Here is an excerpt of an interview with Anil Dhawan:
Q1. Tell us your journey as a Microsoft Excel Trainer?
Ans. It was July 2006, when I started my career as MIS and initially struggled a lot to settle down in the field of Excel. Soon, I realized about the corporate culture that people do not share their knowledge easily with their team members. This kept me away to unlock some exciting features and secrets of Excel for the time being but then I started spending 14-15 hours daily at job to explore Excel & VBA more. In spare time, I used to spend my time in browsing videos and articles on YouTube and Google to learn Excel & VBA.
I’ve always believed in sharing my knowledge with others and not to make anyone dependent on me for any work and there my journey as “Trainer” began in 2011, when I took a break from my job for some time and approached by few friends to share my Excel knowledge with them to make them prepare for MIS/Data Analyst jobs. This led me to discover my hidden potential I was not aware of. Later, I approached some of my close friends and asked them to share any Excel/VBA query, if they have had any. Alongside, I started preparing the material for my Excel and VBA training programs and included real life scenario in my course content which would help professionals to correlate their work and they can instantly start using Excel at their job.
In 2011-12, I got into new role with one of the largest telecom company, where after some time I was asked to conduct an Excel Workshop (2-3 days) for my team members including some senior employees besides my routine work. It was a great opportunity for me to share my Excel knowledge with them, as it helped them to improve their productivity by saving lots of time and by learning some most commonly used functions and features. The one thing which tensed me a lot before conducting the workshop, was the number of attendees. I never had 10-12 people in a single batch ever before and then my co-workers supported and helped me in boosting my confidence level. And as a result, the training program was successfully completed. And upon the completion of the workshop, I approached everybody for their respective valuable feedback which helped me to analyze my area of weaknesses and work on them. And, all this took my confidence to the next level and then I started freelancing during the weekend.
In 2015, I got a platform to manage one of the ‘World’s Largest Excel Public Community -- ExcelForum’ and its sister concern website ‘ExcelTip’. It was one of the greatest moments and a challenge for me, which I accepted wholeheartedly, to check my risk appetite in this competitive world. There was something which I never did it in past and had no idea on creating videos for YouTube Channel. But I decided and promised myself to come up with different type of videos and within few months, I launched ‘YouTube Channel’ for company which got an overwhelming response from users and also delivered couple of Excel paid products. This gave me opportunity to have my own ‘YouTube Channel’ and Website for Excel and VBA learners in future.
Then, I came to know about UrbanPro.com while searching something on Google and I immediately registered and became a paid member. Initially, the conversion rate was not that good but later on, my leads started getting converted into sales and the conversion rate improved to 10% to 15%. Then I upgraded my membership which gave me a chance to display my own number on my profile, enabling students to contact me directly. This helped me to get direct queries.
I was planning for long, to step down from my job and UrbanPro.com, was like a ray of hope which boosted my confidence enough that I could work wonders with UrbanPro.com as a freelancer both in terms of money and time, which I could never expect from a regular corporate job. At UrbanPro.com, there is no scope of stagnation at all. And, finally I stepped down from my job in Nov., 2016 and became a full-time trainer from Jan., 2017 onwards and now having 12-15 batches every month and ready with the new goal. I have my own innovative way of designing my syllabi to suit my individual students and their learning requirements.
Since, I always dreamt to share my knowledge with worldwide audience by providing them the unique and different way of learning Excel/VBA with real life situations. Eventually, I launched my own website - Online Excel Tip and YouTube channel, where users can find many Excel tips and tricks.
Ans. “Passion”, “Dedication”, “Focus”, “Rich Experience” and last but not least, excellent command and knowledge of Microsoft Excel and the ability to handle any pressure and situation.
Q3. How you came across UrbanPro?
Ans. The credit goes to one and only ‘Google’.
Q4. How UrbanPro platform helped you to expand your Microsoft Excel Classes?
Ans. The ranking system is really awesome and it helped me to appear on top in my city in Google Search because of the number of successful trainings I had been giving for the last 6-7 months through UrbanPro. Users not only go through my profile but also do contact me or leave their number for me to call them back after landing on to UrbanPro.com from Google search. Also, the review system helped me to get 20% - 30% direct queries every week. The 100% positive feedback from my students helped me generating more productive leads thus, enhancing my business ultimately.
Q5. What percentage of your work comes from UrbanPro?
Ans. Close to 70% of my work comes from UrbanPro.com. It has been very helpful especially when I decided to quit my job and became a full-time professional trainer.
Q6. One advice that you would like to give to new Pros on UrbanPro.com?
Ans. Without any second thought, “UrbanPro.com” is the apt and the right platform to explore and exhibit tutors & trainers hidden potential, calibre and reap monetary benefits, where sky would be the only limit. About the Trainer: Anil Dhawan is an excellent MS Excel Trainer, who dared to quit his corporate job and start working as a MS Excel Trainer. Hardworking and focused on his goals, Anil has made a mark for himself in the Excel training world by teaching his students shortcut Excel tricks and various methodologies to solve business problems. His students often describe him as supportive, knowledgeable and inspiring, making learning MS Excel more fun and interesting. Anil holds a bachelor's degree from Lucknow University and currently pursuing his M.C.A from IGNOU.
