Quote Unquote
Humour
From the NRIs
Copyright
The Money Tree
Live your dreams
Iwas born in a rich family, though not with a silver spoon in mouth. I have a younger brother. As the family owned more land than they required, people from my father’s generation were reluctant to go out for a job. Instead, they tried starting various businesses, but these failed. The worst part was that my father stopped trying his luck in business after meeting failure a couple of times. This happened during my school days.
By the time I joined college for graduation, the family was deep in debt, resulting in backstabbing by some of dad's friends whom he thought were
trustworthy in his golden days. All the land we owned was eventually lost to meet the family’s expenses. There was no income coming in.
In the year 2000, when I was 19 years old, I decided to take on the responsibility of the family on my shoulders and started searching for a job. The only job I could manage to get, was that of an office assistant and a web designer on a monthly salary of Rs 1000. Also, as a part-time job, I marketed and sold embroidered sarees that my mother stitched and also some art work that I did, to earn additional income to get sufficient bread and butter for the family.
My friends and lecturers at college came forward and offered to pay my college fees, so that I could continue my studies. So, I went back to college.
I tried to start a software development business with the support of my friends a couple of times even though I had no idea about how the business works. Needless to say, the ventures failed badly.
After I graduated, I had a good career run with some reputed companies.
But in 2004 we had to sell our house to settle some of our major debts and move to the city of Cochin. At that time, I was financially unstable, or, if the truth be told, had no money, assets or income to maintain a good living.
In 2005, my brother got admission to the prestigious Govt. Engineering College at Trivandrum. Even though it was my responsibility to make sure my brother's education continued uninterrupted, it was at the same time that I also made an important decision in life - to try my hand at running a business again, after resigning my job with an MNC. My family was against my idea of my leaving a secure job and taking risks, but I had got off to a good start, and eventually got a business tie-up with a UK based company. They were so pleased with my performance that they agreed to start a company in Kochi. Thus I set up an MNC in India for them at the beginning of 2006. I was designated Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of this UK based company.
But this did not work for me either. I made the mistake of not asking for a share in the company at the initial stage. I ended up having no stake in the company after a couple of years. At the end, I felt as an employee there, even though I was running the business for them.
By end of 2007, I took another risk by leaving the company that earned me a monthly income of Rs.60,000-75,000. I had hit rock bottom - fallen to an absolute zero position again as I still didn't have much savings to start a business on my own (I was paying off the remaining debt incurred by my father all these years).
I made another attempt in January 2009, with the same brand name I used earlier for marketing. I was having a hard time with my family, as everyone was unsupportive; they were blaming me for leaving safe jobs.
But this time, all my determined efforts started showing results. The business started blooming. I was pretty sure of the obstacles that I had to overcome, and ended up bringing more partners to join me only after a few months of inception of the company. Now, the business is incorporated in the name of "CaspiaDew IT Innovations Pvt Ltd", even though I still keep the original brand name I used earlier that is "South Ocean Solutions" as a division of CaspiaDew. Even though it is a small company in terms of manpower and turnover, our income growth for the past one-year has surpassed all our expectations. Now I have better income, and respect in society, more than what I could have achieved had I been an employee somewhere else.
Now I live happily and comfortably without the fear of debts. I am happy that I am sponsoring a kid's education, but above all I am prepared to face whatever life brings to me, be it happiness or worries.