Making a Million Dollar Plugin Company – Akshat Choudhary Interview

Akshat is the CEO and Founder of WPRemote which lets you manage multiple websites very easily. He is also the founder of popular products like Blogvault, MalCare, and AirLift. He is making millions of dollars of revenue through his products. 

The reason to interview him is the useful tips and insights that we can receive from him. It is a rare task to get useful tips from the creator of the millionaire company as as well the one who in his company has customers from the “Fortune 500 Businesses“.

About Guest

Guest Name: Akshat Choudhary

What They Do: Akshat Choudhary is the CEO anf founder of WPRemote and other companies like Blogvault, MalCare, AirLift.

Company: WPRemote, Blogvault, MalCare, and AirLift.

Known For: Akshat serves as the CEO and Founder of WPRemote, a platform designed to simplify the management of multiple websites. Additionally, he pioneered well-known products such as Blogvault, MalCare, and AirLift.

Social Media:

Video Interview With Akshat Choudhary (BlogVault Founder)

Akshat Choudhary Interview – BlogVault Founder

How long have you been in the WordPress plugin development business, and what led you to start WP Remote?

Akshat: We’ve been doing this for more than 10 years now. We started with BlogVault and expanded to MalCare, which covers security, and then WP Remote, which is a product for agencies. And finally, we are doing Airlift. 

We started WP Remote because we saw a gap in the market for a tool that lets you manage multiple websites easily.

How many active users do you currently have on your plugins, and how many paying customers?

Akshat: We have hundreds of thousands of active users and more than 15,000+ paying customers.

What was the turning point for your business that made your business grow exponentially?

Akshat: I think we’ve not really had too many like exponential growth. It’s been a slow and steady continuous growth, with multiple inflection points. We have just continued focusing on our products and continuing to add to our overall vision of making websites much more useful for businesses.

What’s your current team size, and where are they based?

Akshat: We are almost 35 people right now, and every one is based in India. A majority of most of us are in Bangalore.

How are you marketing your plugins, and how are you getting your downloads?

Akshat: We don’t do a lot of active marketing. We use a lot of content marketing for it. And content marketing plays a very big role. 

We have seen that being active in WordPress and Facebook communities has helped a lot. And finally, word of mouth, obviously over a period of time, a brand has been built around the quality and reliability of our products.

How did COVID-19 impact your business, and are you seeing any downfall now?

Akshat: We were scared when COVID-19 happened because we serve a lot of small businesses, and all of these small businesses around the world were being forced to close down for months at a time. 

But something opposite happened, people started building more and more websites and online presence increased dramatically. However, we are definitely seeing increased churn now.

Can you share some of the figures that you have achieved in the last one year?

Akshat: We have 15,000+ paying customers, and we have millions of dollars of revenue. We made millions of dollars in profit last year.

How did you grow your business, was it a premium model or a trial model, and what works for you?

Akshat: We started with a premium model and didn’t have a trial. We believe in maintaining a healthy balance, unlike the rest of the companies that prioritize growth at any cost.

Do you have any tips for someone who wants to start in this business?

Akshat: I think the opportunity in front of us is immense. Our main focus was on creating a high-quality product and participating in the community. Word of mouth is very powerful, so build a good reputation and trust among your users. It takes time, but it’s worth it.

Word of mouth is very powerful, so build a good reputation and trust among your users.

Akshat Choudhary

Any particular niche that you see growing in the coming years?

Akshat: With the advent of AI that we are seeing here, in technology specifically, we are going to see a massive realignment of everything happening.

So almost every industry, every small and big thing will undergo change. And if we are talking about websites- how people approach SEO, why people approach SEO, how people approach creating content, designing websites, using websites, how they end up being on a website, and what happens in this space- everything will change.

And it won’t happen in the next six months, but we’ll start seeing signs in the next two years. And in five years, it’s completely, it’s a new world altogether.

AI will change every industry.

Akshat Choudhary

What was the most difficult phase in your life?

Akshat: I’ve been very lucky to a great extent, so I wouldn’t call anything typically difficult, I’ve been lucky to have a great education, and a great family. Health-wise it’s been fine.

So I wouldn’t say they’re excessively difficult. Obviously, we all go through our ups and downs. Running a business is never easy.

How are you growing and managing your personal life along with the team, the business, and the plugins?

Akshat: You do feel overwhelmed at times, again having good team members who are, you know, who treat the business as their own.

The best people in the world need something challenging to take up. Nobody wants to build “the next something”. People want to build something which really changes. So your team is really passionate about creating these products.

The best people in the world need something challenging to take up.

Akshat Choudhary

How do you feel today? You started this 10 years back, and now you are here earning millions of dollars in profits?

Akshat: Again, really fortunate. I think there’s definitely a sense of gratitude, but also there’s a sense of mission, as you build upon your successes, you feel that you can accomplish so much more.

What are your goals for 2023?

Akshat: I think, well we are not a goal-driven company very much, you know, we are very, just put your head down and have a rhythm kind of person.

“Follow your own Rhythm”.

Do you have a hero in your life? Someone, you admire a lot?

Akshat: I am just thinking, I can’t, there are a lot of entrepreneurs, I look up a lot of entrepreneurs and for different reasons, I definitely consider getting inspiration from them.

Do you have a philosophy in your life?

Akshat: I think a couple of things, generally I would say, whatever happens, happens for the best. 

“Whatever happens, happens for the best.”

Since we are here at WordCamp, how was your experience as an attendee and as a speaker?

Akshat:  WordCamp Kerala was fantastic. Coming in, I had zero expectations. We barely made any preparation for it, but the organizers did such a good job, and the community in Kerala itself, hats off to them.

Can you tell us a little bit more about your experience as a sponsor?

Akshat:  We weren’t expecting too many relevant people. In our experience, we have seen that in smaller WordCamps, we don’t see people who are relevant from a product perspective. So we sponsored just to help the community, but we were very wrong. 

The number of agencies and people like that, people running businesses, came to us, and we had conversations that were totally unexpected.

Can you elaborate more on your experience as a speaker?

Akshat:  Sure, I spoke on a panel about building sustainable businesses with WordPress. It was a great experience because I got to share my knowledge and also learn from the other panelists. 

The audience was also very engaged, and I had some great conversations with people after the panel.

Do you have any takeaways from WordCamp Kerala?

Akshat:  Definitely. I think it’s important to attend WordCamps, even if you’re not a speaker or sponsor. 

You get to learn so much from other people in the community, and you never know who you might meet. I also think it’s important to give back to the community and support events like this.

Conclusion 

There is no doubt that you have gained valuable insights from this interview. One of the most admirable things about Akshat is his openness in discussing his areas of growth and his willingness to share his knowledge.

Despite having a small team, he has a talent for maximizing their potential while maintaining his passion for those who are committed to his company. His greatest strength lies in his ability to capitalize on opportunities presented to him.

You can follow Akshat on Twitter for more updates. 

If you have any queries or feedback, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.