I still remember I was on my way to give my first teacher training in Medan when I got taken aback by the words written in my new inbox.
I couldn’t believe my eyes so I scrolled through back and forth before finally turning my phone to airplane mode as the plane was about to
take off. I closed my eyes and said, “Thank you God, I did it.”
It was actually my second time applying to Australia Awards’ Short Term Award. And yes you heard it right, I failed my first application for the previous batch in the same year.
To think about it, I did my best for both applications but I knew deep down that my first attempt was not solid.
First, I haven’t tested my idea even though I was progressing on my prototype and second, I talked more about what I wanted Engliven to be, not what Engliven’s users actually wanted the idea to be.
This has indeed been one of the most important lessons on my startup journey building Engliven.
A lot of people asked, “Why Engliven?” There are 2 answers to this question.
First, on the literal meaning: Engliven stands for Enliven your English and I created the brand for my Instagram page (www.instagram.com/engliven) that shares everyday English tips to (mostly) Indonesian young people to somehow activate (enliven) their English.
Second, I decided to follow my heart (and gut) and start the page from scratch after listening to my friends (my very first users) asking me for helps on English essays, vocab, tips etc.*
I thought I might as well share my answers and tips to a lot more people who might have been in the same situations as my friends have.
Now that I’ve grown my follower-base,
you might think that I would say, “When there is a will, there is a way.” but to be honest, there was a time when I was staring at my page thinking,
“OK my 20th post today gathered 35 likes only, with no comments and I barely have 200 followers. Moreover, I just spent more than 3 hours creating the content and editing the video. I know I should be grateful but this is pretty bad. I wonder if I would ever get 100 likes or 1,000 followers. Maybe I’m just too idealistic, and my friends’ doubts were right.”
But then I believe — through books I read and people I discussed with — that this kind of thought is inevitable for anyone who has just started something, and even for established businesses. So I kept going.
And a beautiful thing about holding on and keep doing something valuable is, people are actually looking. When people are looking, some of them would comment on things, which are sometimes harsh.
But let me tell you, it is actually good news!
How come?
Because our users’ comments are precious. If people actually spend time to comment on my work (no matter how negative it is), it shows that they wish there was a better way for me to do it. It actually means that they want me to improve and what I’ve been doing is just not good enough. It’s like cooking Indonesian fried rice with barely enough salt and sweet soy sauce.
One real example was when my 13 year-old student once told me,
“Miss, you said on your bio that you are sharing ‘everyday’ English tips, but you posted twice a week only.”
He made me realise that I am not building this for myself and my God only, so I have to take the opinions with me and tailor my contents to educate and inspire better.
And so the amount of traction Engliven has got so far has actually come from, among others: listening to my followers, my students, my friends and even strangers that happened to see my work.
If you’re reading this right now, I hope you’re bringing some key takeaways, not only on ‘listening to our customers and users’ but also on persistence, hard work, and..’reading a lot’.
Yes, reading and listening are the invaluable inputs you could get and flash back during stressful times in life.
Hence why I’d love to read and listen to your comments down below
Tell me what you think about my writing would you?
It’s been a while since I last wrote blogs and articles so I definitely need your honest (or harsh) opinion ?
*the realisation that the sweet spot between what I am good at and what people need from me came as I finished reading a very insightful book called ‘The $100 Startup’ by Chris Guillebeau. I highly recommend this book, especially if you’re having problems finding your passion.
Also follow Elisa on Medium: https://medium.com/@effendyelisa/i-still-remember-i-was-on-my-way-to-give-my-first-teacher-training-in-medan-when-i-got-taken-aback-4afcc0c13753
