Yosn Innovations, an event management company, operates in a multitude of avenues that includes live events of artists, conferences, corporate meetings, exhibitions as well as product launches. Founded by Omkar Sankpal in January 2020, Yosn Innovations has managed to take the industry by storm by curating the biggest single-artist show for the standup comedian, Atul Khatri. Apart from him, the company has worked with several other revered artists and corporates.
Equipped with an immaculate business experience, Founder, Omkar Sankpal looks to keep the firm’s trajectory going. During his conversation with Mumbai Live, Sankpal throws light upon his journey in the event management sphere and shares his two cents for upcoming entrepreneurs.
It is often said that the success of a business is dependent on its team that helps to see the goal through. How important was this nuance for you and how did you successfully build your team?
Finding like-minded people is crucial when it comes to building your team because they need to understand your vision and acknowledge where you, as a founder want to be after a period of time. I firmly believe that without a strong core you cannot succeed or turn your plans into reality. When it came to building my team, the determining factor was how willing or far will the individual go in making sure my event or plan succeeds. Secondly, traits of honesty in the members were a make-or-break factor for me. However, I don’t believe that things end after you successfully build your team, what’s also important is how much space you give them to grow. Furthermore, you also need to understand their side to ensure that they are in a positive frame of mind.
Additionally, with over a year into Yosn Innovations, how has the journey been like? Did you incur any struggle in convincing artists?
Getting any artist on board is definitely not an easy task, primarily it requires patience, understanding their requirements and accordingly curating a marketing plan to ascertain that a particular artist fits the right segment. You can’t predict how an artist will react to your pitch, but you need to stay true to your idea and accordingly take it forward. With all the events we have designed, rigorous planning, execution and ideation have been our mantra of success. There have been instances where the going got tough, but we didn’t let the situation get the better of us, we took it in our stride and moved forward. Moreover, starting out, every promoter or event manager wants to have the best artist on board, but that’s easier said than done. What’s needed is an immaculate introduction of the company and a good profile with a set target audience that you know you can sell a particular show out to.
Talking about the audience, you’ve managed to entice them by getting on-board artists like Atul Khatri, Kunal Kamra and Sorabh Pant? How was it working with them?
It was a thrilling experience working with all three of them. Every artist have their own skill sets, understanding of the audience and a distinct way of working. Therefore, it is vital to understand what they expect out of you as a promoter, you also need to be prepared for all the challenges that they may expect you to fulfil. The only way you, as a promoter can enjoy working with an artist is when you believe in them. We as promoters need to accept all sorts of outcomes and take the negative ones as lessons and imbibe the positive ones as one step closer to the goal. Acceptance of either of the two outcomes is the key trait for being successful in this relationship.
Further broaching the subject of artists, you managed to get the sensational Mr. Lucky Ali on board. How did you go about this?
Cutting the long story short, I saw one of the viral videos of Mr. Lucky Ali on Instagram and that’s when I decided to do a show with him in Mumbai. During that time, the first wave of COVID-19 was declining a fair bit and hence we thought that instead of planning an open-air concert let’s do it in an auditorium format. This would ensure the safety of our audience as well as give them a unique experience post the pandemic.
My pitch to his management was unusual, I just dropped them a message via Instagram and then took it over mail. I still can’t process that an unusual pitch landed us a whole premier city show. Knowing his management has been great since our relationship developed so well before the event. Working with them has been one of the best promoter-management experiences for me which have not only streamlined the pre-event work but has also made the entire journey stupendous. We can’t wait for the fans to indulge in the experience with Lucky Ali.
We’re confident that this experience will be unlike any other. Coming from a viewer’s perspective to an entrepreneur’s, do you have any advice for upcoming entrepreneurs?
My advice to upcoming entrepreneurs would be that in a scenario like the COVID-19 pandemic where things are dynamic, we are seeing people come up with new forms of methods, technologies and modes of working, therefore if you can’t adapt to the changing trends you’re not going to survive. Additionally, for upcoming entrepreneurs, our journeys are filled with ups and downs with moments of self-doubt overtaking self-belief, with instances of rejection in pitches but you must ensure that the hunger to prosper never dies. You should keep reminding yourself of all the sacrifices you have made to reach where you are today. I would also say that budding entrepreneurs' shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help, there are many resources for networking, knowledge sharing and advice. You should put faith in a trusted mentor, who can be invaluable to your journey. The advisory list can be long because there are many stages an entrepreneur goes through, but what’s important is to remember that "Experiences are Lessons".
Yosn Innovations has an exciting event for Mumbaikars in store, watch this space to know more.
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