I had an interesting recent episode of recovering payment from a client which I wish to share with folks in this forum.Its a REAL story
It’s a story with 3 leads – Veer , Samba & Mogambo
Veer ran a business of supplying bullets. One day he met Samba in a Mela (Samba is very fond of Mela’s) who had a requirement of some bullets at very low cost.
Knowing Samba’s closeness to Gabbar (The BIG fish) and with an expectation of greater business Veer agreed.Veer excited about the new opportunity – worked hard, built the bullets and delivered it to Samba.On being asked for the money, Samba disappeared. Multiple pigeons were sent with reminder but none came back. All were killed and kidnapped.
There was a new Mela in town. Veer knew that Samba won’t miss this mela and this will be a good opportunity to catch and confront Samba.As expected, they met however the meet was unfruitful. Samba had his excuses for not paying and quickly left the place.
Fighting Samba was no option as it could further anger Samba leaving a minutest chance of recovering the payment and also a strong backup.
A few weeks passed by – with Veer still looking for a solution. Veer spread his story and misery the Mela.It attracted attention of Mogambo.Mogambo like Kalia boss Gabbar was a very powerful & influential. He was the chief organizer of the Mela and could not see poor Veers sorrow and offered help.
Mogambo send his white pigeon with his message to Samba asking him to pay Veer .Unlike Veer’s pigeons – THIS white pegion could not be ignored. Samba knew Mogambo influence could damage his image in the Melas .After a few gunshots in air , Samba agreed to pay to Veer.
Veer received his money in a week’s time
Some valuable lessons learnt
1) Choose your clients – As a start-up, we entrepreneurs adjust too much working for BIG names and agreeing to all their terms.
Choose your clients carefully, it’s a good practice to just call a few friends in the industry and check the background and payment history of the potential client.
2) Everyone has a weakness, know your client’s – In my case , since it was a company was invested by a celebrity – have a bad repute on Facebook/Social Media would hurt them profusely. I knew the only way to trigger response with FB.
3) If you are not powerful, get help from someone who is – Here , I needed a bigger goonda .Since social media was my playgroud there couldn’t have be a better match than Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal.
Confession – Here I dint choose the Goonda, the Goonda was kind enough to proactively help me.
Credits and Characters
Veer – Me (My real name is Ashwin)
Kalia – CEO of the Company
Mogambo – Alok Kejriwal
Gabbar – Owner of the Company (Rich and Influential celebrity in India)
Mela – Facebook
Bullets – Our product ( we make mobile apps )
** Photo Credit – Movies.ndtv.com ,Hindifilmnews.com
Thank You all ,
Ashwin Roy Choudhary , ashwin@bombil.com
** I have intentionally not named the company in this post.