He was doing freelance work, building relationships, and over time, collecting the people and resources that would help him kickstart his venture.

It took him about one year to go from idea to launch.

I was incredibly inspired. But most IMPORTANTLY, I realised you did not need CAPITAL to start a business❗️ You only need skills and hard work! Then why not me? Maybe I could also start a business?

This was followed by a visit to an event called Startup Saturday. I met several entrepreneurs there – most of them struggling – actually building businesses. Some of them were even raising venture capital.

It blew my mind. That is when I made up my mind that I want to start my own business. But how❓

I was not a software developer that I could make some software like the IIT guys I met at Startup Saturday. I had no clue what to build. Building a product seemed out of reach. So I opted to create a service.

I saw that these startups needed legal help but lawyers were too pricey and bureaucratic for their liking. However, I was not yet a lawyer, so I couldn’t just go and offer legal services. So I created something new – a legal risk management service.

I would look at a business model, deeply study its practices and give the owner all the research on various legal risks. So that they could take precautions, insurances and countermeasures.

I did manage to get my first three clients by pitching to my contacts at this event, where I had started to volunteer so that I could talk to all the speakers and network. Not just small startups, we even got large organisations to give us work, such as the Vibgyor Group and even L&T❗️

There was a problem though – a lot of people rejected us saying you guys are just kids. How could we get them to take us more seriously❓

Then I started a blog, so that people would read my insights and realise I was smart, and not discount me as a kid. That's how I ended up starting the iPleaders blog while I was still in college, which has become one of the largest legal blogs in the world today. So as a 21-year-old ‘kid’, I had my own business.

I convinced others to join me as partners too. We did not have an office until 2011 – around the time when I was about to graduate – yet we made money. It was difficult, but we made it work.

It all started with removing one limiting belief….

So what limiting belief stops you from starting something of your own and giving business a shot❓ Guess what - you can do it risk free! You don’t even have to quit your job to do it.

It starts small, with the few hours you can spare. And you can build it based on the experience you have.

You don’t jump into it; you patiently put in place relationships, ideas, resources and cornerstones before you quit your day job and take the plunge. In fact, you should not quit your job until you are sure what is going to happen.

Lay the groundwork first. Then you need to understand how to find the pain points etc.

Can you imagine this kind of a future for yourself❓ If you can, then make sure you attend all three days of our FREE, LIVE, online bootcamp on "Turbocharge your Career: Start a consulting business or startup and work with US Clients using AI tools (For senior corporate professionals and remote job seekers)" from 1st to 3rd June, 7 PM - 10 PM IST.

Register now, if you haven't already:

https://skillarbitra.ge/work-with-us-clients-using-ai-tools?p_source=tele_warm

Frustrated 40s❓

It was June, 2021 when sitting in a small cubicle of a digital agency in Kolkata I had decided that I had had enough.

I started a career in copywriting while still finishing my post graduation from Jadavpur University, at the age of 23.

It was exciting at first. I was both ambitious and a hard worker, a combination that generally works well in corporate.

I started as a trainee in a small agency and after that the years went by in learning the ropes of the game and I climbed up the corporate ladder quite quickly. From trainee to junior copywriter, to senior copywriter to copy head.

For some time, my job was very fulfilling.

But then I felt stuck in a middle management trap, after a good 17 years.

I could do my job in 2-3 hours max.

Sometimes, a couple of hours more.

But I couldn’t find a new challenge for me, a new frontier to conquer.

It felt like I had achieved whatever there was to achieve.

I often wondered, “Is this it?”

Of course, successful startup founders, business owners, and professionals operated at an entirely different level, but I did not have similar opportunities accessible to me.

It seemed to be a very different world, which was far away and isolated for me.

Was the rest of my career to be spent on leisure and bitterness, forever looking over my shoulder and wary of competition❓

Then I remembered the seniors I had worked under. I could now understand why they were so bitter and frustrated.

I wanted to learn and grow, and I didn’t see a way out.

I started toying with the idea of doing something on my own, but I did not have capital nor a business idea to start a business.

I did not have savings, or family money. I thought that I should have enough savings to last me 3 years at least.

All of us, in our family, have been job holders for generations.

I did not know how to raise capital.

Even at the so-called peak of my career I was living from paycheck to paycheck.

This fear never allowed me to start my own business.

Is the same fear holding you back❓

Do you yearn for something more challenging❓

Does the fear of failure or requiring a lot of capital also prevent you from starting up, like it prevented me?

Then we have a solution for you.

What if I told you that it is possible to start a business with no capital and no team❓

What if I told you that AI and your experience is all you need to launch an international business❓

What if I told you that you can do this even before leaving your job, without putting your career and family at jeopardy❓

Would you like to know about it❓

Join our FREE 3 Day (Live Only) bootcamp on Turbocharge your career: Start a consulting business or startup and work with US clients using AI tools, 1-3 June, 7-10 pm IST.

We will provide a step by step roadmap that can help you launch your own international business in the next few months.

We will also show you how you can use AI to further increase your chances of success, get work done much faster, and make client generation many times easier.

What was not possible for me is highly possible for you now.

If I had known this solution, I would have gone for it in a jiffy.

Even if you don’t launch your business right now, you can still be the AI evangelist of your organisation.

You do not have to fear some young kid in the ‘20s taking away your job.

You will no longer fear AI, but you will befriend it and unlock massive potential in your existing job.

You can get massive increments and promotions because of that.

You can even use AI to build a personal brand that enables you to be publicly known for your work, experience more fulfilment, share your knowledge with the world and also secure bigger increments and faster promotions in your current job.

If you are conversant with AI and also build a solid personal brand, it can also help you to move to more high-paying jobs that pay much better than your existing job.

Headhunters and recruiters may even compete to hire you❗️

Do you want to explore this opportunity yet❓

Then set an alarm to attend the bootcamp live.

Register now, if you haven't already:

https://skillarbitra.ge/work-with-us-clients-using-ai-tools?p_source=tele_warm

Don’t give up on your dreams yet. See you at the bootcamp 🔥

Your 7 steps to life of freedom

I have helped hundreds of people who want to escape the middle management trap, use their expertise to enrich themselves rather than someone else and be their own boss to launch their own business. The truth is that once you have a business actually running, it is easier to run a business rather than doing a job. It’s a lot more satisfying.

You have control over your time. You have control over your life and destiny. You can take time off when you want.

You don’t need an office. You don’t need capital. You don’t need employees to get started. I will tell you how.

If you are thinking you have a skill and you will use it to get a remote job, why not think of starting a business instead❓

Here is how to start a services or consulting business working only on the side (weekends?):

👉 Develop a killer skill (for example, how to grow an Instagram account)

👉 Do it for yourself (eg: grow your own Instagram account first, maybe to 10k followers)

👉 Next, do it for 5 more people for free and document every step (to create case studies)

👉 Share before and after stories on social media, and offer to do it on a huge discount for 10 people (offer incredibly cheap price)

👉 Again, post the results to your audience. Ask those who want similar results to join your Instagram group.

👉 Now offer a higher price (increase 10-20% with every new cohort) but take limited clients - maybe 5 more? Keep it exclusive

👉 Hire people to deliver those services, you focus on getting more clients. Maybe start ads now.

Now you have a business. You can quit your job if you have one at this point, you have no risk.

It's easier than ever, works with almost every kind of service, whether b2b or b2c. You can do all these things more easily now using AI tools, in less time.

Problem is that you want to skip step 1 to 5, and want to start with step 7 from day 1 and that's why you get nowhere.

Want our help to implement this❓ We could hand hold you to implement each of these steps.

Let us help you.

Register now, if you haven't already:

https://skillarbitra.ge/work-with-us-clients-using-ai-tools?p_source=tele_warm

Will moonlighting create problems in my job? How to do it ethically/legally?

Moonlighting, or working a second job or freelance work outside of your regular working hours, is frowned upon by many employers.

But it became very common during the pandemic as people saved a lot of time by working from home (no commute, no socialising with colleagues, shorter meetings) and realised that they can make easy money on the side by freelancing for a few hours.

Here are the problems people face when they want to moonlight:

👉🏻 You may have a contract that prohibits moonlighting.

👉🏻 Your seniors may feel that you are ignoring your job if they find out you are moonlighting - you may be skipped for promotions and bonuses.

👉🏻 You need to be very careful with respect to data, confidentiality, intellectual property etc.

Most employers do not care if you do some extra work in your free time provided:

👉🏻 You are not working with a competitor

👉🏻 You are not neglecting your work and they have no reason to complain about your productivity or quality of work

👉🏻 You are not lying about it

However, if you are frequently unavailable during work hours while working remotely - they may suspect you are moonlighting and naturally will have problems with that.

It is also tricky to run your own upwork or fiverr page while you are working full time in a job, although many professionals are able to negotiate that easily.

Here are some ideas about how to moonlight safely:

✨ Of course, the best idea is to negotiate that you may do some work in your free time, outside your official work hours that do not compete or conflict with your job in any way- get it into your contract or even as an commitment over email.

✨ Only work with completely unrelated industries & non-competing orgs

✨ Never use work produced for one org while working for another, keep everything totally separate.

✨ If your contract is silent about moonlighting or exclusivity - of course you can moonlight and don’t have a legal obligation to report this. Still you may need to be careful about professional perception.

Here are some alternatives to moonlighting:

✅ Become advisor to some startups - your employer is unlikely to object to this and your contract will not prohibit this anyway. You can then get compensated either in equity or cash, or both.

✅ Volunteer at local startup accelerators - that is just volunteering work but may soon lead to paid gigs eventually

How do people with exclusivity clauses in their contracts still get around and moonlight?

1⃣ Some people have their spouse/sibling/parents/friend set up an agency, or an upwork/freelancer profile.

The formal owner really does not have the necessary skills, so the professional goes on client calls, writes proposals and closes the deal.

They split the money.

2⃣ Some people set up a pvt ltd company, or Delaware C corp in the US.

Then they can open a bank account in the name of the newly incorporated company.

This is not very expensive. You can do this just for Rs.10-15,000.

Then they run their moonlighting business in the name of the company, while they remain just shareholders of the company.

Here is what we did while we were working in a law firm. Of course, we had exclusivity of employment and we could not do any other work apart from our job. So here is what we did:

1⃣ We had a company incorporated - all work/ contracts were happening in name of that entity

2⃣ Recruited other people to do background work like making a website etc (using a part of our salary), did not launch it though

3⃣ Extensively blogged and used social media to build a community and a following

4⃣ I wrote articles in the media

5⃣ I networked with key people who will help us when we launched, including journalists, bloggers, youtubers

6⃣ Went and gave talks at colleges every chance we got

7⃣ Convinced our alma mater to certify the course we were planning - negotiations went on

8⃣ Created the first few modules at home in our free time

9⃣ I learned skills like email marketing, facebook ads, etc which was a great deal of help when we launched