Vishesh Jayawanth : Owner of RentMyText.in

Vishesh Jayawanth (24), a third-generation entrepreneur, launched Rentmytext.in, an online portal of his Online Guru Education Services Private Ltd.,. The portal is aimed at engineering students with an intention to “make education affordable and accessible”.

The Plan :

The 24-year-old stumbled on the idea while studying at Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College, Bangalore. He realised that even if the students make it to good colleges, the cost of the books was daunting. They end up spending thousands of rupees on books that are used only for one semester.

To kickstart it, Jayawanth put in a capital of Rs 27 lakh, borrowed from his father, a businessman. The money was used to buy books and rent a warehouse at Jayanagar, Bangalore. The firm stocks about 5,000 books on various subjects. Initially, he offered packages that allowed students to rent entire sets listed in the syllabus. However, within a couple of months, Jayawanth noticed a flaw—students did not need all the books in each semester. So he tweaked his model to offer separate books.

Working :

Here's how the website works:  students can pick any book depending on the semester, pay a refundable deposit, which is the maximum retail price of the book, and have it delivered at their doorstep in 1-5 days for a price. There is no limit on the books that can be rented and there are two payment options: cash on delivery, or transfer money to the company's account. After the semester ends, one needs to return the books in mint condition to have 60-70% of the deposit refunded. Using rentmytext.in, students will save upto 60% of the cost of the textbook with the added benefit of making the buying experience simpler and faster.

While it results in a saving of up to 60% of the cost of books for students, it also offers a green advantage—saving on paper.

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