Our readers love to read stories of entrepreneurs leading positive changes in the world. Please tell us about yourself and the path-breaking work you have been doing.

My name is Kunal Ahuja. I’m an 18-year-old college student who was born and raised in the Bay Area. From a young age, I’ve been passionate about sports. During my high school years, I grew a strong passion for business, and more specifically, entrepreneurship. Last year, I launched Sports Card Invest, a subscription business that helps investors navigate the sports card market. The sports card market is a new phenomenon that has recently become mainstream, drawing the attention of big investors. Essentially, instead of investing in a company as we’re used to it, you’re investing in an athlete. The sports card market has gone up roughly 900% in the last eight months, creating business opportunities for those with knowledge of sports. Using both research and my prior knowledge, I craft weekly reports for my members to help them navigate and make a profit from sports cards. In the last three months, over 1,300 people have paid to join my program.

Your business finally took a big leap in 2019. We are excited to know about the professional growth that you made. How did it happen?

Consistency and patience! If I wasn’t willing to go ahead when my business wasn't making any profits, I wouldn’t be here now. Prior to starting the program, I had been building the foundation for the business by investing and becoming an expert in the sports card market. Being in the first wave of investors that hit this market, I was able to build a track record of successful investments I made personally. As thousands of investors joined the sports card market, I used my successful track record to start the membership program. Seeing my track record in the market, my Instagram followers began paying for my subscription, and those who followed my tips found themselves making an average of a 60% return each month on their investments. From there on, as thousands of investors entered the market every single day, my investment program went viral among investors.

Every entrepreneur has his own share of ups and downs in his journey. Was it a smooth ride for you? How did you overcome all the challenges that came your way?

It was definitely not a smooth ride for me. In fact, I don’t think there are any entrepreneurs who could claim that growing their business was a smooth ride. Being an entrepreneur, you learn to be calm in the chaos. Those days you wake up with 10 new urgent problems waiting to be solved, you just have to tackle them one-by-one and keep a level head. When you understand that challenges are inevitable, and when you take the next step and realize that they are in fact vital for the longevity and prosperity of your business, you’ll find a newfound motivation for addressing these obstacles. Plus, when you’re driven to achieve something, you have to accept that it won’t come easy, and you have no choice but to keep going.

You also have a huge social media following. How did your community find you? How strong is your social media presence at the moment?

In the social media world, you won’t get noticed by accident. It took roughly 500 posts before I finally started to gain traction. Consistency is the key, and I was willing to make 8-10 posts a day, even when I knew not many people would see it. Also, it really helped that I was a consumer of sports content on Instagram before making my own content, so that allowed me to really understand other consumers. Eventually, by persistently producing quality content, I started to get noticed as a creator. To this day, my audience has grown to over 200,000 followers across all platforms.

What does your day-to-day schedule look like? Do you often multitask?

For the last 3 months, I’ve been on summer break, so I’ve been able to put all my focus on growing the business. By working for myself, I get to create my own schedule. I work for around 6-10 hours each day, creating content, doing research in the sports card market, and processing orders for the membership. There is definitely a lot of multitasking. I’ll sometimes be on a call with a sponsor and have to be processing orders at the same time, which can be stressful. But for the most part, a lot of my work is quite flexible.

You have achieved massive success at a young age. What is your opinion on being successful?

I think it’s important to always remember that success is borrowed, it’s never permanent. That mindset has really helped me stay hungry, and keep working harder. I know that the sports card market will not stay this hot forever, so I just have to take advantage of this massive opportunity while I can. Regardless, even if the whole business collapsed tomorrow, I would still reflect on this experience as overwhelmingly positive. After all, I’ve learned online advertising techniques, created content, employed business managing skills, and networked.

What are your professional goals for the coming year?

I just take it day-by-day. I don’t really have a set goal or number I have in mind, but I just want to continue to build on what I’ve created. My business style is to take it one step at a time. Regardless, I can’t predict what will be thrown at me in the coming year. When my work is reliant on the market, there’s a lot that is not in my control. I just want to stay motivated and keep at it.

If you have one piece of advice to give to all young entrepreneurs reading this interview, what would it be?

From my experiences in life so far, I’ve noticed that you can work much harder when doing what you love to do. When you’re doing something you are passionate about, you’re naturally more willing to put in that extra effort and go that extra mile. When you find that passion, it doesn’t feel like you’re working. I would just encourage all young people to find something they really enjoy, and not be afraid to pursue it. The toughest part often is just having the will to start without a perfect plan mapped out. Even if you have this perfect plan to succeed, rarely will it ever play out how you envisioned. Just get started, give it your all, and see where it’ll take you.

Connect with Kunal Ahuja through his links below:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportscardinvest/

Website: https://sportscardsinvest.com/?nr=0

In Picture: Kunal Ahuja with Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr