[nitinkbhaskar]

Originally Posted by Malyaj

You need to keep digging a deep well at one place instead of digging many shallow ones.

Many thanks Malyaj for sharing your experience.
Picking up a new skill at at phase of life (except student phase) is very difficult, let alone in 40s and that too in an unknown domain. Hats off sir !!

Threads like this and selfdrive's just emphasize that one always should be on his toes whether he/she is in corporate job or business. Reskilling and constantly challenging one self is highly important.

Also totally agree with the quoted sentence. Always try to choose a domain which interests you and make a living out of it. The whole process will be effortless (relatively) provided you keep your persistence levels high !!

[Malyaj]

Originally Posted by GTO

All of us take a couple of body blows in life; what matters is how you pick yourself up again, with spirit & determination .

Also dropping a link to selfdrive's experience of getting fired.

Thanks GTO for that link. Always love a candid post.

Originally Posted by condor

2. Freelancing: see if any good service organization needs those skills. If one finds the right organization, they will remember you with gratitude. And it can help many people downstream.

Two points I can add if some has free time: Volunteer somewhere, based on your passion. There are places where one can at least do something useful while remaining engaged.

@condor - Very good suggestion, the first one. We also gave a serious thought to volunteering work recently, co-incidentally the 2nd wave struck and we are grounded again.

Originally Posted by vb-san

Thank you for sharing! Those catch-phrases like ‘seeing the bigger picture, ‘look on the brighter side’, ‘light at end of the tunnel’ may all sound a cliché during good times, but the real meaning shines through during tough times. And once we sail through the rough waters the world looks a much better and meaningful place. Stay safe!

Thanks @vb-san. Yes indeed. Every single one of these have started making sense in the last one year. I don't dismiss any words of wisdom nowadays!

Originally Posted by tharian

All valid points, especially since I'm going through the same, it was easy to relate. It is very easy to lose focus and motivation especially in the current conditions. What I learnt in the last few months is just what you said - it is upto one self and no one else.

All the best to you.

Thanks @tharian. Wish you all the best in these tough times.

Originally Posted by srvm

Dear Malyaj,
I remember you ran a restaurant business. I always wondered how your business weathered the Covid-19 lockdown storm. Heartbreaking to know that you had to shut it. But as they say What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. It is clear from your post that you are a tough spirit and you will emerge out of these trying times much stronger.
All the best.
Do update this thread whenever possible. Your words can inspire many.

Thanks @srvm. In hindsight it was good that it got shut down. I spent nearly 3 years and beyond a point I could not see it making any money and there was no additional learning in it, just the same cycle every day.

Originally Posted by am1m

Hats off to you sir. I remember reading your posts about your restaurant business experience and I really admired how you took care of your employees for as long as it was possible during this period.

Now my respect has grown, this is an extremely useful, practical and motivating post!

Thanks @am1m. Now that a year has passed, I can say I have seen more cases of businesses taking care of their employees than not.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Dear Malyaj,

Thank you for this honest to goodness thread and sharing your experiences with candour. I'm sure many readers will find this thought provoking and insightful. Appreciate your courage. My very best wishes to you as you navigate these strange waters.

The crash of 2020-2021 is actually a blessing in one way for many young people who never saw an environment where incomes, jobs, careers went down.

Thanks a lot Sir. I entered the job market in 2002, a year which was reeling from the dot com bust and aftermath of Sept 11, and companies did their best to depress salaries for new hires. Then in 2008 Lehman happened but I held on to my job. For people who entered the job market after 2010 and especially the startup boom, this has been a shock, especially in India as we are always told that we have limitless potential and employability.

Originally Posted by subraiyr

@Malyaj

One thing i would like to add which my firm taught me is to Network. You never know where the next door is and who can open it. Build your network when you are working and someone, somewhere is looking for You

Good luck and do have fun. We all live one life and one should not spend it in despair

Thanks @subraiyr. Yes, networking is very very important. As important as skills itself. The more diverse set of people you know, the better.

[ashishpotdar]

Really appreciate your honesty and patience through this ordeal. Frugality, openness to accept the situation, adaptability and a peer-like relationship with the spouse that you have indicated are invaluable supports that you have.

One small suggestion. You mentioned that you had a cloud kitchen business and had to shut it down. Do reflect and pen down your thoughts, insights about what went wrong. Work out the P&L and unit cost dynamics, cashflows. Reflect on the problems faced and the key reasons for failure. Structure your thoughts on all aspects of the business, articulate them as a case study. If you had any ideas on pivoting but could not pursue due to funding, capture them. Put up a Medium article, YT or TED talk on what you learnt from your failure. Network in Industry forums and webinars.

Then pitch it to existing large players in the Food Delivery/ Cloud Kitchen space as a real experience. Offer to share it as a talk and consult pro bono to work on some problem piece they are having. Most of the large funded startups have plenty of cash and dearth of on-ground, roll up your sleeves talent. Consulting companies also need Industry talent to do diligence or advise clients. There will be a lot of value to hear from someone who has run a business and seen impact of Covid firsthand.

Know a friend who runs a distribution house along with his wife (after an FMCG sales stint). Because of his experience and network in the industry, started consulting pro-bono with a few small FMCG companies and now has atleast 3 to 4 paid clients, along with a retainer ship with KPMG. His pitch has always been a few months of unpaid immersion in the business, till you become part of the problem that the team has and they trust you for a solution.

Don't constrain yourself to just one domain. The Gig economy gives you the freedom to wear multiple hats, explore, learn and contribute. When there is resonance between what you contribute and what organizations need, money happens.

Sorry if some of this is unwarranted advice. All the best for your endeavours. Your practicality and level-headedness will surely get you through this safely and successfully.

[wittycat]

The small scale businessmen also have it tough going forward with the lockdown and tightening of credit supplies and the inability of your customers to pay. Re-skilling is also not an option for these folks. Many are in their middle ages having taken over from their parents and have added responsibilities.

[motorotor]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Its commendable how you've put in the efforts to re-skill and re-invent yourself in these difficult times. Wish you all the best.

[PrasannaDhana]

I can so relate to the OP post.

I run a few schools ranging from nursery and primaries to Higher Secondaries, all in rural areas, catering to the poor and lower middle class sections of the society. Since March 24th 2020, we had to close down all of them. Though our main motto is to serve, it is impossible to reach the break even of income vs expenses without the small school fee that the parents pay.

With schools not running, parents just won't pay (most.cases, can't pay due to lockdown). Modern solutions to lockdown like Online classes don't work as the families in rural areas rarely have more than 2 mobile phones, even if they had, it will be a basic keypad phone which can't be used for online classes.

Beyond the big stress of not having money come in, to pay my staff, it's more depressing to not see the children for so long. Imagine having the privilege of interacting with hundreds of kids and adolescent young people everyday to being made to see empty playgrounds and classrooms. It does affect one badly.

We have always been extremely frugal with handling our finances in the past, which has enabled me to pay all my staff all these months from our emergency funds even though we had no income. Now with everything exhausted, if the lockdown gets extended, I might just be forced to ask the staff to find some other source of income until schools reopen later this year. I pray the lockdown doesn't extend beyond July. Or else I have no choice.

A few of my relatives and family friends run engineering, polytechnic, art & science colleges. They unapologetically tell me they haven't paid their staff anything since last year as they had no work to do, and are considered to be on leave. As unethical it may seem, I also don't know in what way college administrators can bring in money to pay them without actual income. I know a dozen private school managements who have stopped paying their staff, they couldn't, even if they wanted. Most school teachers in rural areas go to work in the government's 100 day scheme.

Small business owners, small scale service industry people like me are the worst hit group, after the poorest section of people in this country. People like us don't have the liberty to change professions like individual employees at an organization. Being the one running an organization is a burden in itself, and during tough times like these, it gets to a point that it is unbearable. Biggest challenge is being the one to put up a brave face , the one who is optimistic and leading your teams towards positivity while the gloom and doom are looming at our door step.

But what's the use in whining? I also did some bold moves last year which unfortunately proved to be blunders due to lockdown. I spent 22 lakhs on a new school bus and 30 big ones on a new building to accommodate the increasing number of admissions. Never did I imagine the lockdown would extend the entire year. The new bus has <100 km on odo now, exactly after an year of purchase.

I am extremely grateful that we have been debt free. I can't imagine having to pay debt + interest at a time like this.
Worst case scenario- I will have to ask staff to stay home until schools reopen, and pay the unskilled but essential staff (securities, drivers, cooks and janitors) for maintaining the campuses. Once the covid19 gets lost from the face of earth, we will start afresh.

Lesson learnt in the past that has helped be thus far: Be frugal even during good times, never fall into debt and always do the best you can for the people that work for you.

Saving up an emergency fund (minimum 6 months of your family's expenses for individuals & 6 months of organization's payments for businesses/organizations) is the best thing to do. It may take you a year or 2 of living extremely modestly to achieve this. But once you are done, you have a peace of mind that you can face anything.

[buz]

Thanks for this post. Being in the exact same situation, I can empathise with so much of what you have gone through. I run a chain of daycares in Mumbai. All shut since mar 15, 2020. While I didn’t go the reskilling route, spent this time first removing fixed costs from our business and then slowly but steadily grabbing every opportunity that makes it asset light with higher operating leverage. On the personal front have just supported the family with child minding while online classes are underway and managing the house a bit more so that the wife can work without distraction and continue earning the daily bread. My productive release comes in the form of rookie level guitar practice and have started working out to lose weight and get the vitals in check. Still feel a bit under-utilised if you know what I mean. Have set eyes upon learning ML/AI but keep holding back on how to sell the skills sans background. But as with entrepreneurship, it always started with a need and would have never picked up with doubts. Guess I need to redo the same thing.

[Puffdamgcdragon]

Thank you for your uplifting post.
Point no 4 cannot be emphasised enough. The shame and despair we feel when we are not earning and “bringing home the bacon” for a long stretch of time. This is because we pride ourselves as being the breadwinner and solving problems.
Just last week I resolved myself not to fall in despair and simply hang on till this epidemic ends.
I thought more about how I’m going to earn more once everything was ok.
Just thinking positively has changed my interaction with my kids and family and uplifted the mood at home.

[jayanth_k]

Thanks for sharing this message. Quite useful and very motivational indeed. All the best to you in your new career.

[S2K]

Originally Posted by Maverick5490

Very valid points @MalyajI would also like to add a point of financial liabilities. Keep EMI's and loans at minimal, we are also a DINK family and our priority was to get the loans closed

I have a few questions regarding this. More like anticipatory advices.
I am assuming that since you are a DINK family, you are a young couple in their early thirties or even younger. As mid-twenties salaried person from a middle class family, I have been able to avoid having any financial liability so far but some pretty important things like marriage and related expenses are round the corner (a couple of years at max), and I want to be prepared, at least financially, if not in other ways
So I would like to understand what sort of situations, needs or wants lead to making bad financial decisions?
What are the reasons for which people take on EMI and loans? (I only know of two reasons why someone might take a loan - car, and house. Fortunately I bought a car with complete down payment recently, so no worries for next 5-6 years at the least)
What other financial expenses should a bachelor be wary or aware of while moving into the next phase of his life?

PS. Would like as many advices from as many T-BHPians as possible. For personal reference only.
Mods, if this is against any guidelines or off-topic for thread, please do the needful and let me know the correct way.

[Herschey]

Dear Malyaj,

There is something called a crowd and then there are people who differentiate themselves by standing out from that crowd. Honesty, integrity, grit, determination, and most importantly the spirit of camaraderie, be it with your life partner or with people from within your circle of trust; these are qualities which have become increasingly rare in individuals. Our lives are more like an ECG report which continues to take sharp turns, both up and down. The qualities we possess help us navigate those sharp turns. Having a great life partner, a supportive family, and trustworthy friends, people with whom we are able to share our feelings help us take a huge burden off of our minds and also help discover new possibilities. I must say that you've been blessed with the riches aforementioned.

I must thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom with us. It takes a whole lot of courage and since I have been through a similar situation twice already in my life, I can very easily relate to this.

I am also thankful on behalf of every BHPian that you trusted us for sharing this. I am sure that the go-getter that you are, you would surely be out of this circumstance pretty soon; even much stronger this time round. Our friends here have already shared quite a few great ideas and strategies above which may help so I am not going to add to the list. I am sure you may give a thought on some of them and who knows, it may just become the beginning of a new start for you.

Wishing you the best!

Regards

[matizcrazy]

The Covid situation over the last year has caused people to cut out more and more of the excesses.
A simple life, good nourishing food, a few indulgences, brisk walks and yoga, minimal purchases are so easily achieved when one sets the mind to it.
Congratulations on your resilience and wisdom.

[aashishnb]

Originally Posted by Malyaj

Thanks @srvm. In hindsight it was good that it got shut down. I spent nearly 3 years and beyond a point I could not see it making any money and there was no additional learning in it, just the same cycle every day.

Just this morning, while I was walking, saw a closed restaurant space being redone. Most likely by the owner to lease it to someone else. On seeing that, a thought came to my mind:

Are restaurant operators who would've closed their shop during the last lockdown i.e. 1 year ago better off / lucky ones than those who chugged along and paid rent, etc. for more than a year and are now facing this second wave/lockdown?

Hopefully, the property owner may have given some waivers, costs might've come down, they might have started deliveries, etc.

As they say, hindsight is 20/20 and it is very easy to think what would've been the right thing to do.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by S2K

So I would like to understand what sort of What are the reasons for which people take on EMI and loans?

Am not a financial guy, but a salaried one who has been working for more than 20 years now. Mostly people from my generation and financial background take loans to buy a house or a car. IMHO, the best financial advice ever would be "Never take a loan for a depreciating asset." Land appreciates, flats in Bangalore appreciate at least on paper , a degree from a good college always pays for itself and more over the years, a sound business venture can put you in a different wealth league all together.

Almost everything else, it would be silly to get into debt to obtain/finance- car, bike, vacation, electronic gadgets, fancy wedding. For stuff like that, get what you can afford well within your means. And to hell with what other people think.

Marry someone whose financial goals and spending align with yours. Encourage your spouse to work, a second income is a buffer in bad times.

[Drive Head]

A quite relatable post. Different people gets jolted at different times. Now, I believe that, everyone has to go through something disastrous atleast once in their life and that is the reality. So better to remain prepared for such an event. You never know when, but it will come, unaware.

I have been through twice of similar times in between 2013 to 2017. Somehow surviving through COVID in a much better way now, as compared to the previous times.

In the mentioned times, lost everything and lived very very frugally for more than a year. Cried a lot, stressed a lot, have understood a lot who are your friends and foes, learned about family.

Those years taught me to take everything easy and leave everything to the almighty,. Things happen. Just go on doing what you do best and rest will be taken care. Bad days, good days are just a apart of life. For some it becomes more harsh, for others a bit less cruel.

Be happy and live in the present.