Azhar Khan was just five and had not even entered school when his father died, his mother was a homemaker, and he is the ninth among 11 siblings eight brothers and three sisters. He was extremely good at Mathematics and wanted to do something in the subject but life wasn’t easy. With his resilience, diligence, and hard work, he is earning over Rs 1 lakh a month. Popularly known as Khantrickster on his social media platforms, Khan got associated with TagMango two months ago and is climbing the stairs of success, one at a time.
TagMango is a homegrown creative monetisation start-up aimed at building a brand-independent revenue stream for creators, and enables them to create a lasting following. They provide business tools for creators to set up paid communities by providing one-time and subscription-based services. Through this platform, Khan creates content for his largely Hindi-speaking audience of students and followers.
A resident of Nangloi, Khan was a shy kid with big dreams. “I did my schooling from Blooming Dales Public School in Nangloi, and then SM Arya Public School, Punjabi Bagh. I always aspired to be an engineer. So, I started preparing for IIT-JEE on my own because my family could not afford the coaching fee. I tried for two years, but couldn’t pass,” adds the 30-year-old. That was his first setback, and the second one was his inability to secure admission in BSc Math stream due to the high cut off. “So, I took admission in BSc Chemistry (honours) in Shivaji College.
After college, I shifted my focus to Banking PO and prepared for three years. I would always clear the prelims, but would lack by one or two points in the mains,” he adds. Despite his attempts at higher education being futile, what kept him sane were the home tuitions that he had started after he passed Class 12. “I began with primary classes, and now I teach Classes 11 and 12, too. But I have made a rule to not keep more than three students in a class,” says Khan.
In 2019, he opened his institute. “I rented a place for Rs 5,500 near my house, and over 20 students took admission. The first session went really well. But then the lockdown happened, and I had to leave that place as I could not pay the rent.” Khan didn’t lose hope, and on the suggestion of his younger brother Nazin Khan, the two started a YouTube channel in April 2020. “When we didn’t get any response for a month, my brother suggested we move to Tik Tok, and in I started creating short videos on Maths tricks and tips. Within a month, we went viral with five lakh followers.”
Then Tik Tok got banned. “So we started uploading videos on Instagram reels. There was input from our end, but we were not getting any output. There is no money in it. But we kept on going, and one day, we spotted a sponsored advertisement of Tag Mango,” adds Khan, who has over three lakh followers on Instagram. He contacted Tag Mango, and they struck a deal. Today, Khan runs two courses monthly and yearly and earns over Rs 1 lakh per month from Tag Mango, apart from his home tuitions. “Classes happen three days a week, and are minimally priced.
A one-hour class from Monday to Friday would cost only Rs 499, which is quite cheaper than the physical physical tuitions. I focus on every student and make the classes enjoyable,” adds Khan. Apart from this, there are two-hour classes on alternate days of the week, priced at Rs 99 per month and Rs 999 for a year. So, children can join classes depending upon their requirement. In the first month, he taught 570 students through the platform, and has another 170 students, at present. “While I am the face of Khantrickster, Nazin helps me shoot and edit the videos,” adds Khan, who plans to focus on online classes as these are affordable and children from the similar social strata like his don’t have to suffer.