August 2020: Even as an economic downturn forces companies across industries to cut costs and curtail growth objectives, Indian EdTech startup Bada Business is eyeing an over 200 per cent increase in revenue this year, with major expansion plans on the anvil including 75 new branch offices in Tier II and Tier III cities, 100 new courses and 500 new hirings.
“We have major growth plans for this year. Over the next two quarters we aim to double the number of our branch offices to 150 from the current 75, mostly in Tier II and Tier III cities where a bulk of small and medium scale businesses are based including opening 50 experience centres this year with an objective of taking our educational products closer to more people. We are also working to launch around 100 new courses and hire 500 new recruits this year. We are getting a lot of queries from Nepal and Bangladesh, so expanding international is also on our agenda. With the COVID 19 crisis impacting business across the country, we have shifted our focus towards devising programs and video lessons to help MSMEs revive and reinvent their businesses. The response has been emphatic and can be gauged from the fact that we recently achieved three Guinness World Records® for largest online business lessons,” said Dr Vivek Bindra, Founder & CEO, Bada Business.
Established in 2019, Bada Business is an EdTech platform that offers a series of digital business learning courses ranging from 2 months to 2 years. The platform which is often referred to as ‘Harvard of India’ has sought to create an alternative business education program for people who are unable to access formal management education. It offers the requisite business skills and knowledge to help small and medium enterprises in scaling up and reinventing their businesses.
Bada Business’ popularity witnessed a massive surge post the COVID 19 crisis with entrepreneurs turning to online courses seeking strategic skills to keep businesses profitable. The organization is expected to clock revenue of little above Rs 200 crore this year, achieving an over 300% rise over last year’s Rs 60 crore.
The organization is now aiming to launch a major expansion drive particularly in smaller towns and cities over the next two quarters. It also plans to establish branch offices in Nepal and Bangladesh. Notably beyond India, Bada Business has a large following in Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Bada Business offers the world’s most affordable management education program and has a little less than 100,000 paid users. Bada Business is also looking for a fund-raising round this year to help achieve its expansion plans smoothly. Bada Business is growing 30 per cent month on month this year.
“We do not have any outside investor in the company so far. Our business was bootstrapped so it was very important for us to be cash rich & profitable from day 1 of its operations. However, with the venture receiving stupendous success within a year, we will now look to raise funds to fund the next phase of our growth,” added Dr Bindra, who is also a trusted business advisor to a series of corporate houses.
Bada Business is also promoting a micro entrepreneurship programme by investing Rs 100,000 through its Independent Business Consultant Model under which the organization also supports, trains and mentors individual entrepreneurs to become its business partners. These micro entrepreneurs can earn anything between Rs 1-5 lakh per month. 2000 IBCs have already been instituted under a pilot programme and the organization is now aiming to take this number to 25,000 IBCs by the end of this year. Promoting micro entrepreneurship is particularly critical at a time when the Indian economy has been hit by a major downturn and massive job losses.
Bada Business is working to create an environment of positivity, hope, and confidence and help entrepreneurs optimize their resources and skills during the financially difficult period. Under its recently concluded ‘India Revival Mission, the startup trained almost 10 million entrepreneurs and students and touched the lives of 50 million people. The programme created 3 Guinness World Records® for the largest online business lessons.
Among the 100 new courses on the anvil include ‘How to Sell’, ‘How to Raise Fund’, ‘How to Start a Startup’, ‘Smart Presentation for Investors, Customers and Employees’, ‘Zero Dollar Marketing’, ‘MIS in Excel for Business’, ‘HR for Businesses’ and ‘CRM for businesses’, to name a few.
