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Guest: ​​​​​​​​Shirag Shemmassian

​Company / Business name: ​​​​​​ ​​​Shemmassian Academic Consulting

Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting. He and his team help high-achieving students get into America's top colleges, medical schools, and other graduate programs.Tools / Books / Resources mentioned:Books: Calendly, Skype; Mentors: Ramit SethiShow Notes:01:14 minute mark:Agile entrepreneur takeaway: Keep doing what you love to do and money will follow. Shirag starts off by explaining how a Ph. D. in Clinical Psychology got into starting an academic consulting business. It’s primarily started off with Shirag helping friends and family for free which generated enough interest to become a profitable business.03:04 minute mark:Agile entrepreneur takeaway: All you need are paying customers to validate your business and the rest will fall in place.Shirag talks about how he started making money even before he formally organized or even had a web site. It all started as a side hustle and word of mouth. Then the referrals kept coming and Shirag could really sense that there is a viable business.05:59 minute mark:Agile entrepreneur takeaway: Don’t wait for that magical perfect price or perfect channels. Keep iterating.Shirag talks about the trial and error involved in finding the fair price for his services. He started off with a price that he thought was fair but as he kept realizing that the value delivered by him to help students to get into top colleges like Harvard and Stanford was much higher, he increased his prices. In the process, he also learnt about other aspects of the business like marketing and promotion.11:10 minute mark:Agile entrepreneur takeaway: Be realistic about business challenges especially time management and growth management.Shirag talks about challenges of time management and quality control. Given that the academic consulting is still a side business (even though a very health one), time management has been a challenge but he has gotten better at it. Second challenge is maintaining quality with other coaches he has hired to support the growing business.17:36 minute mark:Agile entrepreneur takeaway: Outsource where necessary. Don’t try to be a superhero.Shirag talks about the operational aspects of his business. Shirag outsourced accounting and payroll. He uses Calendly for appointment scheduling, Skype and phone for coaching.19:06 minute mark:Agile entrepreneur takeaway: Be a constant learner. Be curious. You never know where that will lead you.Shirag talks about his evolution from someone who wanted to become a physician and how his interest in mental health led him into clinical psychology. He also talks about his immigrant background and how that motivated him into keep driving himself. His natural curiosity led him into starting his business and he is now hooked.22:01 minute mark:Agile entrepreneur takeaway: Keep yourself surrounded by a positive...