Recent statistics show that creative graphic designs pay off better than the automotive industry. It’s only reasonable, as a design must be a unique and well-thought process. Achieving a masterpiece takes a lot of patience, unselfishness, and hard work .

Chiraq Gander and Sahil Vaidya, the two undecided engineers are the main characters in The Minimalist. To fill out their spare time at college, the entrepreneurs-to-be decided to create art as a side project on Facebook. But, as Facebook was a customer’s hotspot, they slowly grew natural traffic which became a leading advertising company.

Their company produced catchy graphic designs that surpassed lots of big names. Their dainty is minimalistic, which makes people think when they see the picture. Consequently, people started to remember the art, and moreover, wanted to see more.

The spontaneous story of Chiraq and Sahil, the drafting engineers who boomed on the graphic design market, is one of the most compelling stories.

Stick around to read the bits and pieces of what made The Minimalist what it is today.

Little Wizards with Numbers

Chiraq and Sahil were both born and raised in India. However, they won’t meet until a college trip in junior year. Although they were complete strangers as children, they shared so much in common. For example, both of them were every parent’s dream children. They were kind kids and wizards with numbers.

When they grew up, enrolling in high school was a big deal for Chiraq and Sahil, they fit in just perfectly. Both of them were regular teenagers. Chiraq and Sahil loved to go out and have fun with their friends. Sahil was even playing in a band, whereas Chiraq enjoyed doodling and relaxing his mind using colors. But, high school days quickly go by, and the time to pick a side in life comes even quicker. So, Chiraq and Sahil found themselves at the crossroads but the decision was quickly made to follow their math talent.

Clueless Engineers

Chiraq and Sahil moved to Mumbai to study engineering. Both of them enrolled at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, to study engineering. Chiraq decided to study chemical engineering, whereas Sahil studied electrical engineering. The funny thing how both of them thought college life will be reduced to exams and parties. It was exams only. The Bombay parties weren’t what they hoped to find, so Chiraq and Sahil had to find some hobbies to fill up their free time. Chiraq was known for its unique designs throughout the college campus. The designs celebrated his then muse - the curriculum. Every time he would update the sketch into a more sophisticated whole. Sahil filled up his free time with writing comics and catchy lines.

Remember when I said they won’t meet until a trip in junior year? - Well, we reached the destination.

Their roads will cross when they go for an internship in a different town. Sahil was impressed with Chiraq’s joy of creating visual storytelling. As Sahil was a music virtuoso and already familiar with the creative process, he was really interested in the content.

Sahil and Chiraq became good friends as they realized they shared a lot in common. Their engineering faculties, their artistic hobbies, and their new follow-up. Both of them ended up pursuing their hobby on social media.

Back in 2015, Facebook was the hottest topic, and everyone was compulsively checking in. Sahil and Chiraq realized they should join their creations and promote them on Facebook.

The Minimalist Dainty

Their hobby, or side-project on Facebook, became popular because of the witty, gritty content and advertising they produced. I’ll take the liberty to call them artists. So, the artists believed that the only way for a person to remember something they saw for the first time is to make them ponder on it. Starting from this idea, the founders-to-be realized that minimalism is a well-spiring of inspirations and became motivated to create more and more. Luckily for them, their efforts didn’t pass unnoticed. Soon, The Minimalist page started to increase organic traffic rapidly, and the young lads realized it’s time to take the plunge.

In 2015, Sahil and Chiraq founded their digital consultancy The Minimalist, in Mumbai. The Minimalist provided professional and unique advertising, and also branding, communications, along with interactions design services. The Minimalist is separated into three groups: branding and communication, interaction design, and digital marketing. Each sector provides services for its respective audience, which helps the audience grow bigger and bigger.

Nevertheless, note that the founders were still at college when they started The Minimalist.

Behind the Scenes

Although being a student and your own boss sounds fancy and powerful, the reality is much more different and gloomy. In fact, Sahil and Chiraq were swamped with work that they didn’t have time to realize how fancy they were.

Right after they founded their company, Sahil and Chiraq had to understand the marketing business because neither of them had a clue about marketing. This comes on top of their college assignments, homework, researches, and everything that comes with college.

At first, before they had the exam session, working and studying was a manageable task. But, the real challenges occurred when the founders burned their brains from working and studying. The company counted 20 employees, the exams were piling up, projects waited to be done, it was a total mess in a nutshell.

Resultantly, Sahil and Chiraq’s grades started to decrease, and the entire company was walking on the edge of oblivion. As if that wasn’t hard enough on the guys, they were also facing the possibility to get expelled from the faculty. So, even if they were exhausted, there was only one thing that got them to push harder. It was the company and their talents. So, guess what happened later.

Both, Sahil and Chiraq fought with their last strengths and managed to run the company and graduate from the Indian Institute of technology. Not only did they hold the diplomas in their hands, but Chiraq even became a professor at the Advertising School at the age of 22. In case you wanted an exemplary dedication, you’re welcome.

Young Entrepreneurs’ Nightmares

Besides, the fact that Sahil and Chiraq’s idea was flawless, and they seemed to have gained popularity, the nightmare they feared the most was – will they take us seriously? Being a young entrepreneur, especially while still at college, poses a serious issue when it comes to founding your own company. Not to be taken less seriously, leaving good impressions at investor's meetings was also a big deal.

So, the worst did happen. Shocking, huh? Yes, the investors weren’t interested in investing their money in an agency that has social media publicity, run by two possible dropouts, and tons of competitors.

While many may take this as a living hell situation, Sahil and Chiraq took the hardship as a fueling push towards creating more and better. Thus, they started to create better and more compelling content. The big shock comes when the company didn't acquire investors at the beginning but used the funds they gained from traffic as an investment.

The Minimalist Progress

The Indian market wasn’t that famous and popular as the leading Asian and Chinese ones were. However, in ten years, The Minimalist swam with big fish like Webchutney, Blue Vector, Geekschip, and the Brand Saloon.

The Minimalist progress started when the content they had created got shared by many people. Sahil and Chirag were determined to do more and better. They used to create content that mirrored society, their interests, and many more. But, once they became visible on the global market, the founders were asked to create professional content for their clients.

When Coca Cola a.k.a. the world's favorite ad, chose The Minimalist to prepare the ad giant’s future marketing, everything was clear. They are getting in the ring with the big shots.

The Minimalist Today

Six years later, the company already counts fix digit numbers in their funding. Also, The Minimalist services over 200 goliaths like Coca-Cola, HCL, and Blue Star. Besides, they got listed in the top 25 Startups on LinkedIn.

As an independent digital agency, the Minimalist total funding is $25.3M per year. We know numbers speak for themselves, but let's enunciate this: the estimated revenue per employee is $243,000. The Minimalist values their employee's effort and evidently rewards it.

And there you have it- the inspiring story of two youngsters who believed in their talents. It’s probably safe to say that talent + dedication = success.