Startup: Base Inventor
Founders: Ravi Kumar Yadav, Sumit Kumar and Priyanka Yadav
Year it was founded: 2016
Where is it based: Alwar, Rajasthan
The problem it solves: Provides English language training in an easy and efficient manner to students in rural areas
Sector: Education
Funding raised: Bootstrapped
“There were numerous times when I was about to give up, but I could not because that’s what I have taught my students every day for the last 13 years. I kept repeating this one sentence in my mind – that I have to change the entire education system in India so that poor villagers can rise up and have a good life,” says Ravi Kumar Yadav, co-founder of Englishbolega.
A teacher and entrepreneur from the small town of Shahjahanpur in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, Ravi founded the English learning platform in 2016 despite many challenges.
Researching and studying problems faced by rural students over six years, he developed his own English learning methods, and Ravi says he was the first person who started speaking English with the help of those methods.
He went on to design a three-month spoken English course, dividing it into three basic modules for a three-month training and practice, to make it easy to implement in classrooms. He then started using the English teaching methods at his coaching institute to see actual results, which surprised him.
“Many villagers started speaking English in just few months by our unique training method. So, we build this course for the masses in the next few years,” he adds.
Today, the platform has over 111 operating franchisees in Rajasthan, and Ravi claims that the brand is scaling at the pace of one new franchisee in every two days.
The challenges
Finally, the trio decided on an offline franchise-based revenue model, and started approaching existing coaching centres to partner with them.
“We succeeded in our third attempt and in just 90 days we were in 100 academies as franchisor. After three months (Oct-Dec 2017) of analysis and minor changes, we are now ready to go national,” adds Ravi.
How is Englishbolega helping rural students?
Students can approach a centre listed on Englishbolega.com for counselling and a free demo class. Interested students, once registered, receive three months of training from a certified trainer at the franchisee. The teaching method includes activity-based class work, homework, and daily practice sessions as per a teaching module.
“We mentor the trainers at the institutes that we partner with. Once proper training is completed, and we are satisfied with a trainer’s performance, only then do we certify him as an Englishbolega trainer to pass on our simplified methods of learning English quickly,” adds Ravi.
The differentiator
On the Englishbolega, the differentiator that help the brand stand out is that it is backed by extensive research.
“Our specific research on students from rural areas has helped us understand their mindset and learning patterns. Our competitors are focusing on only Tier 1 and Tier2 cities with a premium price point, so that’s another thing that separates us from them,” he adds.
The company not only aims to teach English, but is focused on creating a greater social impact. Through its franchise model, it empowers the youth, and is creating jobs to meet its requirement for teachers for its franchisees.
Plans for the future
Going ahead, the company plans to expand its presence in four states in north India, with 400 new franchises in the next six months. It is also looking to develop an app for students to provide practice lessons online. Currently, the company is run by a small four-member team, and is bootstrapped. Ravi says the team is in talks with two potential investors, and hopes to close one of these deals soon.
In the six months since its inception, the platform operating from a small town in Rajasthan has generated a revenue of nearly Rs 3 lakh.
“This is very motivating revenue for us because students normally take this kind of training in summer vacations and we are waiting for our first season after starting this revenue model. We also completed our franchisees setups and standardization just two months ago, so it is a very good revenue for us at this stage,” added Ravi.
Going ahead, the company is eyeing Rs 30 lakh in revenue over the next six months. To achieve this target, Ravi highlights it has inked agreements with each franchisee that they must enroll 60 students per year to get a free renewal the next year.