Shutting LUMOkid: In Conversation With Shweta Dasgupta
Not every startup prospers but does that mean you gain nothing from it? Every business teaches a lot and the entrepreneurs take home the most valuable lessons.
Shweta Dasgupta is an IITian with an exceptional career as a risk cum business cum technology professional who started an educational startup called LUMOkid. She had put her heart and soul into making LUMOkid operational for almost 1.5 years but then she had to make some tough decisions.
Here’s everything about LUMOkid and the lessons Shweta learned from running an educational startup.
LUMOkid
Shweta is a proactive parent who values the development of Emotional Quotient (EQ), Creativity Quotient (CQ) & Adaptability Quotient (AQ) as much as their Intelligence Quotient (IQ). She feels that our formal education system doesn't focus much on developing children’s social skills. The primary objective is always getting good grades in academic subjects.
Shweta feels the need for a platform that helps children develop social and interpersonal skills. These skills help them throughout life and these are as important as academic learning.
LUMOkid was the platform that Shweta designed where children could learn these skills over a while just like they learn academics. She worked with experienced professionals, psychologists, and content creators to come up with the most suitable course structure.
What Went Wrong?
Shweta worked tirelessly to come up with the best product. She focused excessively on developing the product but poorly on marketing and distributing it.
Even though she was so motivated about the product, it did not result in a successful business. This solo founder had to divide time among product, marketing, sales, operations, hiring, technology, training, etc. Building the product & operations came naturally to her and she focused the maximum time on those assuming that a good product will attract business. People liked what she was building but growth was extremely slow.
Key Takeaways
Shweta believes that her product was the best but she could have done better in terms of planning and distribution. She invested maximum resources in creating the product. Looking back, she feels that she should have planned her distribution well in advance for a product like hers.
Another thing she feels that might have helped is some senior folks taking ownership in a few functions. It was financially and mentally draining. She had to achieve the sales target, operational efficiency, and marketing quality, all alone. Fundraising is another area that she didn’t even have time to focus on along with running operations excellently.
She also realized that the target audience needs more education or is not yet ready for a product like this. They had to be educated about the product and it's a time taking process without a systemic push.
The Future
A few months back Shweta had shut down LUMOkid and a few days later shared about it on LinkedIn. She doesn’t regret any day of this journey. She is just thankful for the lessons she learned and the skills she developed throughout her entrepreneurial journey. Her story is not of failure but of trying and learning.
For now, she has taken up a corporate job in a Fintech start-up. She thinks that three things she could have done differently if she had to start all over again are to have - a couple of co-founders, a few believers to support the venture, and a better-planned distribution strategy. Creating a product is the easiest and is the base, anyways!
Shweta’s story is an inspiration for all entrepreneurs who couldn’t crack it the first time. Nobody can rob you of the experiences and insights you gain. It is great because taking that one step towards your goal is better than just thinking and doing nothing!
Stay tuned for the inspirational stories of women around you. Inspire and get inspired!
The Fire is my attempt to bring the stories of women around the world to your focus. It’s a self-funded project to make the world a more inspiring and happier place. If you want to help me with this cause, you should probably know that coffees help me write these.