When the going got tough, the tough …. and I get going

It was uncanny. I can feel the goose bumps rise even as I pen these words !!!

21st Nov 2003, I was married, with a three year old kid and Rs.1000 with me. It would almost be a novel if I went on to describe the past and how much more bad luck could a guy endure to end up having just Rs.1000 (in cash) to show as life’s earnings. Jobless and enterpriseless I sat wondering what on earth my next step in life should be, when an idea just sprung up. Why don’t I organise an event cum exhibition? Those days events were the fashion. In Jaipur where I lived almost all my media friends were involved in some exhibition or the other. In my desperate state it was like this could be the straw which could keep me afloat and prevent me from drowning. Also, this was one activity that I thought I could bootstrap.

I got to work. I invested the Rs.400 in printing a brochure describing the event. I was an amateur designer with a handy knowledge of Photoshop & CorelDraw. I couldn’t get a laser color print those days as they were too expensive so I got this brochure made using the photographers printout.

The idea was to make the concept unique so that I could target such a sponsor who would otherwise have no exposure through the general exhibitions that most organisers were doing. So my one single brochure, my only weapon or tool was ready. I called the first sponsor, although it took time to dig out his contacts, and was able to excite him enough that he conceded to give me an appointment.

I was at his office at the appointed time. The situation was extraordinary. I was a first time event organiser, poised to enter the office of a sponsor who never chose exhibitions as medium as his product was a bit intimate. And I did not know him. And of course I was not even a dot in any type of event organisers directory. Not to mention that I was targeting Rs.8 lacs as sponsorship amount which included the sponsor getting the rights to be the event presenter, XYZ AIFA AWA… kinds as well as a massive stall, promise of great media exposure (I can still feel the sweat rolling down my neck as I tried to convince him on the media plan)

Kapil Kamboj, Regional Manager, Johnson & Johnson, was a person extraordinaire. Very young, prestigious B-school types and just a couple of years into his career with the sharp no nonsense attitude that these kind of characters used to exude or at least exuded for me in those early moments.

I was blinking into the bright sun as I emerged from his office, still in a daze. Ecstatic but not able to express, unbelievably my baby had taken birth. Johnson & Johnson – WOMEN’S WORLD 2003 was born. My advance cheque of 3.5 Lacs (50%, I had to give Kapil a discount of 1 lac) was ready on the third day of the meeting and I was called to collect it. I had to immediately open a current account and THRILLER ENTERTAINMENT which was till then just a name of the organiser on a brochure got the oxygen to breathe.

But as all stupid amateur wannabe hot shot entrepreneurs, my time to make mistakes too had come. I booked popular TV star Ms Smriti Irani as brand ambassador for the show. The entire 50% advance I received was transferred as 100% advance payment. Smriti Irani as my event ambassador was my bragging power. I stole a thunder from all the other event organisers. And was again left penniless. I did not even have any money to print more brochures now so that I could approach other sponsors.

The euphoria of success was soon turning into the worst catch 22 situation. I had it all but could not get moving !! And the event was slated for 25th , 26th, 27th & 28th December 2003. I was already on the 10th December with nothing to show.

Kapil had gone for an extended training stint to Singapore and I dreaded the day he would call up to find how things were going. He did. On the 15th of December. I tried to be cheery. Brashly I tackled his various queries. He then popped the question of who I had given the contract for constructing the infrastructure, stalls, stages, et all. I had not. My voice gave me away. He told me not to hide anything. I bluttered out that I had no money as I had spent the entire advance to make SI my brand ambassador.

SILENCE. Two seconds later he said he would call me back in 10 mins. He called back in two minutes to ask which date had she allocated to be present in the event. I said the last as we would use her for the presentation ceremony also. Click. The phone was disconnected. Before I could even fathom what would my future be, as Kapil now new that the exhibition was a no show, RRIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGG, it was him again. He just said these words – SMRITI IS OURS. I asked incredulously – what yours? !!! He said his company would be taking care of her expenses. She would be in the event for the last two days and I would be reimbursed the money within two days. CLICK. You see he was in the middle of training.

SILENCE. And then everyone … no one in particular … but they were all screaming ….. Manish your time has come.

Everything was a rush. I started a single column ad campaign in the newspaper of course with Smriti featuring in all of them. I was advertising in Dainik Bhaskar’s (DB) rival – Rajasthan Patrika (RP). I sold out 120 stalls in 5 days in hard cash. Sponsors flocked to be part of the event. DB woke up and their GM offered me 50% discount on ads. I was not interested. So they finally offered me 8 lacs worth of space to be consumed within a year with at least 4 lacs for the event to join the band wagon as Media Partners. They also ensured 8000 cc of coverage for the event with daily reports. They finally ended up allocating a team of five people with one very senior manager to help me on a daily basis, they brought in more sponsors, last but not the least they gave almost 30,000 cc of coverage.

As the bigger half page ads emerged, more celebrities volunteered to be part of the event contributing some quality time on stage and off too. Of course without charging me.

At the nick of time I made it a ladies only event. No men (visitors) would be allowed inside the exhibition campus. Bhaskar argued it would not work. I told them it was my event. It worked. Even better. Now there was a bursting crowd of women inside and an equal number of disgruntled and curious men outside. The negative publicity of these men succeeded in popularising the event even more.

IT WAS A SUPER HIT SHOW !!!

I bootstrapped through out. Didn’t earn much, but have not looked back.

@catchurstar

****

You can also WIN Ashwin Sanghi’s book ’13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck’
by posting your #goodluck story on trhs!

*******