ABOUT ME
Hey there, I’m Anuj Iyengar, and let me take you on a journey through my life – the life of a teenager who tried out multiple things and failed and some and succeeded at some. I am taking this opportunity to be a little vulnerable and share the truth with you, as, in our space, we’re not just a community; we’re one big family of successful individuals. So, let’s get acquainted, and I’ll share my story with you.
My dad had a job that required us to move frequently from one place to another. In 2013, we finally moved back to our hometown, Pune. After coming back, I was enrolled in Global Indian International School. Here, I made a family that completely transformed me. From a reserved person, I became more confident and social, all thanks to the amazing friends I made. I know that I can count on these badass people no matter what!
I was 5 years old when I was introduced to swimming by my parents. Swimming was the sport that taught me the importance of keeping my eyes on the finish line. I participated in a district–level tournament for the freestyle stroke in the category of under 7 boys for the 50-meter distance. I had the lead and the finish line was just about 5 meters away… but for some reason, I stopped and turned to see where my opponent was. Exactly within that time, he took the lead and secured first place whereas I came in second. I still remember it was this loss that taught me to focus on myself and not be too concerned with what others are up to.
When we moved back to Pune back in 2013, I was introduced to another beautiful sport, BASKETBALL. Back then, the basketball court that we had in our society was the only source of entertainment we had. It taught me the importance of teamwork. When I joined basketball classes, the first thing that our coach told us was, “THE NAME ON THE FRONT OF YOUR JERSEY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE ONE IN THE BACK.” This made me realize that you cannot succeed alone. True success is when you take others with you. I still play basketball every day. Sports became an inevitable part of my life. Playing basketball every day is like breathing for me. Here is a pic of our basketball team…
Entrepreneurship: Forging My Own Path
I entered the world of business by writing assignments for students in my college. I used to charge Rs.100 for every assignment and would get a minimum of 10 orders per week. The true headache used to be completing these assignments within the deadlines. Soon, I realized that what I was doing wasn’t really a business, as I was trading my time for money (that too in the least efficient way possible).
Hence, I decided to move on to my next venture, in which I curated online courses for millennials. These courses taught millennials how to start their own online ventures in the least capital-intensive way possible. Coming from a commerce background, I had absolutely no knowledge about coding and the other technicalities… hence I thought there would be many others like me who would have similar limiting beliefs. Hence, I designed a complete ecosystem that works 100% on automation and did this without any prior knowledge. These courses were…
– Flight to Freedom Blueprint
– Success Mindset Mantra
– Niche Selection Formula
– Website Designing Mastery
– Influence Building Mastery
– Flight to Freedom Budget
– Wealth Creating Blueprint
– Inner Circle Mastermind
We were soon able to build a community, called THE GAME CHANGERS HUB. It consisted of millennials who had the passion to build a better future. Unfortunately, this business model was not very sustainable in the long run as well. There was a lot of cash burn without seeing any real profits. Unlike the startups of today, who supposedly have unlimited funds, as a college-going teenager, I didn’t have access to those many funds. Hence, I had to move on to something different. Still, as a community, The Game Changers Hub is still very active and the students keep accessing the learning portal on a regular basis and continue working on themselves.
Sometimes, it is better to let go and move on. Better, but not easy. It took me some time to reflect back on what things I could’ve done better and made a promise that no matter what I would do next, I would put my heart and soul into ensuring that it worked out.
With an attitude like that, there is no way opportunity doesn’t knock on your door! In Jan 2021, I got onboarded as the youngest franchise partner for Go Waterless, a company that provides waterless car cleaning on the customer’s doorstep. This was my first experience with a traditional brick-and-mortar business. Within a span of 2 years, we were able to build a customer base of over 150 monthly subscription-based customers and a solid team of 8 employees.
I learned a lottt in these two years. Right from dealing with high-value customers to leading a team and forming a culture that encouraged the team members to show up and work harder by themselves. But one of the most important things I learned was getting my hands dirty. There used to be instances in the initial period, where the team members wouldn’t show up, and I would have to go clean the cars at 4 am. Only when you understand how much effort the small things take, you value the work your team members do and give them the respect and recognition they deserve. Soon, we were able to onboard a substantial amount of customers and were also able to cater our services to members of the Pune Supercar Club with high-end supercars including, Lamborghini Urus, Lamborghini Huracan, Ferrari California, Porsche 618 Spider, etc.
In June 2022, we established Go Detailing, a spinoff of Go Waterless, where we provided high ticket detailing services including ceramic coating, paint protection films, wrapping, etc for vehicles. My learnings from creating the courses helped me automate the system for the Go Waterless franchise. Hence, I could focus on building Go Detailing as well. We were able to build a team of 6 team members and become profitable starting from the first month itself. The main reason for this was our reputation and customer base established from Go Waterless.
I know some of you reading this would still be stuck on the Lambo and Ferrari (I would be too). So this is for you…
In January 2023, I had to shift to Bangalore, hence I had to exit Go Waterless and Go Detailing. Looking back, I would like to express tonnes of gratitude to Mr. Nitin Sharma (the Founder of Go Waterless and Go Detailing) and my dad for giving me this opportunity and guiding me through all the challenges.
My why is the reason for which I want to accomplish anything in my life. It is a purpose that is far greater than me. I want to succeed so that I can see my parents happy and make sure that they have the comfortable life they deserve. I have seen them make a ton of sacrifices just so that I would get everything that I wanted. I am able to overcome my roadblocks and put in that extra effort just by thinking how happy they would be when I am able to give them a lavish lifestyle.
Well.. that was my story (till now). I will keep updating this page and let you know about the new milestones coming up in my life. Looking forward to the day when I say to you, ”FINALLY… MY FIRST MILLION!” Till then –