New Delhi: As the legend goes, an Indian engineering student is capable of trying his hands out on pretty much everything except engineering itself, besides a handful of students who successfully pave their way out. Bhavya Bharadwaj, another such engineering student out of a lot of lakhs, sooner or later realised that the career paths ahead of him didn’t excite him at all.
The job offers that he received were underwhelming and he felt it was the time for him to carve out his own path. As they say, big names often have humble beginnings and such was the case for Bhavya when he started out with only Rs. 500 in hand and opened Zap Cricket during the second year of his college. Having no business background and hailing from a middle-class family, Bhavya was a one-man army when he started.
He juggled between his studies and the demands of a young business which has just taken off as a little bird. At the time of beginning, Zap Cricket was a small trading venture where Bhavya worked tirelessly and often had to do an 18-hour shift, sacrificing his classes. Like everyone else, the initial phase was tough as he faced challenges in selling several types of products and eventually narrowed down upon selling bats.
Bhavya pivots…
Soon he realised that there is a dire need to pivot his business if he wants to see any growth. He created his own brand, Zap, in order to sell under his own name. But it wasn’t that easy as e-commerce giant Amazon didn’t work out and is initial days were full of setbacks. There was something about him as he faced the challenges with his head held high and his persistence ultimately paid off.
The brand soon grew from a small trading operation to a full-fledged manufacturing unit and gained recognition. Notable athleisure brand Puma became one of Zap’s clients and the brand even caught the attention of the Udaipur’s king.
Joining hands with Nepal Cricket
Zap Cricket’s major turning point arrived when it became the first Indian brand to sponsor the Nepal cricket team. It was crucial for the Nepal team as well which went on to make it into the Asia Cup and the ICC World Cup as well with their players having bats of Zap in their hands. A notable instance of Zap bat’s brilliant use is Nepal’s Sompal Kami hitting sixes off Hardik Pandya’s bowling.
Bhavya’s journey was full of hurdles as he tackled the pressure from his family who advised him to find a stable job and also dealt with a lot of negativity full of numerous business setbacks. It was his belief in his vision and goal that kept him goin and ultimately bore the fruits.
At present, Zap Cricket is a well-recognised global brand that exports made-in-India bats to nations like UAE, Nepal, the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia, and many other nations that play cricket.
Bhavya Bharadwaj, an engineering student who decided to make a U-turn on his career path, went on to make a global cricket brand in what is a journey full of resilience and defying the odds. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
