Abhishek Soni is a Mohawk alumnus who has started his own business right on the Fennell Campus. With hardwork and determination Soni moved from India to Canada with the dream of his starting own business.
“I was a big fan of cellphones, so back in 2013 when I was finishing up my last year of university in India, I was doing a bachelor of business,” said Soni. “I had to work on a business idea to complete the program. I have to find a problem in society and try to fix it.”
Soni was incredibly passionate about technology, especially cellphones and would purchase a new phone every chance he could and sell the older one to help cover the cost.
“I thought why is it not possible to always lease the phone so we can have a newer phone all the time? ther students were facing a similar problem at that time, so we can open a corporation to help the people have a newer phone in their hands.”
Soni worked on his business idea for two years in India, pitching to investors and doing further research into the field. While researching, Soni realized that people were paying the highest prices for their phones in Ontario.
“Let me go there, let me give it a try, so I came to Mohawk College as an international student with the dream of starting my own business, said Soni. “I came to Canada in 2015, I came to Mohawk College for school. I took International business management and small business and entrepreneurship.
Once at Mohawk, Soni would get help from his program coordinator who helped get a rent-free space for the business inside the college. Soni would capitalize on the success and officially opened the first Mobélease storefront at the Fennell campus in 2016, while he was still a student.
“As soon as I was done my graduation in 2017 we opened up a store inside McMaster, and in 2018 we opened a store in Conestoga,” said Soni.
Soni wanted his stores on campuses because he felt that his demographic lies in colleges and universities, they’re the people who want to have newer phones.
“I feel like we’re a little bit unique in this market, as no corporations have a physical store inside schools,” said Soni.
Things were looking great for Soni and Mobélease, they’d opened three locations in the same amount of years. So Soni decided to take 2019 and analyze what was going on, he wanted to build up and work upon a standard for his business. Unfortunately, 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic would change things.
“We were completely shattered, all of our stores were shut down… it was tough times, we were trying to work out of our basement so we could make a living, said Soni.”
At that point, Soni decided that he couldn’t solely rely on schools anymore because it was unclear how long things were going to last. Since all of the stores were on campuses that were closed Soni opened up a store downtown Hamilton which has turned out to be a great success.
“When the college was up and running again, we approached Mohawk and they were excited to take us back, so we had the new store [Located in the H-wing].”
With a main portion of Mobélease’s clientele being students affordability and good customer relations are very important to Soni. Especially, in todays day in age where you essentially need a cellphone to get around and live life
“We truly believe in customer satisfaction and making sure we see the same faces again and again, we always stay competitive and will fight with cellphone providers for exclusive promotions and plans, so we work with different carriers to offer better value to students, said Soni.
As a former student, Soni understand the struggles that come with post-secondary life and doesn’t want to take advantage. Even offering up some advice for other young entrepreneurs.
“You have to trust the process, you cannot expect the results in one night, you just have to stay to it, sometimes there will be difficult days and things will feel like they’re not working out, trust the plan and stay disciplined, be consistent, things are going to work out one day,” said Soni.
“Before starting Mobelease, I worked at Rogers and the Apple Store. If you’re thinking about starting a business, try to work in that industry for 4-6 months before. Things may look good from afar but working in the industry will give you clear insights, if you’re still passionate after that time, go for it.”
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