Akshay Ohari's Online Business - Futpacks

Futpacks.com by Akshay Ohari

Akshay Ohari is a student at Bucks who has launched his own online business, carving out an entrepreneurial niche for himself in the rapidly expanding world of online digital media.

Futpacks.com already has 45,000 subscribers, appealing to fans of the wildly popular FIFA video game, made by EA games.

We asked Akshay to talk about his new business career, and how he got started.

Bucks: You have just launched an online business – tell us about it!

Akshay: My business is called FUTPacks. People who are not FIFA fans may not understand what the business is actually about, so let me explain. On the FIFA game (made by EA Games) there is a game mode called Ultimate Team; this is where players can open packs, trade and play games to earn coins to build their ultimate team of players.

Futpacks.com

FUTPacks is a cheap and reliable service which offers FIFA Ultimate Team players the ability to purchase a variety of FIFA Ultimate Team Packs online. The fun thing about this is that FUTPacks has a range of packs which don’t actually exist on the game, so it makes the experience of opening packs a lot more fun and unique.

FUTPacks also has demo packs so that viewers of the site don’t actually have to purchase packs; instead they can open an unlimited amount of demo packs for free, either for the thrill, or so they can see what a pack would look like before they actually purchase one.

FIFA 15 by EA Games

Bucks: What happens when a customer purchases a pack? 

Akshay: That’s simple.  The pack will have a total coin value to it; which means that customers can redeem their coins and get their winnings sent straight to their FIFA Ultimate Team account.

Futpacks.com

Bucks: How did you get the business started?

Akshay: It all began when I started making YouTube videos two years ago.  My channel is based mainly around FIFA and, due to the game being so stale (with the same features year in year out), I felt that if EASports didn’t want to add cool new features - why shouldn’t I provide a service which did?

So then I came up with the idea of FUTPacks, a chance for FIFA players to open packs online instead of using the same old boring packs on the game. So I started by creating a brief describing everything I wanted the website to consist of;  then I got in contact with the necessary people who could help me create an amazing site. In the end it turned out just how I wanted it!

Akshay's YouTube channel has 45,000 subscribers and over 4 Million Views

Bucks: Your YouTube channel is very popular - 45,000 subscribers and over 4 Million Views.  How did this get started?

Akshay: All my life football has been my number one passion, and I didn’t only play in real life, but I have played football games such as FIFA since I was 6 years old.  Around three to four years ago I started to watch FIFA YouTube videos for tips and entertainment.

TechZZZ - over four million hits at YouTube

I then came across a YouTuber called KSI; I found his videos incredibly entertaining and I noticed how many people like me loved his channel.  I then thought to myself, “I want to entertain people by playing the game I love as well”.  So I did exactly that and decided to create a YouTube channel of my own, Techhzzz.

(Editor's note: You can see one of Akshay's FIFA videos below. Warning: Strong Language Alert!)



Bucks: What is the secret of getting so many followers?

Akshay: There isn’t a “secret” of getting followers; if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it. If you want to do YouTube the right way, it takes a ridiculous amount of hard work, time and dedication. It is vital that you stay consistent and put as much effort as you can into every single video you make; if you are consistent and you have good quality videos - you are bound to see positive results.

TechhZZZ - Akshay Ohari's YouTube Channel

The main aspect of getting followers is to not go into YouTube with that mentality; you have to be doing YouTube because you absolutely love making videos for people, not because you want fans and followers. The key point every YouTuber will say is “Do it because you enjoy it, if you don’t enjoy it, there is simply no point”.  I could write an essay about this question, but I think I’ll leave it there.

Futpacks.com

Bucks: What advice would you give to a student who wants to set up their own business?

Akshay: When setting up a business, make sure you find something you love doing.  At the end of the day, no one wants to do a job they are not happy with.  Try to find something which interests you, then be creative, think about how you can make a change in whatever it is that interests you, then hopefully you will find that gap in the market.

Make sure you consider everything before you make any decisions, find out as much as you can about the industry your business will be going in to.  With the right knowledge you will gather ideas on how you can make your business stand out, have an edge and therefore be successful.  Dedicate a good amount of time in your business set up, this is vital, remember, your business won’t be successful unless you make it successful, it’s completely in your hands.

The most important thing is to make sure you are happy with what you’re doing yourself, because running a business isn’t easy, but if you’re focused and stay motivated, you will do whatever you can to make it work.

I’m not a motivational speaker in any way, but one of the most important things which has helped me along my journey with my business and in particular my YouTube channel is, to stay true to yourself, a lot of people will say along the way “you can’t do it” or “you won’t do it”, but if you know you can make it work, don’t be afraid to take the risk.  Because the way I see it is this: when you’re an old man or old woman, the last thing you should be telling yourself is “I should have done that” , or “I know I could have made that work, if only I had tried”.

This video below by Eric Thomas has helped me massively with my personal motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDFC16ptx-0 )





Bucks: What did you learn at Bucks that has helped you to develop your career?

Akshay: At Bucks I learnt something very important, no matter how crazy or silly your idea may sound or look, to always go for it, why? Because it stands out and is unique.

Bucks reminded me to always think outside the box and be different. No-one likes seeing the same old thing,  but when someone sees something outside of the box, they are intrigued and want to find out more, which is always a good thing.


For more on the experience of studying at Bucks New University, come and visit us at one of our Open Days, take a virtual tour of one of our animation studios, check out what our students think of our course, and see why we're ranked in the top 12 creative universities in the UK. Find out why we're giving free laptops to all our students, and why we give all our students free access to videos at Lynda.com. Also, see what financial assistance might be available to you. Learn which is better for animation, a PC or a Mac? Get hold of a copy of a map so you can find your way around campus, and learn about motion capture at Bucks. 

To see the excellent work done by Bucks tutor Rob Kelly, check out this post. To see more examples of our students' work, check out the first exercise done by our new students here. Also, take a look at the animation of Jack Strood, as well as our latest commercial project for Rocketseed, our short film done for a global aid agency, and take a look at the excellent work of some of our recent graduates, such as designer Monika Dzikowicz, architectural visualisation specialist Krsytof Michalski, Alex Whitfield and the 3D artwork of Mike Swan.