Interview with Rehan & Kartik | The Starter Labs
The Starter Labs provides Digital Solutions to companies of all sizes. From Social Media Marketing and Online Advertising to Tech and Business Development, they do whatever it takes to help your business grow. Rather than an agency, they like you to think of themselves as an extension of a brand’s company.
Website: http://www.thestarterlabs.com/
1. What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e what’s your source of motivation?
Building brands that we work with! Whether it’s through aggressive growth hacking or slow and steady community building, making an impact for the companies we work with inspires us to keep moving forward.
2. Why should people choose your product/services?
At The Starter Labs, we pride ourselves in being an extension of the client’steam rather than as a separate stand-alone marketing agency. We always strive to go over and above for the brands we work with and align their goals with ours.
3. What risks are you facing?
The risks we face are the risks any digital marketing company faces –there is no set formula for success and you need to keep innovating and creating to stay ahead of the curve.
4. Have you considered any alliance/partnership?
Yes, we consider partnerships with other digital agencies or offline ad agencies looking to expand their digital operations.
5. What are your cash flow projections? When will you break even? How much will you need in investments?
We were actually profitable since day 1 and continue to be profitable! We don’t actively need investments at this point but may need it in the future.
6. Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
Honestly, what we’re most proud of is the fact that we have built a great team at The Starter Labs, a team well equipped with skill and talent to create impactful campaigns for brands we work with. While we’re proud of helping our brands expand across India and increase their sales, our biggest achievement would probably be building a team capable of doing all of the above!
7. How do you handle the pressure?
This might sound cliché but when you enjoy what you do the pressure doesn’t seem so bad! A good way to deal with pressure is to rationalize and objectively look at things from a birds eye view rather than getting caught in the moment and making a knee-jerk reaction.
8. If you sold your company today, what would be the tone of the conversation? What would you want to gain? What would you want to avoid losing?
We would want to sell it to somebody who has experience in the marketing space or someone who understands our business and has a great future vision for the company. We are not too fussed on what we may have to sacrifice but we would not want to replace anybody on our team.
9. What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Have a clear goal, keep pivoting and changing your path but have a clear vision of what you want your business to be. Another piece of advice wouldbe to carefully choose your partners and first few employees –they will make or break your company.
10. What are some of your success stories with regards to companies you have serviced?
We began working with a QSR chain serving Chinese food, in October 2017. Since then, through our digital marketing efforts (and their top quality food of course!), we helped them expand to 13 outlets in 12 cities within a year or so! Over a similar time period we helped a salad bar expand from one takeaway outlet to 4 restaurants across Mumbai!
With regards to the e-commerce industry, we have doubled 2 brands’ sales within the first 3
11. What is your secret to success?
While there’s no ‘secret to success’, we believe in always innovating, adapting and staying positive!
