A serial entrepreneur, Tendul Raj is a leading expert in the Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Crypto industries. He is on a personal mission to develop a culture of entrepreneurship, helping start-ups achieve their full potential as well as ] expand existing companies. His overall mission is to foster a society of economically independent individuals who are engaged citizens, contributing to the improvement of their communities across the world. In fact, he has built a career revolutionizing the financing industry across the globe and he currently consults and advises for a range of multi-million dollar companies.
Born and raised in Pondicherry, Tendul’s entrepreneurial journey started when he was 22. Soon after graduating from college, he started planning to start his own company. During the crucial stages of starting his new business, Tendul experienced sleepless nights for several weeks as he worked tirelessly day and night establishing the new company. Finally, after all the struggles and hardships, Nextazy Solutions Pvt Ltd was born. He also decided not to limit Nextazy with just a single vision – he wants Nextazy Solutions to provide blockchain solutions and AI-related services.
Tendul now focuses on the Blockchain industry and offers advice, consulting services, connections to Blockchain experts, and investor relations strategies.
MoneyCentral magazine recently caught up with Tendul to discuss his journey as an entrepreneur and here’s what went down:
What are you currently doing to maintain/grow your business?
Currently, my team and I are working on two big technologies – Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. I was so driven towards Blockchain technology that I decided to provide Blockchain-related product solutions and services. AI is my new favorite. It has been three years since I developed an unconditional bond with AI. Learning AI helped me grow my business and myself.
What social media platforms do you usually use to increase your brand’s awareness?
All social media platforms are good. Each platform follows different algorithms and has its own advantages and disadvantages. I always prefer Instagram and Linkedin to increase brand awareness.
I use Instagram not only for brand awareness, but also to convey my ideas, innovations, messages, showcase the work we’re doing, and above all interact with interesting people. And I prefer Linkedin to connect with other businesses and like-minded people.
What is your experience with paid advertising, like PPC or sponsored content campaigns? Does it work?
I do have experiences in paid advertising like Google ads, social media ad campaigns, sponsored content, and other things. I suggest that emerging businesses should make use of paid advertising for better reach.
What is your main tactic when it comes to making more people aware of your brand?
When I started Nextazy, I made sure that all my strategies were unique and innovative. My priority is always customer satisfaction and that way my brand’s reach increases overtime. Even today, I tell my colleagues that if you can drive one potential customer towards you, driving a hundred will be a piece of cake.
What form of marketing has worked well for your business throughout the years?
Businesses these days are getting more customers, but they are not providing quality services. This should change. Each business needs different marketing strategies to prosper. But one strategy is common for all and that’s customer satisfaction. In our company, we work for the betterment of customers and this has been working well for these many years.
What is the toughest decision you had to make in the last few months?
I would say the toughest circumstances rather than the toughest decisions. Due to this Covid-19 pandemic, working from home has become mandatory. Since it’s a new thing for most of my people, it was difficult to maintain and increase productivity. Besides, keeping them motivated was also tedious initially. But luckily, this has reduced greatly by now.
What money mistakes have you made along the way that others can learn from (or something you’d do differently)?
I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but money mistake, there’s only one and that’s hiring the wrong people. Actually, these people are not wrong. They are just not suited for our environment and work culture. Unfortunately, I’ve repeated this mistake again and again, which cost me a lot of money.
What new business would you love to start?
I would love to step foot in deep-sea research. Many governments and private firms are already indulged in outer space exploration looking for habitable planets and other things. But most of the Earth itself is yet to be discovered. More than 90 percent of our oceans and seas remain untouched. I’m pretty sure there are so many fascinating things down there. I want to explore and enjoy them.
If you could go back in a time machine to the time when you were just getting started, what would you do differently?
Your past does not define your present or future so I will not disturb my past by changing anything, rather, I would just enjoy every single moment. I will be more and more confident in keeping my next step, those that made me who I am today.
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Two things stand apart as the best advice I’ve ever got. One is, whatever you do, whether it may be personal or business, do it 100%, and never back down. Second, help others to build their path. Motivate them, stand with them, and never turn your back on them.
What advice would you give to a newbie Entrepreneur setting up their first business?
“Don’t let others convince you while choosing an idea.” Newbie entrepreneurs these days find it difficult to motivate themselves. They hide in the comfort zone, which will eventually break. First, I advise all newbies to come out of their comfort areas. The real struggle begins there. There will be countless failures, insults, frustration, mistakes, and too many other things to handle.
But always remember the things above are temporary. You control the construction; design it as you want it to be. When it comes to business, I would say only one thing: focus on the end-users’ perception, instead of focusing on yours. It’s the only way your business will shine.