At 26, Kenz E C calls himself money-motivated. There’s a reason for that. When he was in college, his father would give him the freedom to go out with friends, but with a condition – he had to meet the expenses by himself. He followed the instruction and enjoyed his freedom. While in college, Kenz did ‘small businesses’ and odd jobs -- bike resale, mobile sales, catering and peanut packing to name some – to find the extra income he wanted to keep life moving. Then one day, he watched “The Wolf of Wall Street” and found himself in a wonderland. He found a new passion in stock marketing, though little did he know that his keen interest in the world of the bull and bear would lead him to founding a startup at a later stage in his life.
Milliondots, the company Kenz founded with his college friend Muzammil Muhammed, is into stock trading education. Based at Kozhikode, the duo’s native, Milliondots aims to empower individuals with the necessary knowledge and guidance to become proficient traders. The company claims to have educated over 10,000 students and clients in more than five countries. It has recorded an annual Rs 10 crore turnover.
An accidental acquisition and a forced closure
After completing their graduation from IHRD, Kozhikode, both Kenz and Muzammil were placed in an IT major. Muzammil worked there for a month while Kenz did not join. Kenz had a different plan in his mind. While in college, he used to work at a clothes outlet – a franchise of a global brand -- as a part-timer. When the owner wanted to sell out the outlet due to financial emergency, Kenz sensed an opportunity in entrepreneurship. He along with some family members managed to raise the necessary funds and acquired the shop. It did not go well, though. The closure, along with a personal experience, forced him to shift to Kochi where he hoped to start a new beginning.
“In Kochi, I started out as a delivery boy with Uber Eats. However, deep in my mind, I knew that trading is the skill I have. It was around 2018, and I decided to learn stock marketing seriously. There were not many material on Indian markets available online that time. I did some courses in Forex markets, watched videos and also met traders. I easily filled up eight or nine notebooks with the lessons I learned,” Kenz recounted.
Again, close family members helped him with the necessary funds with which he traded. “I waited till I could raise a capital of nearly Rs 2 lakh and then paid back my relatives when the shares were making profit. I knew it would be difficult to explain if there was a loss,” he said.
As he learned the scopes and intricacies of the trading world, from his own gains and losses, he also understood the wide information gap the ecosystem has and sensed a business opportunity in fixing it. He shared the idea with Muzammil and he also shifted to Kochi. Together, they started Milliondots; the company used the name of a digital marketing firm they had launched and closed earlier.
Once they were confident about their strong area, the duo returned to Kozhikode where they hired a co-working space. On the educating side, they had a humble beginning. First they held an awareness session which was attended by around 20 people.
“We began from scratch. We prepared capsule lessons and small syllabuses. It was 2019 and online classes were yet to become popular. Malayalis were still afraid even to learn about trading,” Kenz said. The company, through its social media marketing, found clients from North India also. Then it also released awareness videos on social media and conducted free webinars.
Covid boom
Though the Covid pandemic affected Milliondots’ plans initially, the situation became favourable later on as more and more people, desperate to find an alternate source of income, became keen to plunge into stock marketing. The Covid-induced boom in online learning also helped the company. Around 25,000 people from Kerala have attended its free webinars so far, according to the company.
“The organisation provides training programmes that are specifically suited to each skill level for a wide range of people, from novices to professional traders. Milliondots offers the essential support and direction for people looking to earn money part-time, launch a trading business, or investigate passive income alternatives. The company has devised a comprehensive course package called ExtraIn, Trading Entreprenuer, PassiveIn which caters to various skill levels and provides hands-on experience. All programmes are designed for three months. The courses are online while the company is also offering physical classes for a batch at its office in PT Usha Road, Kozhikode. It also has an office space at Puthiyangadi. It has a staff strength of 50.
Expansion plans
According to Kenz, 60 per cent of their clients are from Kerala. Most of the clients belong to the 23-28 age group. Women make around 15 per cent of the client base.
Kenz said the core idea behind his company is to normalise share trading and shrug off the fears and stigmas attached to it. The founders also want to expand it to a pan-Indian company provided the
prevailing awareness gap across the country. The company has not raised any funding yet.
“We are awaiting to reach a certain valuation before going to investors. Then we will be looking for investors who can help us spread across the country,” Kenz said.
(Editor's note: This story is part of Onmanorama's series featuring startups and small businesses from Kerala. Readers' discretion is advised before subscribing to the courses mentioned in the story.)
