Srijana Bhusal and Her Idea of Loksewa
Srijana Bhusal, a young, dynamic student herself, bagged a win in EntrepreneurHER with her virtual learning platform “Learn Lokswewa”, which caters to people preparing for Loksewa (Public Service Commission Exams) in Nepal. The online platform consists of necessary preparatory materials including virtual tutoring classes, mock-tests, old question banks, updates on current affairs to exam-appearing people, in both English and Nepali medium.
Srijana shares that taking the reins of entrepreneurship has had a lot to do with an innate desire for working for herself and starting something from scratch. She always felt a tug while working her 9-5 jobs, and always felt that something was missing. Srijana also shared that she observed it being very difficult for people to bring noteworthy changes to their lifestyle and the community merely through a day job, and entrepreneurship could be that accelerator in multiplying both impact and profit. She always felt “I can do more than I am doing.”
Starting “Learn Loksewa” also coincided with her preparing for the public examination herself, and during the first lockdown in Nepal due to Covid19. After urging from her parents Srijana reluctantly agreed to try out for the examination but soon found out that collecting resources for the examination was quite hectic! Online sources were completely unorganized, there were lots of subjects that lacked clarification, and all in all, made the preparation all the more challenging. Srijana was also in Chitwan when the lockdown was imposed and found that she could not even buy books without coming to Kathmandu, showing how resources have been centered solely around Kathmandu. People from many rural areas come out to Kathmandu bearing the brunt of expensive living costs and coaching fees. This shed light on how Nepal needs a more systematic way of education and Srijana wasted no time in getting her entrepreneurial mind to action, thus bringing forth the online e-learning platform. Nepal is gradually shifting to a virtual era, and Srijana who understands that she is tapping into a potential future market, says “when others are ready we must be waiting for them”. First, she consulted with some teachers and students regarding the public examination preparation, which revealed to her that students were opting more towards virtual classes in this day and age. Srijana made a page on Facebook and started posting study materials, and soon enough her every post was getting above 500 views in a very short time. This is an example of how she tested the market first and made absolutely sure that there was a demand for her offer before jumping to it. So she was preparing for her exam while building this app to help other prepare.
Srijana did have a lot of challenges that she faced during her entrepreneurial journey. When starting out with her business, she felt lacking in terms of understanding business nuances, technical know-how, marketing, and operationalizing her business. To up her game, she joined the MBA program and is taking her venture and study forward together. She still feels that her biggest struggle was to find a trustworthy partner. While starting out with her own venture, Srijana has taken utmost care in who she chooses as her business partner, and if fact took a lot of time in researching prominent people relevant to her field and thoroughly talking to any person before deciding to bring them into the team, for a team can make or break your business. When asked about the criteria for a good business partner she shares “I have to be comfortable with the partner, we should always be open to discussion as well as sharing what we feel. We should be sharing the same passion for what we are doing, and feel strongly about getting somewhere.”
Along with challenges, there were many small and big victories for Srijana along the way, and she makes sure to cherish them all. Winning EntrepreneuHER was a very high moment for her, and she says that the entire EntrepreneuHER journey has been goosebumps-inducing for her. Meeting so many diverse women from different fields and walks of life was inspiring and motivating to say the least and she feels a lot of her perspective towards entrepreneurship changed for the better. It was a fun-filled event where she met a lot of good mentors and had a good networking opportunity.
Going forward, Srijana has big aspirations for “Learn Loksewa”. Not only does she and her partner see their venture lit up in a big hoarding board in a skyscraper, but they also see it as being a go-to for everyone preparing for the public examination. The competition might be big, but she believes that taking the right approach to marketing while having sound resources on their website will take them forward!
To our upcoming wantrepreneurs Srijana would like to say “If you are feeling any tug or push to chase your dreams, go ahead! Don’t let fear of challenges push you back, push through it all”
To connect with her:
Her LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/srijana-bhusal
Her Website – https://srijanabhusal.com.np/
