While growing up in India, business was a popular topic of discussion around the dinner table for Abhishek Soni ’15 and his family. So, when he finished his university studies in his home country, Soni already had a plan for a business opportunity for something he saw all around him; cellphones. 

In India, having the latest cellphone technology as soon as it is available on the market is a dream and status symbol for young people and students. So instead of having to pay thousands of dollars every year when a new phone comes out, Soni came up with the idea of giving people the opportunity to lease their phone and upgrade more regularly for a reasonable cost. 

He shared his plan with his family to take this idea to Canada, specifically Ontario, which has some of the highest priced cellphone plans in the world. He said, “Mom, give me a year, if it doesn’t work out, I promise I’ll come back.“ He applied to Mohawk’s International Business Management program and arrived in Hamilton in January of 2015 to begin the one-year program. 

It was in this program that Soni met Mohawk professor Melanie Sodka who had started the new SURGE program on campus, a hub to support entrepreneurs in launching their business ventures. Soni pitched his idea of leasing phones to a student market, and with some suggestions from Melanie to add phone repairs and selling phone accessories to his model, along with another year of study through Mohawk’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship program, he was set to launch his business with partner, Gurvir Bhinder. With the assistance of Mohawk’s Chief Business Development and Ancillary Services Officer, Troy Heath, Mobélease Wireless Inc.’s flagship location was opened at Mohawk’s Fennell Campus. 

Now in operation since 2016, Mobélease Wireless Inc. has expanded to two more locations, at McMaster University and Conestoga College, with five employees. Soni’s short-term goal is to ensure all three locations are steadily growing before he looks to expand further to more college campuses. Personally, he talks to his parents regularly and they find comfort in knowing he’s creating roots in Canada, as he says, “I’m doing well here. I’m living my dream.“ 

By: Meaghan Drury

This story was originally published in Spring 2019 of the Mohawk Alumni In Touch magazine.