How he gained 100K subscribers | Pratik Shrivastava [Interview Part 1]

If once your confidence will go down, trust me, it will be very difficult for you to come in the same confidence, and you'll, you'll start losing yourself. And we are paying them less, so if you wanted to work for that much of money, then you can work. Otherwise, right now, uh, there is no place for you. In the small, whatever I have achieved, a small amount. So there are many sleepless nights. One person also is putting, sir, I want this video. If one single students are putting that comment, I was making one video for one student, graduate, fresh graduates. They don't know this kind of examination also exists. They have talent but lack of knowledge, lack of resources. Whenever I was, you know, keeping idle, I was thinking I should teach. So there should be some way where I can, you know, teach them for free.

Good morning, afternoon, evening, people watching this video. Today I have a very special guest and I hope you will enjoy listening to him. Presenting to you my next interviewee, Haritosh Srivastav. Haritosh Srivastav is by profession an engineer and he's also a YouTuber, and that's one of the reasons I've called him. He recently hit 100,000 or 1 lakh subscribers, a big milestone. Help me welcome Pratik.

Hi Pratik, thank you Haritosh Srivastav for calling me to your platform, and it's my pleasure to have a word with you.

Thank you so much for joining, this is indeed great. So I work with Pratik for a few things and he's been absolutely fantastic person. So, um, for our audience, Pratik, would you like to talk about your journey, where all you started from where you belong, where all, what all you have done. So a little bit brief about you.

Okay, so my journey is, you know, uh, in field of teaching or software is quite long. So I'll, you know, try to summarize it and I will focus more on the YouTube journey. So it's been more than 8+ years, uh, I'm in software field and I had a passion of teaching. So I started teaching like 6 years before. So I started with the small institutes where I was getting paid like ₹200 per hour. I mean, a small amount of. So, but my passion, you know, I have to teach. So I was not worried about like, I was never worried about money and I never thought of like with my passion I should earn money. With my passion, I only want to pursue my passion. Uh, so it started with the coaching classes, uh, and yeah, I continued for 2-3 years. Then in between, there were many, uh, scenarios or many things were there where, uh, I felt like teaching in coaching institute will always have a dependency on them. So you have to work according to them. So you have to always, you know, follow the rules. And even if I have some unique way of teaching or unique way of doing something or some creative way of doing something, but we are, you know, bound by them. So that is the reason. And I felt many times the students coming and they will say, sir, I do not have, you know, that much of the fixed amount, whatever you have kept it. So I really felt, so there should be some way where I can, you know, teach them for free. I mean, it should be like free only, like ₹200, ₹300 something for one courses and, you know, for one exam preparation. Then I started working on that and then I thought, okay, let's start a YouTube channel and there I will follow my, you know, the passion in a proper way. Like whatever I feel, if I feel, okay, I should teach in that way, that way a student will be more convinced and they will definitely, you know, get more things out of that. So in 2018, somewhere end, I started the YouTube channel Online Study 4U. But I was not knowing like, okay, so we are going to, you know, touch 100K subscribers. And I had a, you know, view of, okay, so we will be definitely helping the student and I will teach it for free. So all those things, there was a plan, but I never thought of like it's going big and Yeah, so we started the YouTube channel in 2018. For the first 6 months, I really struggled with the, you know, the views and all. So I was not able to reach a student. So though the student who were knowing me, so I was only able to reach them through the videos. But it was kind of a like a struggling phase. So that time I was not teaching outside also, and my focus was only on YouTube, uh, to reach more and more students and help them. Because there were many students Today also they really do not have money, but they have access to the internet. So after 6 months, you know, I worked and I put some 30-40 videos, and then I realized nothing is turning out to be some magical. Then I lost interest. But somewhere, like, whenever I was, you know, keeping idle, I was thinking I should teach, I should teach. Then again I thought, okay, let's upload some more videos and then see. Then I started seeing like what is trending now, what people is searching more now. And in field of education, see, there are multiple things— dance, song— but whatever skills I had, so in the start I started searching in that. So then I found there are people, you know, more unemployed people are there because of maybe recession or the lack of resources. Or lack of knowledge. Because every year exams happens, but if you'll see, at least 1 or 2 lakhs people, students will be there, graduate, fresh graduates. They don't know this kind of examination are also exist. They have talent but lack of knowledge, lack of resources. Then I thought, okay, so let us create some videos on that. So that videos, I started getting views and I started getting subscriber, and within 1 or 2 months, I exactly follow the trend I started putting the video on that. And one thing what I was doing is like, whatever, if one person also is putting, sir, I want this video, if one single students are putting that comment, I was making one video for one student. So now also, even we have 100K subscriber, now also I personally reach each and every students and try to solve their problem. Maybe one or two, uh, you know, I might not be able to reach, but always I go live and I interact with them because These are my assets and these are like my family members. So then we started creating the videos and that time I was teaching alone. Um, so I alone started teaching only a few, you know, subjects and I saw there are many students who were really happy with the information and the content. Then what is next? So every time a question was coming, okay, now this is done. Now what I am going to do? What is next? Because I was teaching only one subject and they wanted the complete information. Okay, see, if I am going to write this exam, I cannot, you know, go on 10 channels. Okay, for one, you know, programming, this is— for other subjects, this channel is good. Then I started expanding it and then I thought, okay, so I need to find some more passionate teacher, those who have passion, those who do not work for our money. And beginning, like, we were not charging anything, but as we started growing, then, you know, for the maintenance and other things, so we started charging very minimal, you know, ₹100, ₹50, ₹25 also. We have the material right now because, uh, see, once a student get a job, then, you know, that happiness you will not be able to, you know, express. So whenever a student says, sir, I got a job here, it's all because of you, then that happiness, it's really, you know, you cannot express in words. I'll feel very happy, and that's how I'll think, okay, I have earned a lot. So now, uh, our YouTube channel has grown, and definitely, so there are many sleepless nights, uh, continuously, you know, uh, work, hard work is there. So what I feel is, if anybody is, you know, achieved something, whatever it is small or big. So from outside you can see, yes, so he has successful or he has grown, but there is a lot of hard work because in the small, whatever I have achieved, a small amount. So there are many sleepless nights and now also. So it's, uh, still, you know, now we have more than 10 people working with us and we are going to again expand in, you know, like now offline classes, online classes. So everything we have started, but still I work in the same way. So whatever time I get, you know, after the office, so daily 4 to 5 hours I work for the student. So I mainly now what I do is I don't focus on other things. I only focus how to, you know, make my subscriber happy. So how to reach to them. So that is the main thing I feel. So that will be, you will be connected to the students and definitely you will start growing. So you have to, uh, somehow have a bond with them to understand their problem. So whatever YouTube channel you are starting or any business or anything you are doing, so that bond is very, very important.

Thank you, Pratik. That was very, very insightful. And few of the things that I picked up is that, you know, one is you converted your passion into something which will also help and serve the larger people. And I think that is what the passion are to be. If you can help and serve people, and yeah, the, the, the happiness, the joy that you get from even from one person getting placed because he or she watched one of your videos, I don't think money can compensate any of that.

So doing a great job.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Now let's move a little bit deeper into this interview, and one of the section in this interview I really talk about people is about their failures. Because like you said, there is a lot of things that works in background, uh, and we just see the tip of the iceberg, we just see the success, but there is lot, a whole mountain of things that happen. And all of us go through some or other failures. So I want to know one or two crucial failures that you had, maybe your career, maybe your person, personal space, or maybe your YouTube journey, uh, any one or two failures and what were your learnings out of those.

This is the real incident, uh, you know, which I came through. And there was a moment when I felt like I should cry, but, uh, always, you know, I have taken everything as a challenge and I have overcome myself. So, uh, actually I got married in 2019. So that time my channel was, you know, I had I think 5-6,000 and there was no revenue generating from the YouTube or from the student. So that time we were not even selling for ₹25 or ₹50 also, so it was only completely free. So I was, you know, working in the institute, then I went for my marriage and I was back after a month. So when I, you know, asked them, okay, so I wanted to teach again, I wanted to again continue with that because I need money, because, you know, the expenditure and all will be quite used, you know, in marriage and all. And that time I was really needing money because I had to again take the things forward. Then they told, uh, no, there is no place as of now. So we have hired a different teacher and we are paying them less. So if you wanted to work for that much of money, then you can work. Otherwise, right now, there is no place for you. So I had only two options, either to compromise and then, uh, you know, teach with the very less amount, which will not serve my purpose and which will even your confidence will go down. So one thing I will always say, so never let your confidence down. If once your confidence will go down, trust me, it will be very difficult for you to come in the same confidence, and you'll, you'll start losing yourself. So don't lose yourself, don't lose the confidence. Then I thought, if I get a job, if I, you know, get a teaching job or not, if I am— if I can continue my passion or not, but I will not lose my confidence. I will not, you know, teach for that much of money. And I left. And that time it was like very bad moment. I was really in need of money. I did not know what to do. Then I thought I will completely focus myself on my channel. So see, I will not say it was a failure, but it was really a crucial moment when I felt— many times I felt crying. I thought like, you know, I have given my this much of time somewhere, you know, teaching, and I at a certain point of time when I am in need, that time I'm not getting anything. And if it would have been my channel, I would have handled in my way and I would have seen like how should I utilize it. So that time, even I cried also. I felt like crying, I cried also. So, you know, I'll be very frank. Then I thought, okay, for one month I will completely focus on my channel. I started, you know, putting the videos day and night. I started working in the night also, 2-3 o'clock in the night I started. But I— my confidence was high, okay, I will— in one month I have to start generating revenue from my YouTube channel. And in that one month I got around 15,000 subscribers. So I had around, uh, you know, 5,000, and suddenly in one month I gained 20— total 20,000 subscribers. And yes, I started, you know, generating the revenue as well. So I will just tell you a certain amount. So that month we had generated almost $100, so which will come around ₹70,000, which I was getting from the institutes in 3 months, 2 to 3 months. So that was a crucial phase, you know, in my life where I felt like broke down, where— and even that time I approached many of the institutes for the teaching job, but you know, nowhere I got it. So if somewhere, if you are getting also, they were paying very less and it was far. So that moment was really a crucial moment for me where I felt like, okay, so this is a, you know, part of life where you have to balance yourself. So that only one thing I wanted to say from here is, so do not let your confidence down. There will be many, uh, you know, part will come in your life where you will feel like, okay, now you should compromise with the things. But I think you have, you have to have confidence and you have to grow from there.