Where will the money come from?

This rather direct question was not posed by people who wanted to know how we were going to finance our venture or how long were we going to be self employed. This was asked by Rishabh.

Rishabh is my 5 year old son.Like all 5 year olds of his generation he is observant, sharp and has a great sense of humor.On my 1st day at home, I sat him down and explained on how I was going to work from home.He quickly grasped the situation and asked me " Where will the money come from? for his weekly visits to the mall, for buying Ben 10 & Bakugan, for his computer games." Kids can be very direct and to the point. He was quick to understand the implication of me staying at home. I realised I had a lot to learn from my 5 year old.

The other half of the (Ad)venture

The urge to do something on my own was not something new, though i must admit no one in my family had been in business. At this time it is important for me to introduce another person in this adventure- Shalaka aka Shalu. She was partly instrumental in egging me to break the shackles. She definitely had more of an entreprenuerial streak ,had started new ventures for other corporates and she had beaten me on kicking out the 9 to 5 routine by about 8 months.

We had been discussing this venture for about 3 years.While Shalu quit her corporate job and got into freelance consulting, i still clung on...partly hoping that one could double hat- a corporate job and also start on your own.
But this was proving to be difficult.Hence I looked at Dec 2008 as my last month in my present job. Thankfully things pretty much fell in place when i got the call from my boss...that was just the trigger I needed...
Shalu supported my decision..It was important for me to get her approval, since she would play a very important role in our new venture.
This blog is more about our venture and less about mine..

PS. I forgot to mention that i have known Shalu for the past 11 years now.Yep..we met in B-school. Got hitched to each other and married in 2003. But thats another story for another day...:-)

Monday Blues End

I always wanted to quit on a Monday. Like all blue blooded MBA's I had begun to hate Mondays and wanted to get back on everything that Mondays stood for...
From being " the apple of the eye" for around 5+ years in my organization, now ,i could not see" eye to eye" with my boss. Everyday seemed a burden and the first thought on entering office would be- when would i head back home.
Work was not killing me; but the stress of working on projects that seemed to be headed nowhere was certainly finishing all creativity in me.
To cut matters short- I was on vacation ( 15 day mandatory leave- a not so great perk because you are expected to be available 24/7), when my boss called me and explained to me how times were tough and there were great challenges ahead. How there was a great opportunity in Sales. And How I did not have a choice....All this happened on a Sunday and I was to resume office on Wednesday. Surely this could have waited for 2 more days, but i guess profitability of the vertical was at stake.
So on Monday( Incidentally 13th of the month- I just love these small karmic connections ) i called my boss and told him I did indeed have a choice.. I choose to Quit. I promptly mailed him my resignation and began my second innings to earn a livelihood...this time on my terms..my conditions.
My Monday Blues had come to an end.....

Disclaimer

This blog is not intended to hurt anyones feelings, intentionally or unintentionally and will not be held responsible for any harm caused to readers.