When Anubhav Sapra began writing about Delhi’s street food in 2011, content creation looked very different. He ran a blog documenting food vendors, places to eat and local food traditions, sharing posts through Facebook groups and personal networks.
By 2018, Sapra had moved towards video, building Delhi Food Walks on YouTube. He remembers a time when only a handful of bloggers regularly covered specific food categories, from street food to restaurants and travel.
“Very limited content creators were there,” he told TCI. “When I started in the food space, there were only a couple of journalists who used to write columns in newspapers, but the blogging space was limited to a handful of writers.”
Today, anyone with a smartphone can publish a video and potentially reach viewers across India and beyond. But accessibility has also brought millions of people into the same ecosystem, competing for views, engagement and commercial opportunities.
For aspiring creators in 2026, the question is no longer simply whether they can find an audience. It is whether they can distinguish themselves, retain that audience and earn a living from their work.
Sapra has experienced both sides of this shift. While short-form videos can introduce creators to new audiences, changing consumption habits have also affected his earnings.
“Sometimes I do feel that it is not sustainable and we should have alternatives,” he said.
From early blogging to an industry of its own
The scale of India’s creator economy illustrates how dramatically the landscape has changed.
A 2025 report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), From Content to Commerce: Mapping India’s Creator Economy, estimated that India had approximately 2–2.5 million digital creators with more than 1,000 followers. These creators influenced an estimated $350–400 billion in annual consumer spending, with that figure projected to exceed $1 trillion by 2030. However, the report says only around 8–10% of creators effectively monetise their content.
Chef Akshat Parihar, a food and luxury lifestyle creator who began creating content in 2017, believes the creator economy was less crowded earlier. “Today, every second person wants to try this,” he said, adding that more people now see content creation as a potential income source alongside their primary profession.
But a viral post does not necessarily lead to a lasting audience or a viable business. Parihar believes discovery has become easier, while sustaining audience interest requires more than following trends.
The commercial landscape has also changed. Sapra points out that a professional food video can involve itinerary planning, travel, filming, scripting and editing. What viewers see as a short clip may take days or weeks to produce.
Starting early does not guarantee success
Darshit Singh, a food content creator who started in 2021, spent roughly two years publishing basic photographs and videos before experimenting with voiceovers and more critical restaurant reviews.
His breakthrough came when videos filmed around Chandni Chowk during his wedding shopping went viral. Before that, he had built an audience of approximately 2,500 followers over two years. It took him around two and a half years to reach 10,000 followers.
Singh attributes the change partly to his willingness to critique restaurant experiences rather than simply recommend places.
“Everybody was sugarcoating, saying this is good and that is great, but nobody was saying what was bad because people are spending their hard-earned money on recommendations,” he told TCI.
His first paid collaboration earned him ₹2,000, a figure he chose without knowing how to price his work. Over time, he learnt more about rates, brand expectations and the value of audience engagement.
“Getting one or two or even five videos viral is not a big deal,” Singh said. “But staying consistent when you know that high gets to the bottom, when you are not getting your average views that you were getting like six months back, then you are suddenly questioning all the decisions.”
Parihar’s experience offers another perspective on the advantages of starting early. Although he began creating content in 2017, he said it took him about five years to reach a meaningful income.
“For me, it took me almost five years,” he said. “Nowadays it doesn’t take this much time.” While creators now have access to more potential income streams, including platform monetisation and subscriptions, eligibility and earnings vary.
Newcomers are finding opportunities in specific niches
Kavya Chaturvedi did not initially set out to become a creator. She began publishing content about small businesses in 2024 to build credibility for her e-commerce store.
Her first 20,000 followers came relatively quickly, partly because few creators were covering her particular niche. But that early momentum did not translate into consistent growth or commercial success.
“I think production quality does not matter as much,” she said, arguing that originality and personality are central to building an audience. Chaturvedi has also explored consultations, digital products, courses and events rather than relying exclusively on brand deals. She publishes two or three times a week at a pace she considers manageable.
Raghvi Beri Anand, a food creator who launched her page in January 2026 at 35, has taken a similarly deliberate approach. Alongside her full-time public relations career, she creates food content, drawing on her professional experience in communication and community building.
She started with 140 followers and reported 2,000 by October 2026. Rather than attributing her growth to a single viral post, Anand credits regular publishing, experimentation and incremental improvements to hooks, editing pace and thumbnails.
Her experience challenges the assumption that creators must begin in their teens or early twenties. Professional experience, personal interests and existing expertise can all become starting points for a creator identity.
Going viral is not the same as building a business
For Aditi Jain, finding an audience meant abandoning an approach that was not working. “I was genuinely inspired by the creators who entertain people and share their own stories,” she said. “I wanted a life like them.”
Her storytelling videos failed to gain traction. After experimenting with news updates, she eventually found an audience by commenting on celebrity and reality television. “So, what I wanted and what I became is different. But I haven’t lost hope yet,” Jain said.
Jain now has more than 4,000 followers, and some of her videos have reached hundreds of thousands of views. Her first paid Instagram opportunity was promoting a web series, for which she received ₹1,500.
However, content creation has not replaced her other commitments. She continues to balance work and studies and says the pressure to publish regularly can be exhausting. As a nano creator, she does not earn enough to support her family throughout the month.
Abhishek Panwar, a lawyer, content creator, and founder and managing partner of Abhishek Panwar & Associates, has also felt pressure to balance content with professional responsibilities.
“Some days are when a lot of things are going on in the country where it doesn’t let me sleep. It bothers me so much that it takes a lot of effort from my body to just speak about it,” he said.
For Panwar, content creation offers an opportunity to share his perspective beyond the limits of a traditional workplace. But he cautions newcomers against relying on social media for their livelihood before they establish financial stability.
“Anyone wants to start, but I would suggest they should have some financial stability,” he said. “Do not rely on any kind of social media; just because you can make a career out of it until you pick your niche smartly.”
The hidden costs of creating content
The work behind a successful account often extends far beyond filming and publishing. Creators must also manage research, scripting, editing, brand communication and audience engagement, sometimes alongside full-time jobs and family responsibilities.
Hannah Liz Jacob, who began creating content in 2020, believes audiences have become more selective about what they spend time watching.
“Now I feel like most people just want to take a break from Instagram or people are tired of doomscrolling,” she said. “So it needs to be things that are worth their time and things that make them feel like stop scrolling and then just looking at for 30 seconds or one minute.”
She argues that simply publishing every day is no longer enough. Creators need to think carefully about their ideas, scripts and the value their content offers.
Panwar has also experienced burnout, particularly when he is discussing difficult events while managing his legal work. The pressure to keep posting without getting the expected reach can add to that strain.
These experiences highlight the time, financial investment and emotional labour required to sustain a creator career, factors that follower counts and view numbers rarely capture.
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What does success look like in 2026?
The creators interviewed for this story do not agree on whether the industry is easier to enter today. Some point to increased competition and pressure to produce distinctive content; others highlight opportunities created by niche audiences, short-form video and new commercial models.
But their experiences suggest success doesn’t have to mean becoming a celebrity with millions of followers. A creator can build a community around a specific interest, generate leads for a business, sell expertise, or make content creation a supplementary income source.
For newcomers, the more useful question may not be whether they are too late, but whether they can offer something distinctive, build a relationship with a specific audience and develop a business that can survive beyond the next viral post.
