July 01, 2017 the day when GST rolled out and all the major online selling platforms have already introduced this new taxation system in their work structure. I was still wondering what the heck it was because, unlike others I hated this taxation system and the mathematical calculations. After thinking a lot for the whole day and the following night, I concluded that nothing in this world is impossible. And GST is not a monster, though I was exempted from Service tax as my company never touched the annual turnover of 10 lakhs but now I will have to file the GST returns and will have to pay the tax no matter whatever my income or turnover is because the publishing industry is now under GST.

I remember when I started this publishing house, Damick Publications. Before which I was always afraid of doing/starting a business and managing it all alone. But one day all of a sudden I selected a manuscript to publish from my publishing house. I talked to the author and genuinely told her that hers was the first script which I was going to publish and if in case it fails, her amount will be refunded. She agreed and I started the publishing process. After the hard work of 2-3 months, I successfully published the first title and in the mean time I got another 2 projects in hand. This is how it started and I was through my fear of starting a business all alone.

The next stage was selling the books online. Again a lot of hectic tasks were there like, to get the required registrations and the document fulfilments done.  But I chose Amazon to start my business with and I laugh when I say that it was automatically done without much effort or you can say I had put the efforts but I never felt that I had to go through a lot of problems. May be it was my zeal which made everything easy for me. And I am now a bookseller at 4 major online selling platforms in India.

The initial income was not good enough, though it is not good enough now also (because a businessman is always hungry to grow). But I don’t feel like working in some other company as I think my company would only prosper when I will devote my full time in it. Of course I too dream for a perfect life where there is a fixed schedule and you have to work on that without taking your work pressure out of your office. I too want to go out on weekends and enjoy the night out with friends, but being a businessman in case if I go out, the work tensions and pressure goes out with me. In fact they follow me everywhere.

I keep talking about my business whole day with my business partner and associates, but they never ask me to stop talking about it. Because they know that the more we discuss, the more alternatives we find out to fight our problems. The hurdles were many and the solutions were none, but when the deadline for the project was near, everything was sorted on its own. Maybe I took unnecessary tension when it was not required, but those tensions have made my mental conditions strong enough to handle any kind of pressure.

Yes, starting a business is difficult. It becomes more difficult when we do not have investments and even tougher when we have complicated taxation systems of the government, but what keeps you going is your determination to keep going and reach to the point where you wanted to. Being ok is just ok, but being the one who chooses to make his own way is not okay at all. To make our own way we have to fight the odds of life. You get to face the volcanoes (the anger of your family), the mountains (the taxation system), the river (the reforms in the industry), the storms (losses and project failures), the road blocks (enemies/competitors), the thunderclaps (govt. fines, unexpected expenses). But when you get through all, you get to see the shinning sun in a clear day (success). This is life.

I would have chosen to be an employee of a multinational company, but I chose to be an entrepreneur. Maybe I was destined to do this, if you believe in destiny you can say this. But now when I am here, I am not going to leave. I will stay, fight the odds and conquer. I will stay, achieve the success and win the hearts. I will stay, get what I wanted and then my life will be okay (the type I wanted it to be.)

So when someone asks me “How is it possible to grow at such a fast pace in very short span of time?” I smile and say “A man is a donkey. When he gets kicked, he starts working. If you don’t get the kick, you will never think about growth. There is nothing you can’t do, all you need is to get into it and keep the faith. Let the situations take you through. Just flow with the flow of life and you will be there at your destination.”

Chandra Kant Jaisansaria

(CEO, Damick Publications)