QUICK FIX

Dear friends, I have learned a lot since I started to write. I didn’t know that I could do this, and I still wonder if I will be able to sustain expectation. While I was thinking of what to write this week, I remembered the number of e-mails I receive daily via Ask JT very innocent and genuine questions, some even touch my heart. No millionaire writes to me, no billionaire knows me, but when I thought of all these genuine people who write to me, I thought of sharing this story  ‘A quick fix’. I get many emails from entrepreneurs, professionals and people from all strata of society asking for ‘quick fix’ solutions to their problems, from debt, projects, finance, and even marital issues. I don’t believe that sitting in your office, playing with the mouse can make a project nor can a board room meeting make it work. What you need is the willingness to get down and dirty and lead from the front. Once you conceive the project, put a timeline because time is money, chase the timeline and complete the project ahead of schedule, produce whatever you intend to, generate revenue and be ahead of the game. To do this, you need to lead from the front. I am giving you a few visuals. What you see here is one of the recent projects that I did a factory that I bought in 1992 from a few friends of mine. I carried on with this factory, in production for the past 18 years and then I decided that since times have changed, I needed to re-model this plant, add some equipment, change the product and generate more revenue. Here goes, board room filled with people, mostly finance guys and engineers. The project was put together, numbers froze and we were ready to go. I go to the site and I oversee the existing building being demolished. Though I was a bit sentimental seeing the building coming down, my objectives were clear- I had decided to do this project. I became the project head and was able to complete this project in 120 days. This was a project that I did in 2010 where I worked close to 18 hours a day. Of course, I was well supported and assisted by senior engineers and managers of my construction division. I want to thanks them all for the teamwork and their untiring efforts that made this possible. After I was neck-deep in it I realized it was a tough one and there was a lack of proper planning too. Meanwhile, I did not forget my wonderful evenings entertaining my friends and customers. I kept my spirits high and completed this project on my scale a big one, within a reasonably scheduled time plan. This factory was done in 120 days and re-opened in June. Up until August 2010, we have done about Rs.10 crores worth of exports. If this factory was delayed, Rs.10 crores of revenue would have been lost. Delayed timelines result in rising interest costs, loss in revenue and thus a rise in overall project cost. The crux of the story is- don’t think there are quick-fix solutions. You have to get down and dirty, lead from the front and complete the project ahead of schedule so that you always stay within your forecasted revenue and budgets. View the pictures, read the captions and enjoy!