CXOToday has engaged in an exclusive interview with Vibhuti Taneja, Founder, EDcel Consulting
With what mission and objectives, the company was set up? In short, tell us about your journey since the inception of the company.
The schooling system in India has been stagnant for decades. However, with numerous innovative start-ups entering the fray, new and established schools are looking to break away from conventional methods of management, marketing, operations, and development. The vast and constantly growing opportunity offered by the education space was a factor that motivated me to establish and scale EDcel. We offer end-to-end solutions tailored to different schools, ensuring delivery with the best-in-class techniques. Our outstanding team of consultants help organizations provide the highest quality education in a world where technology and modern practices reign supreme.
My entrepreneurial journey has been equal parts challenging and rewarding. With the drive and idea in place, I amassed a pool of consultants and industry leaders who shared my vision to boost India’s educated population and had a knack for entrepreneurship. Today, we are proud to have serviced 60+ clients across the country, currently associated with 73 schools. In the most recent development, we have been conferred with a certification in School Management and Leadership by Harvard Business School.
How do you see the company and the industry in the future ahead?
While several consultants have sprouted up in the industry, EDcel remains ahead of the curve on the back of my 15-year real-time experience in this space. Working with the best school chains in the country allowed me to gain hands-on experience across various functions critical for schools to scale up.
For newly-established school chains, we strive to offer services such as market research and potential as per their target market. We’ll continue to build their structures and processes from scratch, helping them develop their academic calendar, curriculum, and marketing assets. On the other hand, with established groups, we provide solutions that help them drive their next phase of growth through required tech adoption.
The Challenge and Future of the education industry across the globe?
In the highly competitive job landscape, every start-up, including EDcel, has to grapple with attrition and talent crunch. This is a key challenge since a company is as good as the team that comprises it. Further, as we work closely with new and established schools to transform their processes from the ground up, a major challenge lies in their traditional approach and apprehensions towards evolution. In some cases, we also have to work very hard to set expectations regarding timelines and results. Finally, from time to time, we may come across clients that possess the means to adopt modern technologies and practices; however, they lack the technical know-how, which requires us to work harder in order to ensure that they become well-versed with the changes we are looking to implement.
The Indian education market holds massive potential for young entrepreneurs. Numerous new-age school chains are disrupting the market hitherto dominated by a handful of notable players. This has catapulted the demand for modern practices, and several traditional organizations are looking to outsource their operations to independent consultants.
What was the inspiration behind turning into an entrepreneur?
I spent a major chunk of my years in the education segment working with marquee school chains such as Shri Ram Global, Head-start, Imperio, The Learning Space, Little Miracles as an independent consultant. I gained key insights into the core operations of a school while assisting these significant schools with planning, development, marketing, and academics. However, it was during my 10-year stint with Mother’s Pride and Presidium School Group that I identified an opportunity in this space which was ripe for disruption by an innovation and modernization-focused start-up. At this juncture, I took the onus of creating a solution that would cater to the current needs of the schools in the country. Thus, EDcel Consulting was born to help both established and new schools easily adopt modern processes and technology.
