshay; witnessing quite a few college students dealing with the identical battle on the shops made him realise the widespread challenge.
After carefully observing the marketplace for a number of months, Akshay and his pal Srijan Kumar launched an internet platform ‘Kitabwalah’ in 2022. By way of thorough market analysis, the 21-year-olds recognised the numerous demand for reasonably priced used books throughout varied classes.
Kitabwalah gives a variety of used books catering to high school college students, faculty college students, aggressive examination aspirants, in addition to fiction and non-fiction fans. Inside simply two years, they’ve efficiently bought over 6,000 books, producing gross sales of Rs 8 lakh this yr alone.
Their revolutionary initiative caught the eye of the Bihar Authorities, resulting in them securing seed funding underneath the Bihar Startup Coverage 2022.
‘I didn’t need anybody to battle to purchase books’
Akshay grew up in Ramchandrapur in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, in a joint household. Cash was onerous to return by in his childhood years, and he studied in a college within the village itself until Class 5.
“My father is a farmer and prioritised schooling for my siblings, cousins and me. He went above and past to offer us with the very best schooling attainable. After Class 5, I moved to Muzaffarpur to a greater college,” Akshay tells The Higher India.
Throughout his highschool years, Akshay often resorted to buying second-hand books because of the prohibitive price of recent ones. He vividly remembers cases the place common titles like R S Aggarwal’s Arithmetic books or S Chand Publishers’ textbooks for Class 9 and 10 could be priced at over Rs 500 every. Happily, he managed to accumulate them at a fraction of the unique worth, sometimes round 50 to 60 p.c of the MRP.
His battle continued when he launched into his IIT-JEE teaching journey, necessitating visits to a number of outlets looking for required books.
“I needed there was a neater technique to buy these books and had observed an enormous demand-supply hole. So once I couldn’t get an excellent rank in JEE after two makes an attempt, I made a decision to do one thing off the overwhelmed path and take a look at my hand at this enterprise,” he provides.
Armed with Rs 800, Akshay and Srijan purchased some second-hand books from the market. After a number of days of brainstorming, they got here up with the identify ‘Kitabwalah’, arrange their web site and social media accounts, and posted the books to gauge response. “We posted the books on Fb and received an excellent response,” he remembers.
Nonetheless, with no funding, the 2 younger entrepreneurs discovered it troublesome to satisfy necessities. Their margins too have been low as they have been buying the books from the shopkeepers.
“The second-hand sellers purchase these books from kabadiwalas (scrap collectors and sellers) on a weight foundation, which supplies them large margins. We first needed to construct a community of kabadiwalas to buy the books,” he informs, including that they began visiting scrap sellers in Muzaffarpur and shopping for books from them.
Immediately, the dynamic duo boasts partnerships with practically each kabadiwala within the metropolis, with their community now reaching into Patna and different areas of Bihar. Leveraging the ability of word-of-mouth and social media platforms like WhatsApp, Fb, and Instagram, they’ve efficiently moved over 6,000 books, raking in gross sales of Rs 8 lakh within the fiscal yr 2023-24.
However what really units them aside is their unwavering dedication to thrive and set up a particular identification. Ranging from scratch, they nurtured this enterprise from the confines of their very own residence whereas juggling faculty commitments by day. Their nights are devoted to fielding calls, managing messages, overseeing delivery logistics, dealing with orders, orchestrating expansions, and way more.
Amidst this whirlwind, the duo can also be pursuing a BSc diploma in knowledge science and purposes from IIT Madras, including one other layer to their already spectacular repertoire.
The journey from shopping for second-hand books to tasting entrepreneurial success
Akshay believes they stand out due to the variability and the costs of their books. “We provide books at lesser costs than customary second-hand booksellers. We perceive the ache {that a} scholar faces and therefore promote decrease whereas sustaining good margins,” he says.
To bolster their enlargement efforts and meet the demand, securing funding and mentorship grew to become paramount. Their breakthrough got here once they found the Bihar Startup Coverage 2022 and utilized for the Bihar Innovation Problem 2023, a programme designed to help college students and startups in commercialising their ventures by way of monetary help and accolades.
The pivotal second, in keeping with Akshay, occurred throughout the problem in October 2023, the place they emerged as one of many Prime 20 contenders out of 300 startups. Though they didn’t clinch the highest prize, they efficiently secured funding by way of the Startup Coverage. This preliminary grant, amounting to Rs 10 Lakh, was supplied as an interest-free mortgage by the Authorities for 10 years. The disbursement occurred in phases, contingent upon attaining specified milestones and demonstrating efficiency.
In January 2024, Kitabwalah acquired Rs 4 lakh within the first section. They judiciously allotted these funds to improve and relaunch their web site, procure a extra conducive workspace, develop their e-book stock, and bolster their advertising efforts.
On their new web site, the duo are promoting college books for ICSE, CBSE and Bihar Board, books for aggressive exams, fiction and non-fiction books, together with new books. “Some prospects need new books and we’re providing that at aggressive costs,” provides Akshay.
Immediately, they’re catering to virtually 200 to 250 prospects day by day from throughout the nation, claims Akshay. Their common order worth is round Rs 1,000.
Sameer Shrivastava, an engineering scholar, who purchased a number of books from Kitabwalah, shares, “Their charges are lesser than different sellers. It’s additionally simple to entry and gives an enormous collection of books.”
Going forward, Akshay desires Kitabwalah to change into a one-stop store for all issues associated to books and faculty provides. “Whereas our main focus is on used books, we additionally need to promote stationery, college uniforms, e-books, audiobooks and extra,” he says.
What was the response of his household to their achievements? “They’re extremely proud. I’m a primary technology graduate and my household by no means imagined that I’d begin a enterprise sooner or later. It’s past our wildest goals,” he smiles.
Kitabwalah additionally accepts e-book donations. When you want to donate a e-book or purchase one, you are able to do so right here.