Stand Out at Work!

I want to share what I learned about entrepreneurship from the boss of a collection agency where I used to work when I was in college. A mobile company hired this collection agency to manage their outstanding payments. As employees, we contacted customers, reminding them to make payments, follow up on overdue bills, and sometimes even personally collect cash for submission to the company.

After finishing our daily collections one evening, I took a quick break at a tea stall before heading home. My boss saw me and offered to drop me at my house. We rode in silence. The quietness felt awkward to me, so I started a conversation. I asked, “Sir, what would I need to do to sit in your chair one day?” He burst into a hearty, genuine laugh and then said something that has stayed with me ever since: “Don’t do what everyone else is doing. Do what you would hate to do.”

I didn’t completely grasp what he meant then, but his words lingered in my mind. My routine continued. However, the daily collections were unpredictable because customers were unavailable, didn’t answer calls, or postponed payments. I was frustrated that I was collecting less than half the amount that I was supposed to collect. Then, an idea struck me, and I decided to directly visit customers from 6:30 pm to 10:30 pm when most customers were at home instead of working the regular office hours. I observed remarkable benefits.

First, the customers were available at home since they had returned from work. Now, they couldn’t make excuses like “My checkbook is at home” to delay the payment! Second, many customers appreciated the convenience and asked me to come directly to collect the payment from the next month. This ensured that future collections became easier. Third, over time, I built a rapport with the customers. Interestingly, many of them later became clients in the businesses I started.

That’s when I truly understood what Ganesh Sir meant. At first, I hated the idea of working in the evenings. But that small sacrifice gave me a competitive advantage and set me apart from the rest. Ganesh Sir’s words shaped my journey, and I want to thank him for that invaluable lesson.