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Small and Midsize BPO's - are we really dying ?
HI All,
Note :- This story is based on the reality and the consultants my friend dealt with were ;-
- Vinayak Chitlangi - Jaipur
- Ruksha Technology - Banglore
- Lancer consultancy - Gwalior
- Rajkumar - Coimbatore
- Ankit Das - Infinovo infotech
- Ankit Srivastava - Kanpur
- Khwaja sharif - Banglore
and many more.....
Today I may not wish any good times for you. The reason behind is quite genuine and bit scary.
Recently , I was having a usual chat with one of my good friend ,who owns a BPO here. He said "Sumit, I am planning to close down everything and to look out for some job; I cant bear it anymore....Things are going out of hands.. I'm fed up of this "UPFRONT" and "CONSULTANCY CHARGES".. and he stopped."...
I was more stunned than shocked, the reason is simple.. I have seen this guy from the day..he has opened his center some 10 months back and how badly he is being ditched by so called consultants, client representatives and so on...
He started with some emailing process and paid an upfront amount of Rs.3 lakh.. after a month there was only a huge invoice but no one to pay. Client turned out to be non-responding, consultant helpless and finally the project FAKE. This was his first encounter with this cruel and biggest reality of BPO business in India.
He sat quite for some time and again got some Medical form filling process and restarted the things with some learning from the previous mistakes,This time he paid only 50% of asked upfront ie Rs.2.5 lakh and rest is negotiated to be deducted from billing.
He was quite satisfied with the deal but something else was waiting for him and again history repeated itself. The same thing repeated step by step and at the end Client turned out to be non-responding, consultant helpless and finally the project FAKE.
This time it was really shocking as there is more than business which is at stake. Still somehow he managed and cop-up with the condition. He kept on searching for some process just for his survival.
Things again turned up and he came across a process called payroll processing / form filling. He again collected all his energy and "SAVINGS" , and paid only Rs.1 lakh as upfront. The reason for paying the upfront for third time is clear - "No one in the market having "SO CALLED GENUINE PROCESS" is ready to talk without money. They want money first and then only things can be initiated, so you are helpless. Its like a do or die situation..either you pay upfront and take process or sit idle and close your center.
Some how he started the process, but his luck dosen't seems to be in good health and the same cycle of events reiterated and at the end Client turned out to be non-responding, consultant helpless and finally the project FAKE.
It was really devastating, he was just shattered, things just started piling up on his mind. He became almost insane. There was only darkness and no way out. Employees started pinching him for their due salaries, computer vendor was running behind him for rent , office landlord was not ready to listen anything , internet connection has been cut and electricity bill piling up. Things were really in bad shape.
He was having only one way to get out of this mess and that is "Get some good process , run it and finish it up.." . His last search for the project started and he was so desperate this time that he kept on surfing for 15-18 hours a day. Finally he got another one and this time the consultant guranteed the LC as payment security.But the "GOLDEN RULE" remained unchanged. There was an upfront of Rs.5 lakh and that was the only condition for signup. He was guranteeing the payments with a Letter of credit (LC) from domestic bank and so things looked good.
Finally, my friend did , what seems to be the last option , he borrowed some Rs.10 lakhs from market. The reason for double amount includes the incident mentioned above. Before restarting the new work he has to pay the existing debt which includes employees due salaries , computer rent, office rent, internet bill , electricity bill . so 10 lakh was sufficient for him to start.
He paid the amount of Rs. 5 lakh to consultant , signed the agreemnt and started the process christened as "Resume form filling" & "Automobile form filling". He worked on it for a month and parallely waited for his so called LC to be issued. With all the talks and problems and negotiations, the month was over and by the time he was about to raise his first bill of quite a "HUGE AMOUNT OF BILLING", the history repeated itself again and finally and at the end Client turned out to be non-responding, consultant ran away and finally the project was FAKE.
This time there was no scope and my friend was in the total debt of around Rs.18 lakh as per my last talk with him. This is the valid reason for him to stop everything right here and to search out for a decent job and look out for some decent and genuine way to repay the debts.
This is not the story of only one of my friend , but as per as i know its the story of almost everyone who deals in the Small and midsize BPO segment in india.
I dont know, what to ask from you guys, whether i should scream "HELP" or "THROW THESE B******S OUT OF MARKET" or anything else.
To end with , I will say only one thing - Please take good care of your money and be united. Start saying no to upfront and make these so called consultants helpless , so that they will surrender and will shell out the process in an ethical way.
If you have any story to share, I would be more than happy to hear it.
Thanks.
Sumit Rathore
Note :- This story is based on the reality and the consultants my friend dealt with were ;-
- Vinayak Chitlangi - Jaipur
- Ruksha Technology - Banglore
- Lancer consultancy - Gwalior
- Rajkumar - Coimbatore
- Ankit Das - Infinovo infotech
- Ankit Srivastava - Kanpur
- Khwaja sharif - Banglore
and many more.....
Today I may not wish any good times for you. The reason behind is quite genuine and bit scary.
Recently , I was having a usual chat with one of my good friend ,who owns a BPO here. He said "Sumit, I am planning to close down everything and to look out for some job; I cant bear it anymore....Things are going out of hands.. I'm fed up of this "UPFRONT" and "CONSULTANCY CHARGES".. and he stopped."...
I was more stunned than shocked, the reason is simple.. I have seen this guy from the day..he has opened his center some 10 months back and how badly he is being ditched by so called consultants, client representatives and so on...
He started with some emailing process and paid an upfront amount of Rs.3 lakh.. after a month there was only a huge invoice but no one to pay. Client turned out to be non-responding, consultant helpless and finally the project FAKE. This was his first encounter with this cruel and biggest reality of BPO business in India.
He sat quite for some time and again got some Medical form filling process and restarted the things with some learning from the previous mistakes,This time he paid only 50% of asked upfront ie Rs.2.5 lakh and rest is negotiated to be deducted from billing.
He was quite satisfied with the deal but something else was waiting for him and again history repeated itself. The same thing repeated step by step and at the end Client turned out to be non-responding, consultant helpless and finally the project FAKE.
This time it was really shocking as there is more than business which is at stake. Still somehow he managed and cop-up with the condition. He kept on searching for some process just for his survival.
Things again turned up and he came across a process called payroll processing / form filling. He again collected all his energy and "SAVINGS" , and paid only Rs.1 lakh as upfront. The reason for paying the upfront for third time is clear - "No one in the market having "SO CALLED GENUINE PROCESS" is ready to talk without money. They want money first and then only things can be initiated, so you are helpless. Its like a do or die situation..either you pay upfront and take process or sit idle and close your center.
Some how he started the process, but his luck dosen't seems to be in good health and the same cycle of events reiterated and at the end Client turned out to be non-responding, consultant helpless and finally the project FAKE.
It was really devastating, he was just shattered, things just started piling up on his mind. He became almost insane. There was only darkness and no way out. Employees started pinching him for their due salaries, computer vendor was running behind him for rent , office landlord was not ready to listen anything , internet connection has been cut and electricity bill piling up. Things were really in bad shape.
He was having only one way to get out of this mess and that is "Get some good process , run it and finish it up.." . His last search for the project started and he was so desperate this time that he kept on surfing for 15-18 hours a day. Finally he got another one and this time the consultant guranteed the LC as payment security.But the "GOLDEN RULE" remained unchanged. There was an upfront of Rs.5 lakh and that was the only condition for signup. He was guranteeing the payments with a Letter of credit (LC) from domestic bank and so things looked good.
Finally, my friend did , what seems to be the last option , he borrowed some Rs.10 lakhs from market. The reason for double amount includes the incident mentioned above. Before restarting the new work he has to pay the existing debt which includes employees due salaries , computer rent, office rent, internet bill , electricity bill . so 10 lakh was sufficient for him to start.
He paid the amount of Rs. 5 lakh to consultant , signed the agreemnt and started the process christened as "Resume form filling" & "Automobile form filling". He worked on it for a month and parallely waited for his so called LC to be issued. With all the talks and problems and negotiations, the month was over and by the time he was about to raise his first bill of quite a "HUGE AMOUNT OF BILLING", the history repeated itself again and finally and at the end Client turned out to be non-responding, consultant ran away and finally the project was FAKE.
This time there was no scope and my friend was in the total debt of around Rs.18 lakh as per my last talk with him. This is the valid reason for him to stop everything right here and to search out for a decent job and look out for some decent and genuine way to repay the debts.
This is not the story of only one of my friend , but as per as i know its the story of almost everyone who deals in the Small and midsize BPO segment in india.
I dont know, what to ask from you guys, whether i should scream "HELP" or "THROW THESE B******S OUT OF MARKET" or anything else.
To end with , I will say only one thing - Please take good care of your money and be united. Start saying no to upfront and make these so called consultants helpless , so that they will surrender and will shell out the process in an ethical way.
If you have any story to share, I would be more than happy to hear it.
Thanks.
Sumit Rathore
Views: 142
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Priyashmita Guha on -
can any of the start-up's here tell me if they have any business plan? just an yes will do. i just want to know how many of these start ups actually have a plan in place
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Permalink Reply by Sanket Ashok Pingale on -
I do have one. Have plans for the nxt 3 years along with backup plans. Just stuck becoz do not knw mch abt the paperwork. Wish to go live with in the nxt 1 1/2 mnth with the outbound sales process that I have.
And no, i am not running after a 'Genuine Process'...haha.....
Ragards
Sanket Pingale
mumbai
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Permalink Reply by Priyashmita Guha on
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Great. Am glad someone has. Most guys think if they have money they can go set up a centre and pay upfront and business will topple in. And we wonder why we are cheated?
And for paperwork approach a CA
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Permalink Reply by Sonu Agrawal on
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Hi guys
Thanks Karthik, Priyashmita and sanket :)
I got very good lesson today from you three !
Karthik i am fan of yours !
thanks priyashmita for your patience
thanks sanket dude :) I have money :)... better party hard with some :)
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Permalink Reply by Posco on -
Caxton,
You have raised some very informative points. however i feel your reply is getting lost in the crowd. why don't you copy paste the text and start a new thread (under anew title may be). I guess we all need regular inputs on these points.
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Permalink Reply by F1 Solutions on
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Dear Caxton,
I really appriciate all the things you have mentioned over here,its almost your trade secret you have made open for the public. Being a consultant I know it is very bold step taken by you just to educate people and make them understand the industry.
But I am little disappointed also looking that your expertisation is might be being waste here, because these people dont even know how to do business. They all just want to be QUICK RICH. They are not clear about the business,about the industry. I have come across even some center owners who even dont know the full form of BPO/KPO/RPO.
I think the fraud people are more clear than these guys, because they atleast know that they are here for the motive of fraud and know how to make that. But are the center owners know with what motive they are into this industry.
Ok, I agree everybody wants money out of the business,but do they really know how to make it? They all just want quick and easy money and please I bag your pardon but ,they are not having any rights to shouting that I have been scammed,I have been looted etc.I think if they are being scammed than they should be, coz they just think that they will invest 5 lacks intially for the first months and will get 50 lacks in the return of billing,are you nuts? If money making via BPO is too easy than in India everybody must do that only.
Does anybody is having concreate business plan by quarter by quarter than year by year?30-40% had never even get their company registered. How many of them visit actaul end client or atleast consultant's office to verify everything? Just deposit the amount in the personal named savings bank account and that's it, no need to visit, just online sign-up and work will start. Arrrey...even sometimes if we call them that no there will be compulsory paper sign up and you need to visit our premises or client's premises than they will denied telling that "sir,my 2 days will be wasted,do one thing send me via courier or scan copy. I will do sign up and will send it across to you."what????????? they even dont know how the sign ups can be done,and than shouting I have been scammed.
I am extremly sorry if I have hurted someone,but yes my intention was actually to hurt all that guys who had done these type of things.
Hope you now better understand the procedures and working criterias of this esteem field and by that only those fraud persons can be out of this industry.
Not So Warm Regards,
Kandarp Devashrayee
kandarp@f1solution.in
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Permalink Reply by Pegasus Informatics. on -
Some may wnna make quick money, Some wnna own 1 to enhance their profile of being an owner of a BPO owner, And some thought they could be better service providers than the other's & create a better workforce in the industry...
As a whole, it's too complex for any1 to realize the integrity of this sector... When I started, I was like OMG there is soo much competition I need to face, even with these mid-sized centre's... How am I gnna deal with the big players thn?though i was well aware of the negativity of this sector... Haha... Today for most of us, it's competition with faith & hope...guys am no exception as all of u all... I've also had my share.. But I say thr is sufficient business available, and sources say, clients themselves stop outsourcing to avoid confusion of their credibility.. As a case u have a manager of some X company guiding his cousin to start it for him in some corner of his residence or their fronds back in India, and surprisingly they don't stay for long and close soon..
However maybe the case.. I look at this way, since we r taking about being united n throwing out these fraudsters, I know it still can't happen by just being united.. The solution is either we forget wat we r doing...
Or, all of us genuinely build an association, and approach bodies like Nasscom etc & convince them to build confidence in us by allowing us in giving access to the industry in a better way... Guys nobody sitting at MNC's would pity any1... It's the matter of big bucks everywhere.. And for sure these MNC would never allow small centre's to survive.. I may have a wrong perception, but can some1 suggest any better?
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Permalink Reply by Gnana subramanian on -
Hi,
May I say let every one get united through emails, blogs, number however we can and stop these people by one way.
1. let all the new centres be informed by adequate advertisement and letting them know to contact a service provider or customer service at a minimum fee say like 500 or 1000 (offcourse Rupees) through bank DD and help them to know what it takes to start a call centre and how to approach and processes to be acquired. Like a one roof solution.
I apologize if I am vague.
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Permalink Reply by Pegasus Informatics. on
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One of many solutions;
If an established Consultant realizes, that there is an immediate potential of a Rs.500crore market opened for him..!!
All he has to do is just take the pain of creating a platform to work uniformly. Consultants r u listening??
Aleem Khan.
Pegasus Informatics.
sales@pegasusinformatics.com
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Permalink Reply by sujit ghosh on -
contact us if you want recover 843620562 we will help you ..............
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