Hustling For The Love Of Reading

Abhijit Goswami, Founder: BookBell.in

Recently having won the India Leadership Award 2019 for the category Best 3D design & Advertising Service, Abhijit Goswami is the true definition of a hustler, one who gets things done. Setting up a printing and publishing business at the age of 23, where the competition was already cut throat, Abhijit’s ticket to success has been his eagerness for knowledge. Backed with a team of qualified professionals as of today, Abhijit learnt about the book publishing business by diving into every aspect of it personally and learning on the way.

His business, Book Bell (www.bookbell.in) publishes books in Assamese and English in both paper and digital form, Book Bell also offers book design, marketing, PR and event services from their experience in the industry to enable authors to get the maximum exposure possible. 

Learning the tricks of entrepreneurship from his mother, who took on the role of the sole provider and hustled her way through after the demise of his father at a rather early age, Abhijit and his siblings also learnt the importance of giving back to the society. Getting motivation from his family to keep hustling, is the thing that Abhijit owes to his entrepreneurial journey. 

Born and raised in a modest town of Assam called Sonari in a middle class family, undertaking his education from schooling to graduation in that very town, Abhijit had minimal exposure to the brutal outside world. Nevertheless, with his ‘never say die” spirit, which he picked up from his brother, Abhjit kept trying, till he decided to take the leap of faith into entrepreneurship.

Having learnt the hard way through trial and error, Abhjit says, “When I started the publishing house, my biggest worry was to identify potential new writers. It was difficult, but I later realized, the harder part was actually to be able to assess the taste of the prospective readers. Our prime focus now, is to identify and focus on the target market instead.”

Having dealt with a lot of struggle during his childhood, it worked as a platform and prepared him to brace the challenges and the struggles of entrepreneurship. From entry level problems, to unstable market situations, competitive and changing market scenarios, Abhijit has gone through the entire roller coaster journey of being an entrepreneur and emerged victorious with an award to back his claim.

When asked about his message to aspiring and fellow entrepreneurs, Abhijit is quick to reply, “Be persistent and don’t forget your roots or your driving factor. That is the one mantra that worked for me. Put your skin in the game, you either lose nothing, or everything. In my case, my background was not suited to entrepreneurship, the risk was huge and I went all in with all my savings, but a family to think of. I had everything to lose and that was my greatest risk. My only option was to work to get the results, and find my strengths, like publishing in Assamese, it was home ground and also profitable in our market.”