Aravind Arasavilli started an overseas education consultancy, Exella Education Group LLC, with Rs 1 lakh. He now owns two businesses with a cumulative turnover of Rs 30 crore.
Aravind Arasavilli was 26 years old when he was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. Arasavill immediately resigned from his high-paying position at Globe University in Minnesota, US, and returned to his birthplace Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. He then set up an international business with Rs 1 lakh in 2012.
After nine years, the 35-year-old is the owner of two businesses with a combined sales of Rs 30 crore and a staff of 170 employees. Aravind explains, “After completing my bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering (in Vijayawada), I opted to pursue MBA in the United States to gain hands-on experience in general management and to develop my leadership abilities.” Aravind took out a Rs 65 lakh education debt to pursue his MBA overseas.
Aravind received his MBA from the Minnesota School of Business in 2009. He says that he then worked as an International Admission Officer at Globe University from 2010 to 2012 at a salary of 40,000 USD per year, which was around Rs 20 lakh at that time.
With his expertise as an admission counselor in the United States, he returned to India in 2012 and established Exella Education Group LLC, an international education consultant, in Vijayawada. Exella Education assisted students in seeking for admission to some of the finest international institutions and finding employment after completing the degree. The business also assisted the kids in obtaining scholarships.
According to Aravind, he began by working alone in a one-room office. There was no employment for the first seven months. I’d go to the workplace and then come home with no clients. But things improved, and business poured in through word of mouth.
Aravind now has offices in the United States, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. He says, “Every year, we process around 5000 applications, of which more than 100 students are admitted to a foreign university.”
Aravind founded his second firm, Param Technologies Inc, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2015, from a rented apartment that had previously served as his residence in the United States and the US headquarters of his education consulting.
According to Aravind, “I discovered cloud computing was flourishing with DevOps technology.”
I addressed small businesses in and around Minneapolis and highlighted the benefits of cloud technology over in-house servers for data storage. We received excellent feedback from local businesses and began obtaining work orders to construct cloud computing systems in businesses.
Soon after, Param Technologies received contracts from Best Buy, one of the major electronics retail chains in the United States, as well as Chase Bank, Walmart, and Krogers.
Hiring for his US business was a breeze. The company had a ready pool of potential employees. It only employed students who applied through Exella Education and had completed their studies in the United States.
The Minneapolis-based firm employs 100 people in the United States, with the remainder based in India. Their Hyderabad office provides backend assistance to the US team.
Aravind says, “I didn’t have the funds to hire personnel when we first started in 2015. And so, I took on the roles of accountant and even HR. However, we now pay staff 120,000 USD (about Rs 85 lakh) each month in salaries.”
The company’s first-year sales were 40,000 USD in 2015-16, but it has since risen to about 300,000 USD every month, or Rs 25 crore yearly. During the pandemic, the firm expanded and hired additional workers.
According to Aravind, the company started operations in Canada six months ago with six people. They will open another office in Mexico before the end of the year.
Aravind Arasavilli, whose primary interest remains cloud computing, says, “I read a lot and aim to finish one book a week. Bill Gates’ book, which I read in 2015, was a huge influence to me.”
Aravind travels often between India and the United States since he has offices in both countries.