BPO Business Plan - Venture Capital Funding

BPO Business Plan - Venture Capital Funding and More - Just Drop it By Rajesh Kanoi


After a day's work, I headed to my oasis, a watering hole for the thirsty soul … yes, a beer bar! I walked up unequal steps to the sit out on the first floor that overlooks a busy street. The beer there is draught, light on the belly and prices light on the wallet. I sat down and waited for my temporary nirvana to arrive frothing at the rim.

As I looked down, out into the street, the cold beer swirled around my mouth and found its gentle path down my interior, bringing a much-needed salve to a weary me. I sat thinking about time and its quirky ways. Soon, a tall fella, an American with long hair, came and sat some distance away. He sipped morosely at his tipple. I observed him for a while and then called out to him, inviting him to join me at my table. He graciously accepted, carrying his mug of the golden liquid across. Introductions over, we started chatting about work. He said he was the CEO of a BPO and had recently been let go because his salary of a couple of lakhs (hundred thousand/s) in addition to a bonus was too high for the Canadian company that owned the business and how they had found an Indian to take over as CEO at half the expense.

He said he was now looking for funding to start his own venture. I heard his business plan and how he had customers lined up, and how the venture would break even in under a trimester. He also spoke about how he could arrange the right manpower and the other essentials to get the business up and started in a short time. He mentioned how at an average US$ 8 per manhour the company would make about 60% net and that the initial investment of about rupees 2 crores (twenty million) would be recovered and repatriated in under a year and a half - if that's what the investors desired. He said he would bring in about US$ 100,000 of his own money, too. I became interested and called up some wealthy relatives who I thought might be keen on such a venture. They showed some interest and said they would let me know their decision within a couple of days.

I told my new American acquaintance that I needed to understand his business better and that I would ask questions, including some that might sound stupid but he would need to be patient and answer because the rich investors would expect answers to everything, especially on the accounting side of the business. He said that was no problem. Our discussions carried on for a while. I asked many questions and he answered them all to more than my satisfaction, convincing me that there was indeed a sound plan that our friend had put together.

Soon, came the question of ownership and who would own how much of the company. He said the investors would get 10% of the equity for every crore they invested. Two crores would mean 20%. ‘Hey, hey, hang on a minute…,’ my instincts said. I asked him if the investors who put in most of the money got only twenty percent of the shares, who would own the rest. He said the rest would go to other investors who brought in the next round of financing. Fair enough! But, what if there was no ‘next round of financing’ then what?

He said he was willing to answer stupid questions but he could not send me to business school. I reacted with, ‘con school’ you mean. He looked livid, but kept his calm. I persisted, ‘to recover and repay the two crores invested initially in a year and a half to an investor who had only twenty percent of the company implied that the venture would make more than 15 crores net in the period. Moreover, if you (your ideas and ability, that is) are worth so much why would your former employer let you go at all?' I didn't need to go to Harvard Business School to learn that! He looked lost. 'Just drop it,' he answered.

I dropped it, paid for my beer and strolled out into the rain … remembering to call the potential investors and asking them to ‘drop it’.

Rajesh Kanoi (Jack) is a published writer, now living and working in China. Many of his short-stories, poems and articles have been published, including a book of short-stories, 'From China With Love' (Lipstick Publishing).

http://www.writingup.com/blog/oneinabillion http://o3.indiatimes.com/kjack/
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