We Settle | Providing The Whole College Experience on A Platter

• ByAnushka Singh     |    February 18, 2021

“Grab every opportunity that comes your way you never know where life will take you”-Pragya Arora

In an exclusive interview with Startup Story Media, Founder Pragya Arora talks about how she and her co-founder Manas Garg founded We Settle to provide a community to college students.

Hailing from Lucknow, Pragya is a psychology honors graduate from Delhi University with an experience of 2.5 years in sales and marketing. Pragya was also involved in different business projects and societies in her college years and it was during this Covid-19 pandemic time that she came up with a plan to start We Settle.

So corporate job, wasn’t an option.

Manas and Pragya met working on the same business project in college. During the pandemic lockdown they started analyzing themselves and thinking about what they really needed to do. Since they both had faced similar issues when they first started their college lives, that’s why they wanted to start We Settle so no one else would face it. “Covid-19 turned into a blessing in disguise for me, because if it hasn’t happened, she would have gone for UPSC”-says Pragya. Both the founders weren’t inclined towards traditional jobs as they were less interested in working for someone else and more interested in implementing their own ideas. Even though Pragya’s dad is an IPS officer who always saw Pragya following in his footsteps, Pragya found her true passion of entrepreneurship in college and decided to pursue it.

The name We Settle was arrived upon after a lot of discussion. “We” gives a community feeling and fosters inclusiveness and we wanted to encourage the feeling that everyone is together and we grow together. “Settle” depicts the settling of all the problems everyone faces. Everyone needs to work hard to achieve their dreams we just provide the resources and guidance.

We settle is a startup which focuses on building the three years of a student’s college life memorable. The transition from school to college life is very rough. There are a lot of questions you don’t have the answers to and that’s where we settle comes in. first with admission consultancy which college to go from and which college to choose. What do we want to do in future, second accommodation help. Thirdly we provide community aspect where they can find a family away from home. You come and attend fun seminars and interact with students from different colleges and find a community of your own without losing your individual identity. It both recreational and productive at the same time.

The Blessing in Disguise

Describing how she feel about her start-ups growth Pragya says, “Honestly, I feel Covid-19 has been a blessing in disguise for us, there is mixed feeling its amazing but its also a lot of responsibility. Being accountable for 10000 people who look up to you and have a lot of expectations from you and whom you have to provide with value and make them feel important.”

We Support provides a community feeling for everybody where they give them a lot of sessions on their personal growth and whatever else they require. Pragya believes that operating digitally is tough as there is no one on one interaction to build stronger bonds.

For accommodation as soon as you register there is a customer query form that you fill, you tell your requirements, your requirements are are met in 24 hours. An online and offline visitation of the property is conducted. Online zoom sessions for interns are held. Pragya explains why they don’t have any permanent employees yet-, “you end up working with the employees and don’t engage with students personally”. We Settle conducted a housing festival in october when 10000 interns connected with them from all over India.

Challenges faced

Since We Settle is a new company and they don’t charge brokerage it’s was difficult for it to get trust. Covid-19 posed a challenge as most PG owners locked up property. But, the biggest challenge for Pragya was the intern as it was hard to make them work online.

“It was all difficult, what to say what to provide but we learned from our mistakes”-says Pragya.

And the learning for Pragya was, “you should always have a strong “why”. You should always focus on giving your team value and not expect a lot in return. You should treat your team like your family. You have to keep patient and work as hard as it takes. there are days we don’t sleep, but it is so exciting.”

Work hard the output will come automatically

Pragya’s parents had always seen her as an IPS officer and there was no one in her family who went for business. Her parents gave her an ultimatum to choose between her work and home. But, as they saw her working, they eventually got on board. Her father told her “Do whatever you want to do but give it your 100% with the thought of being the best at it. “My parents have given me all the freedom and support to come to Delhi and work.”-said Pragya

The Customer experience for We Settle has been great for Pragya. She says when a person finds a home after so much trouble it is amazing to see that smile on their face and she loves to see that smile. Through We Settle Pragya has connected with a lot of people and feels great to have helped them out.

Founder’s Message

Keep your why very strong and intentions pure, you need to focus on giving your input in a particular place, once you give your best you the output automatically. The founder also says that you should treat your team like your family and give them what you can. Don’t be selfish.

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