I believe certain people cross your life as guardian angels
Acknowledge them
Every week, I write an article to share my learning or discovery during my startup journey. Here is the link to my reasons for penning these articles for myself and many others like me.
Sometimes people get a business coach, who will help you in reaching your goals by pushing you, motivating you, or by being your accountability partner. I feel the greatest advice comes when it is unsolicited, without any price tag, and any label of advice or motivational quote. And the beauty is that the person doesn’t even know that he or she had shared something which has motivated their listeners so much.
This week I want to acknowledge my CA for giving me his valuable advice just like that. I went to his office to start the process of my company registration. I was in a doubtful state whether it is ok to spend money on these procedures when I have no clear vision about my company. I had already spent the past few months doing a pilot run for a consultancy as well as for a product idea. Both these initiatives did not bring good results as per my expectations. All this was going in my mind. I did not share it with the CA. I just mentioned that I was not too sure of taking this step of company registration and spending money when I do not have any clients or revenue in hand. He shared his personal story with me. He told that earlier he was working from a small office. During the lockdown, he shifted to a bigger office. While shifting to the new office, he was going through the same turmoil. A bigger office means bigger rent. He mentioned that due to this shift, he has become more focused on his work. He had to earn more, get more clients to pay the higher rent. He had also added admin staff. He concluded that first, you need to take a big step, and then that big step will drive you to work more, close more leads and eventually expand your business.
I felt so positive after this talk. Till date, I do not feel any doubt in my mind about spending money on company registration. Though there are still some anxious moments of the future. But clarity is very much there as to how I want my future to look. This clarity is due to that earlier conversation with my CA, who does not even know how his personal story has helped me immensely.
Last week I visited his office again to collect all the company-related documents. I shared with him an instance where I had to do so many follow-ups with a client to get my payments. He also shared his story with a similar client not paying on time and hence wasting his time on multiple follow-ups. I found his approach in handling this client very insightful. Instead of getting frustrated due to the late payments, he advised the client to pay monthly installments. So, the client does not have to pay a bulk amount in a go. As the final amount was high, this might make it tough for the client to release big payments and hence resulting in frequent follow-ups by vendors. The CA wanted to find a solution to this problem. He understood that the client cannot pay a lump sum amount, so he convinced him to pay a smaller amount every month. Contrary to this approach, I had decided not to work again with the client who failed to release payment on time. This would mean closing the door for all future work and money. Whereas my CA had found a solution to this situation in which he did not leave the client but kept on getting paid for his services. I think it is in my nature to do “Jerk reactions”. In business, this approach is like putting your foot on the hammer. Hence again on my second visit to CA, I learned another useful lesson about business. Jerk reactions will harm your business. Find solutions that will keep your business healthy and alive. Do not lose a client because they did something that you do not like or are against the normal practice. Try to be patient and be in the shoes of another person. Maybe and mostly the truth from their side is different from what you had assumed. That day, I conveyed my gratitude to the CA for all the insights that he had given me with his personal stories.
I wish everyone a great end of this year 2021. Hope each one of you crosses paths with people who can be your guiding lights without them knowing about it.
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