The Start-Up Story of Keshav Dutt and Hani Goyal of Overcoming the COVID Crisis and Turning it into an Opportunity
As the COVID 19 pandemic took hold of the world affecting every life and business since last year, the impact of the same on some industries was more profound and worrisome. However, some professionals and entrepreneurs turned this moment of crisis into an opportunity by committing to create a positive impact for those in need. This is how two young entrepreneurs from Delhi, Keshav Dutt, and Hani Goyal decided to rebuild their start-up venture, My Media Dreams which they had founded in 2019.
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A looming uncertainty because of the pandemic was not enough to diminish the motivation and high spirits of these two youngsters who decided to help small businesses use the mode of digital advertising which can help them continue their outreach activities and also survive the pandemic. With their team of close to 30+ employees located across various geographies, the virtual workspace helped them in saving the operational cost of an office and invest in the employees. While most organizations were asking employees to leave, Keshav and Hani ensured that their employees were being paid their salaries on time.
Entrepreneurship was not the original plan for either of these young visionaries. It was a gradual development through personal experiences and the disenchantment with the economy and the operational behavior of most organizations that made them decide on starting their own venture.
My Media Dreams started as an unexpected idea of Keshav while working in the software industry where he noticed certain loopholes in the way internet marketing strategies were implemented. Keshav was initially an Assistant Professor for more than four years before he decided to switch paths and explore his love and interest in the digital space and also to understand the functionalities of the sector. Developing his skills in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Website Promotion, Technical Support, Google Adwords, he envisioned starting his venture to help small businesses scale up. For Keshav, ‘creativity lies in the art of being able to differentiate oneself from others and hence provides a competitive edge to establish a distinct identity’. As he met his business partner for the venture, Hani Goyal in 2019, his vision started to take shape.
Hani is an engineer turned lawyer who decided to become a full-time entrepreneur as he came on board with Keshav. Currently heading the company as the CTO, his background in law helped him understand the legalities of starting a business venture. After having completed his Engineering from Jalandhar, Hani started working with some of the leading software companies like HCL, Microsoft as a research engineer. The monotonous life of a 9-6 job did not resonate with his long-term professional goals. An encounter with Keshav helped him explore his interest in technology and software in a more in-depth way and he started his entrepreneurial journey.
Without an academic background in digital marketing, both these entrepreneurs started with nothing but the knowledge and skills learned from their work experiences and a bootstrapped funding. Hence, the pandemic of COVID 19 posed a huge challenge to its continuity. With just a year into business, it suffered major setbacks and the lockdown affected the attrition rate of retaining the existing clients due to budget issues. However, the combined efforts of the team and the visionary leadership of both Keshav and Hani stood the ground of the testing times. The leadership team started to reimagine the organization’s vision of bridging the digital gap during the pandemic. Since more and more people were sitting at home and spending time online, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to make outreach activities easier and more widespread. They started creating and customizing innovative marketing plans that were tailored according to the clients’ budgets, helping them ensure their survival.
Although the organization has an extensive portfolio of services such as Lead Generation, Content Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Web Development, Affiliate Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing (SMM), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Online Reputation Management (ORM) and Organic Social Outreach, they also started working simultaneously towards developing their in-house SaaS product and strengthen the marketing plans of the affiliate industries which they believe will help in creating cost-effective strategies and offer an edge to the organization with a steady flow of passive income in the long run
Surviving the uncertainty since last year, today the organization stands with a story of its steady growth and a client base of more than 70+ global brands and organizations across the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. As Keshav puts it, “it was not easy but a journey worth remembering and some important lesson to learn for the future” to which Hani added, “more than fancy degrees or certificates, we would prefer putting all the happy faces of our clients and their testimonials in our office someday”.
