Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
Meena C Shah: Many years ago, as I taught my son, I would look up American websites which had downloadable worksheets for children. Of course, this was not entirely according to the Indian syllabus. Thus, I decided to create this for our children so that it helps them with their school work. Thus, parents can download these worksheets from the Starchild Marketplace. I have opened this avenue for educators who too want to sell their educational products.
My son would also play a lot of educational games on his computer which we had got on floppies from relatives abroad. He would be very engrossed in doing his Grammar, Maths, Science and even some Geography. He loved studying this way. His concepts and foundation became very strong due to this. Thus, with the advent of the digital world, I decided that we must give our children this advantage and went on to create Starchild’s Mission Play2Learn.
Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Starchild Education and Learning
Meena C Shah: Starchild offers -
Mission Play2Learn – an academic quizzing platform where children can solve interactive quizzes and worksheets while being engaged in a game. As they solve, these worksheets are automatically graded, they are awarded marks too. This game has 10 levels. As the child crosses each level, he is rewarded with medals and titles. This motivates the child to do more. We also have the Starchild Leaderboard which shows the top 10 students.
The Starchild Marketplace – where downloadable worksheets are available. Other educators can also sell their educational products there.
Signature Online Courses for school students.
Great Companies: What makes Starchild Education and Learning different from hundreds of other Education firms?
Meena C Shah:
Starchild emphasizes on building a strong foundation for students from Std. 1 to 7. As we are all aware, practice is what makes perfect. Whether it is riding a bicycle or swimming, as children we practiced continuously every day. Then we could drive a car, ride a bicycle or swim with great confidence and the learning is for forever, for life. It is never forgotten. The same goes for learning. Revision and practice are the very essence of a strong academic base.
We also believe that when learning is fun, it is forever. Motivation and creating an interest in learning is fundamental to Starchild.
Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face?
Meena C Shah: In the initial stages, I found it difficult to understand how a business would work. As an educator, my responsibilities were different but here I found more responsibilities and much to learn. It has been a great journey of learning as I learnt to manage social media, marketing and whatnot which are required to run a successful online business.
Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Starchild Education and Learning?
Meena C Shah: Starchild will continue to add to its ever growing basket of education products. We are moving towards becoming an academic quizzing platform. We also are working towards creating online courses ourselves as well as in collaboration with others. We see Starchild becoming a household name among students and parents.
Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Meena C. Shah: Determination and dedication are the keys to success. Never give up whatever your difficulties. There are always solutions to problems. They can all be overcome. Keep learning and keep growing.