Nehal Anchlia

Shreya Anchlia (25) will be completing her Masters in Computer Science, majoring in AI and Robotics from Budapest, Hungary on 100% scholarship and Nehal Anchlia (21) will be completing her B. Com. from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, one of the most premier commerce colleges in India, this year.

In the past year, AES has provided over 700 counselling sessions for free to students from all across the country and also, assisted in the admission procedure for students who wish to study abroad.

Their primary mission is to provide 100% scholarships. Unlike other consultancies, they have a different aim, they focus on the population lying in the spectrum of Lower Middle Class to Upper Middle Class, who aspire for abroad education but are not financially sound. They take in their intricate profile and perform research to find the best suitable course, scholarship and university.

Along with the full application services, their career counselling is quite eccentric too. With the help of their skill and interest based Q&A and report analysis, they not only help a student introspect their interest and passion but also, connect them with the outlying mentors in their respective field. By connecting the realistic viewpoints of the mentors to the dreams of prospective students, they essentially also serve as a platform to give students a definite direction. A stellar community of mentors belonging from Princeton, LSE, IIT, IIM, Cornell, etc. is present 24*7 to assist students in any hassle that they face.

Further, with a sound and researched variety of unique courses, be it in India or abroad, they also save the students from following the usual jam-packed road of government and management entrances.

Where did the idea for AbroEduShip come from?

When Shreya received a 100% scholarship for tuition and accommodation along with an additional monthly stipend  by the university, after a semester of her masters, in early 2019, we thought to build a company consulting students who wish to apply to 100% scholarships. I, Nehal, was in my final year, pursuing Bachelors, worked for marketing and content development, whilst counselling students.

In July 2019, we created a website all on our own, providing all of the application procedural services. During the lifetime of our startup, we have combined given 700 counselling sessions for free, which now is in the option of our updated services.

Both of our Bachelors and Masters will be completing this year and we’re aiming to become an AI driven marketplace where we connect mentors, who substantially are alumni of Ivy League colleges, to the prospective students, who wish to land an admit in their dream university.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

Our day begins with waking up early, doing Yoga and meditation, jotting the tasks for the day priority wise, along with allotments to the employees. After breakfast, we do the delegation of the work, and then focus on core competencies. We’ve a database wherein potential customers fill in their requirements, which vary highly. We perform a beforehand research and do the cold calling for 1-2 hours. Then, the discussion with the team goes on for content curation and graphics, marketing techniques, etc.

Broadly, we focus on re-investing the money earned.

How do you bring ideas to life?

We are of the firm belief, “If you have it in your mind, you hold it in your hand.”

Recently, when we thought of connecting mentors to the students, and a day later we had 30 mentors onboarded with us belonging from Yale, Cornell, Princeton, LSE and more.

A positive outlook helps but sound actions take one far. We contacted our friends, relatives, colleagues, for the mentorship program, explained how it works and the next thing we know, they are sending us their professional pictures to be uploaded on our website.

What’s one trend that excites you?

People shifting from a conservative mindset to having an open outlook. We have seen this trend, while giving counselling sessions, that people don’t want to follow the same jam-packed road that they have seen their ancestors followed. For instance, the usual professions of engineering and MBA are being chosen less and less ; more people are preferring to pursue unprecedent courses, such as International Business and Economics, or Mechatronics.

Their willingness to try something new and take risks, excites us. Though it is challenging for our research team, but this challenge only makes us better.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Yoga and Meditation go a long way when it comes to placating the incessant urge of working, maintaining a pragmatic approach and a positive mindset. These three features further help in making us more productive.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Every dream of yours is going to come true. Keep hustling.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

There’s no such particular thing. But I’ve noticed people in general have a pessimistic tendency towards majority of things. Being a driven optimistic person, that becomes a topic of argument when I try to find good in everything and they disagree.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Keep evolving. No matter from which business category you belong to, you’re going to have to change according to the needs of your customers. Along with that, try to give free content, knowledge regarding your field incessantly to the visitors of your website, who will soon become potential customers.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Interaction. Be it online or offline. Interact with people, hone up your communication skills. Make people aware about the service/product that you’re offering. That’s one of the most efficient ways to establish personal touch and help one grow his/her business.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

I’ll be very blunt about it, we have never faced any failure now. And I want to say this out aloud to all the budding entrepreneurs out there, don’t wait for the fall thinking that a rockbottom is a must in order to go up. It is not. You’re become what you think. Be optimistic, not extremely delusional but a realist one. Failure can be one of the steps towards success but it does not need to be a mandatory step.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

As we are living in a generation of microwave mentality, podcasts are on boom. Readers who love to read books, could give out 5 minute audio out on podcasts and the same in the visual form on other social media handles. This has a huge chance of going up and converting into a lucrative opportunity.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

It’s an investment on a camera and microphone which we’ll be needing to take interviews for our channel and further, recording videos to put out the important scholarships, internships, etc.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

We use the software “Trello” to communicate with our interns, employees, mentors and clients. We can create To-do lists and assign tasks in a cost and time effective manner and further, increase productivity.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

The 4-hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris. The book has everything which a person who is willing to change his lifestyle needs.

It focuses on forgetting the concept of retirement and saving for the future, along with all the tools, websites, links and techniques needed to increase efficiency in an effective manner. It is a must read for people who want to outsource their lives and do whatever they dreamt of doing.

What is your favorite quote?

Like I said, “If you have it in your mind, you hold it in your hands.”

It’s a quote from the book, The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne, another life altering book.

Key Learnings:

• When Shreya received a 100% scholarship for tuition and accommodation along with an additional monthly stipend  by the university, after a semester of her masters, in early 2019, we thought to build a company consulting students who wish to apply to 100% scholarships. I, Nehal, was in my final year, pursuing Bachelors, worked for marketing and content development, whilst counselling students.
• A positive outlook helps but sound actions take one far.
• Yoga and Meditation go a long way when it comes to placating the incessant urge of working, maintaining a pragmatic approach and a positive mindset. These three features further help in making us more productive.
• The 4-hour work week by Timothy Ferris. The book has everything which a person who is willing to change his lifestyle needs.
• “If you have it in your mind, you hold it in your hands.” It’s a quote from the book, The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne, another life altering book.