With the success of content marketing in India, so many content startups have sprung up. When you think startup, you’re probably thinking of one of the following:
- A bunch of people working out of their friend’s bedroom (this is India and nobody works out of their garage, so get that image out of your head)
- Or a swanky office, full of colourful stuff, with a CEO who makes 30 lakhs annually (VC-funded, of course)
Well, so then Spacebar hasn’t been your typical startup as the term is defined today. It was never meant to be.
In April 2013, I was faced with a tough decision. For the previous six months, I was freelancing as a writer, making decent money to take care of my needs while having enough free time to enjoy as and when I wanted. But as work swelled, I realized that I would not be able to fulfil all my clients’ requirements in a matter of months. I would either have to turn down project offers or get another writer to work with me.
It’s not difficult to guess what I chose.
But who would want to work with a person who didn’t even have a company yet? I held interviews in the Café Coffee Day near my apartment. I can’t even count the number of times I got stood up! Anyway, long story short, that’s when I hired my first employee, Tristan, who continues to stay with the agency through thick and thin. Don’t know how I would have done it without him.
The first two years saw a gradual, but steady growth. The number of employees at Spacebar ebbed and waned from 2 to 5 and back to 2 so many times. For a small organization, retaining employees is always a problem. As I write this post, I’m reminded of what one of our employees, Nishant, just said today, “If we hire one more person, we will have to change our agency’s name from Spacebar to Space Crunch!” With 13 people jostling for space in a tiny 340 sq. ft. office in Malad West, he’s bang on point. But like they say, these are businesses’ good problems.
Spacebar Packages
Somewhere in the middle of these 4 years, we also built a website
Work-wise, we have gone from only writing blogs to also creating strategies, digital ads, running social media campaigns, etc. In the next few years, Spacebar will see itself covering more and more aspects of digital marketing and create more than just textual content.
But more than that, Spacebar will see itself creating a workplace that gives its employees the opportunity to grow to their maximum potential. To not only be great writers or marketers but also to develop leadership. Our people have always been our strength and will continue to be our pillars of success. The journey of Spacebar would have been a very boring one if I had to traverse it alone. And I’m glad I have and had some of the most interesting people by my side as I made it through these four years!
