Neha Nagar: Journey from a village to being an entrepreneur

Neha Nagar is the CEO and founder of Taxationhelp, a technology-driven platform that offers services covering the legal needs of start-ups. Here’s the interview with the young entrepreneur:

1. Tell us about your journey from a village to now being an entrepreneur?

When I was a kid, I wasn’t sure about my career choice. All I knew was that I had to do something big and make my family proud. Born in a village called Kachheda in Uttar Pradesh, I come from a humble background where I faced financial issues. I had heard that the CA course pays the best with the least investment, so I started preparing for it. The hurdles didn’t seem to vanish as I couldn’t clear the next level exams & had to drop the course as my parents started pursuing me for marriage. To escape the wedding pressure, I started working in a BPO center to earn some money.  I somehow convinced my parents to allow me to do MBA in finance because they were trying to convince me for a government job as they had a fear that no one will allow me to work in a private job after marriage. I later did an internship in finance & got placed in IIFL securities. This is when I realized I had to do something of my own, so I started my business  - Taxationhelp.in

During the pandemic, when we all were locked up in our homes, I started exploring options to use my time more fruitfully, this is when I stumbled upon the power of social media. I started creating content on social media which helped me reach thousands of people from different backgrounds. It is all because of the lockdown, that I became a content creator and found a new interest.

2. Which was the most difficult time for you and explain how you overcame struggles?

The worldwide pandemic changed my life like everybody else's. I had just started my business and within a few months, my sales went down due to the unprecedented crisis. To tackle the loss and to stay relevant, I hopped onto the content creation world with informative content around taxes & finance. This gave me a chance to make profit and grow my sales.

In 2020, online content was only about dance, music, comedy & art but when I started creating content on business & finance, the response I got on my videos was amazing. My followers grew tremendously which was overwhelming. However, due to the government restrictions on some apps, I was left with no option but to start from scratch. During this period I learned the tricks of the trade and eventually became more confident and started working across all kinds of social media platforms to amplify my reach. It wasn’t easy to gain followers or be consistent. I realized that users join you if you create relevant content. It's been a few months since I joined Moj and I have over 279K followers on the app today.

3. How did Moj help you in reaching out to wider audiences?

I am extremely grateful to Moj as it has been a major part of my growing journey. It has helped me reach a wider set of audience. From metro cities to tier II and tier III cities, I am now able to diversify my audience and fulfill my dream of making India financially literate. Moj has audiences from all over India belonging to many different cultures and age groups. It is my go-to platform which fits in perfectly for my needs. 

Their latest campaign #LearnOnMoj is a great initiative to spread learning via infotainment. I am thoroughly enjoying creating fun, educational content for my Moj community.

4. How did you learn about crypto currency and who taught it to you?

Just a while ago in 2019, Cryptocurrency wasn’t a big term but as the lockdown shifted gears across industries, I too started getting queries from my viewers about it. So, I immediately started educating myself with the help of books, multiple discussions, articles and mainstream videos to make sure I was providing my community with the right information regarding block chain and crypto currency.  All of that helped me in becoming a one stop page for all financial queries from stocks to bitcoin.

5. According to you, what can change the way we learn on short video platforms?

The best way to educate people is by creating fun content because it actually helps them to learn more. I try to include funny elements in my videos to not only make it more informative but also entertaining.  This makes my community more loyal towards my content as it is a good mix of entertainment and education. I also strongly believe that the majority of content online is solely entertainment and education alone will not survive on social media, so one must combine the two for better outreach.

6. What would you say to those who are trying to make short videos and become influencers?

I would suggest to them to just do it, make tons of mistakes and make lots of videos, you will learn over time. All you need to do is get started. So take the plunge if you really want to pursue it and make sure to be consistent. You will eventually learn and grow.