How this 26-yr-old serial entrepreneur went from engineering to influencing: the story of BeerBiceps
Starting with a YouTube channel documenting his personal fitness journey in 2014, Ranveer Allahbadia has gone to cover many a milestone in his career. Today, he has two brands to his credit – BeerBiceps and Monk Entertainment. In a candid chat with YS Weekender, he takes us behind the scenes
In the words of David Letterman, this man really ‘needs no introduction’.
Better known as BeerBiceps in the digital space, Ranveer Allahbadia is among the OG influencers in the Indian social media community. His journey started way back in December 2014, when he took to YouTube to document his own journey of fitness and weight loss. What started as a personal chronicle soon struck a chord with millions of people watching him online and became what is now one of the most popular YouTube fitness channels in the country. His biggest project right now is The Ranveer Show, which is one of brainiest podcast on self-improvement.
It documents success stories and the struggles of people from all walks of life. So far, he has coordinated with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Priyanka Chopra, Saif Ali Khan, Rajkumar Rao, Boman Irani and has a line up of guests from all walks of life like authors, industry tycoons, sports icons and anyone who has turned their life around from struggles to positivity.
BeerBiceps, also the moniker of his YouTube channel, today boasts more than 2 million subscribers. Another 625,000 users follow him on Instagram. Sounds like a breeze but ask Ranveer and he gladly busts the myths surrounding that influencer life.
Ranveer Allahbadia
“I personally put myself through a big grind,” he tells YS Weekender, when we catch up with him post his panel discussion at TechSparks 2019, YourStory’s annual flagship event. He had just shared the stage with fellow social media personality, Gaurav Taneja, to spill the beans on the influencer economy.
“I don’t get days off except for Sunday evenings,” he adds explaining that during his only day off, he spends time mostly with his family.
Ranveer finds that challenging himself is the hardest part of being an influencer
Intrigued (and also a little overwhelmed) with the kind of day-to-day grind that Ranveer puts himself through, I prod him further, wondering what’s it like, living a day as an influencer and what are the challenges involved. And unsurprisingly enough, the hurdles, as Ranveer explains, are more internal than external.
“Challenging yourself is the biggest challenge,” he quips.
Challenging yourself in terms of the content that you create, asking questions like how can I scale up, how can I create a greater quantity of videos, is what keeps him going, according to the engineer-turned-entrepreneur.
As he explains, “The biggest challenge is doing a self-evaluation and asking yourself how can I make things bigger.”
Through the eyes of the nerd
“I am a nerd at heart, I want to keep working forever and that’s why I launched Monk Entertainment,” Ranveer tells me.
The 26-year-old launched Monk Entertainment, a digital company dabbling in multiple domains from content creation to digital talent management, social media management, brand marketing, and video production, in 2018 along with co-founder Viraj Sheth. It’s been a year and a half since then and the team is already managing some of YouTube India's top talents like BeerBiceps, Be Younick, Flying Beast, Niharika NM, and Aksh Baghla.
With so much happening on so many quarters (and all of it on the digital space), a question that naturally comes to the mind is how does the young influencer manage it all. What about over-exposure? To my surprise, Ranveer seems unfazed. Even though he acknowledges that he has learnt a bit through his mistakes, he admits that “there wasn’t really a fear”.
“I have always kind of had a transparent relationship with my own community. And fortunately, or unfortunately, I haven’t had that many controversial moments in my past to be afraid of anything when it comes to sharing,” he says.
“However, over time, I have learnt that some things should always remain private, like the things happening in your own life,” he adds.
No time for naysayers
While fitness is certainly Ranveer’s forte, over the years, this social media personality has transitioned into several other vlog categories. On his channel, he covers topics as diverse as grooming, fashion, motivation and then positivity, personal finances, and entrepreneurship.
Ranveer says he has no time for negativity and naysayers
All of it sure sounds like a hectic routine, but Ranveer has an interesting take on this. He believes that with so much happening around him, he has very little time to spare over naysayers or even any kind of negativity in the influencer industry.
“I always have the next three scripts or the next three content pieces in my head, so there is no time to sit and feel bad about something,” he quips.
“I am also deep into meditation and this has taken a priority in my life. I spend around two hours every day meditating,” says the man behind BeerBiceps, revealing how he unwinds. “And I also ensure that I indulge in a 2-hour game of football once a week, because you need to work your heart and your lungs as well.”
That Ranveer Allahbadia has carved a niche for himself in the digital space, is hardly surprising. But what does come as a surprise is his humility as he spends time with me, chatting away, revealing his trade secrets, talking about his life, passion, and his company, Monk Entertainment.
Unable to resist getting a little more insight into the influencer economy, I take a final chance, urging Ranveer to share some advice with all the aspiring social media stars out there. As it turns out, the rules are pretty simple –
1. First and foremost, “just start”.
2. Ensure that with every piece of content, you put out some value for the viewers.
3. And finally, “work towards a vision”.
“You should be developing a brand, working towards something long-term and not just focusing on the current video,” he says.
