"Consistency Over Hype": Preeti Jhangiani on Why Startups Need Patience, Passion & Persistence Nobody can prepare you for entrepreneurship, every entrepreneur's journey is different, and you have to be ready for anything, says Preeti Jhangiani, co-founder, Swen Entertainment

Mohabbatein fame actress Preeti Jhangiani began her career in cinema with a bang, but she did not stay focused just on acting, today, she is rewriting the rules of sports entertainment. As co-founder of the Pro Panja League and co-owner of Swen Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., she has built one of India's fastest-growing sporting properties in an arena no one thought would work - arm wrestling.

Preeti Jhangiani's Approach Towards Entrepreneurship

"Nobody can prepare you for entrepreneurship," Jhangiani says with conviction. "Every entrepreneur's journey is different, and you have to be ready for anything. You must be ready to work very hard and have a large risk appetite. You have to be ready to lose it all before you can gain it all."

Crafting Sports as Entertainment

For the uninitiated, Pro Panja League's inaugural season drew over 32 million viewers, which is a staggering feat for a debut sports league in India. Preeti credits this to their strategy of breaking away from traditional sports presentation. "The first thing we did was to go away from the language of other sports. We decided to promote and present it as sports entertainment. We knew that if it wasn't engaging, we'd lose the audience with just one click of the remote," she explains.

She explained how she and her team experimented with how athletes were introduced, how matches were structured, and even where events were staged - whether in front of the Gateway of India, on a casino boat in Goa, or at the Winter Festival in Mizoram.

Winning Broadcasters, Sponsors & Fans

Jhangiani further reveals that convincing a cricket-obsessed nation to watch arm wrestling wasn't easy. "Convincing Sony Sports was big, but once they were on board, they were all in. They even promoted us during cricket," she shares. Sponsors, too, saw value in Pro Panja's unique year-long calendar. Pro Panja ensures continuous visibility with multiple events every month across India, while also hosting international championships like the Asian Cup in Mumbai and the Asian RWC in Delhi.

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

Asked about advice to new entrepreneurs, Jhangiani says, "Believe in your product. Consistency is very important. Not every product is an immediate success or immediate money-making. Stick with it. As you stay with it, you're increasing your brand's valuation. It's not always about immediate profits."

What's Next for Swen Entertainment and Pro Panja

Looking to the future, Jhangiani envisions Swen Entertainment returning to cinema with new stories and scripts already in the pipeline. As for Pro Panja League, she says, "We may start a city-wise or state-wise B League, where more athletes can participate. The Pro Panja League will remain our marquee event, but we'll probably have more than six teams by then."

Preeti Jhangiani's transition from movies to building businesses is proof that building something new isn't about overnight success, it's about staying power.