Room Service Boy To Entrepreneur, Dadasaheb Bhagat's Journey To Owning Two Ventures

Dadasaheb Bhagat, originally hailing from Beed, Maharashtra, made a significant move to Pune after completing high school. Despite holding an ITI diploma, he opted for a job as a room service boy, earning around Rs 9,000 per month. Choosing to work at an Infosys guest house, he undertook tasks such as room service and serving tea and water to guests.

While at Infosys, Bhagat developed an interest in the corporate sector and recognized the importance of software, even without a college degree. Balancing his day job and attending animation classes at night, Bhagat completed the course, opening up significant job opportunities in Mumbai. Following this success, he decided to move to Hyderabad.

While working at a design firm in Hyderabad, Bhagat learned Python and C++. Observing the time-consuming nature of creating visual effects, he conceived the idea of building a library of reusable templates. He began selling these design templates online, marking the inception of his entrepreneurial journey.

After a car accident, Bhagat took the bold step of leaving his job and began creating design libraries while recovering in bed. This led to the establishment of his first company, Ninthmotion, which quickly gained recognition, serving around 6,000 clients globally, including prominent organisations like BBC Studios and the 9XM music channel.

Venturing into the realm of online graphic design, Bhagat founded his second company, DooGraphics, aiming to create a platform similar to Canva. The platform allows users to create templates using a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface. The COVID-19 lockdown prompted Bhagat to suspend operations in Pune and return to his village in Beed, Maharashtra, where he set up his workspace in a hilly cattle shed with reliable 4G network reception.

Working alongside friends he had trained in animation and design, Bhagat expanded DooGraphics training to more kids in the village. The business took off, garnering 10,000 active users in just six months, primarily from locations like Maharashtra, Delhi, and Bangalore, and even reaching users in far-off places such as Japan, Australia, and the UK.