Thanks for showing so much love to my book – The Anexas Story. Based on many requests to publish chapters of the book on LinkedIn, I continue to write a series of articles based on these chapters. Please read on and keep believing that there is an entrepreneur in you…and everyone! 

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There is a curve and there is something beyond the curve. The intelligent see the curve well enough. The others travel a little up the curve, thinking desperately all the while that it should work out, and then for the lucky few, it does.

Did you get it? Well, read on and you will know what is implied. I settled all the accounts with the partner and made him agree to not go to the court. We ended up paying all our profit shares to the partner as we could not complete the contract as promised. Finally, I called up some of our clients to say goodbye and a few of them offered to help in getting a visa for me. These were good possibilities, and one of them appeared to be very promising. But that would amount to starting as an individual consultant and I had dreamt of having a team. The team needed to be paid a salary, and that too a whole lot of money. We didn’t have any client with us either!

So the only sensible thing to do was to go back for now. I booked the flight to Bangalore, which would possibly be the last flight of any Anexas consultant. On the day of the flight, I packed my bags with a heavy heart. We had dreamt of expanding Anexas in the next two to three years phenomenally, but that dream had shattered. Not all the dreams were shattered though, as our erstwhile consultants who were now happily working in Riyadh after dumping us continued to live their dreams. At least Anexas helped some dreams get fulfilled, I ruefully thought as I got out of my place to go to the airport.

I consoled myself with a quote I had heard somewhere,

‘When people walk away from you, let them go. Your destiny is never tied to people who leave you. It doesn’t mean they are bad people. It just means their part in your story is over.’

But I felt that it was not only their part, but the whole Anexas story was getting over. I took a taxi to the airport. The taxi driver was a Pakistani. As is the nature of taxi drivers in Riyadh, the driver started the conversation with a smile, “Going on vacation to home? Great!” For expatriates staying in Riyadh, the annual vacation is a time to rejoice. I kept looking at my air ticket, pretending as if I was studying a document and chose not to answer the driver.

I just didn’t trust myself to be in good spirits while answering anything. For the next thirty minutes, I toyed with the idea of continuing to operate as an individual consultant and trainer. Because as a company it was difficult to operate without at least one more person, that too in the absence of a committed client. Maybe, I would have to think it over and plan something. After all, there were few meetings lined up with prospects after that week in Riyadh. Or maybe, I can take up a job for some time and keep Anexas on the back burner.

I could see the airport building from afar and we would be there in ten minutes. The mobile rang. It was Pradeep. After these developments, I had told him one week back that we could continue to operate in India and expand Indian operations. Till then, he should not leave his regular job.

“Sir, I wish to join Anexas full time,” the firmness in his voice surprised me.

“Do you know what are you talking about? You have recently got married. You know that we cannot pay you any salary. There is a remote possibility of getting some share out of the earnings from our clients. But no regular salary,” I reiterated the same thing which I had explained three days back to dissuade him, warning him of consequences.

“Sir, you heard me correctly. I wish to join Anexas full time,” he repeated.

“Are you sure about it? For months you may not earn anything,” I sincerely wanted him to see some reason.

“I have thought a lot about it and finally I am firm on my decision. When should I come to Riyadh?” his resolve could be sensed in the well-founded tone of his question.

“What are you waiting for then, apply for the visa!” My despair just vaulted into hope as I disconnected the call. I looked out of the taxi window. The road ahead was bifurcating into two, one going straight to airport arrivals, and the other on the right going to the departure terminal. The driver was about to take a right turn in the next thirty seconds when I instructed him otherwise, “Keep going straight.”

“Sir, that is the arrival terminal. You will miss your flight if I go straight,” he got ready to take the right turn.

We would miss the flight of our venture if you go right dear, I felt like telling him. But just instructed, “Right turn is not right this time, keep going straight as you will get a U-turn immediately. I want to go back.”

That U-turn after that arrival terminal heralded the arrival of Anexas in its present form.

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That means that there is a Pradeep, a candle, for each of your troubles. Trust the universe!

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For subsequent articles, please watch this space.

You can buy the book directly from its website on https://www.anexasstory.com

or on Amazon on https://www.amazon.in/ANEXAS-STORY-There-Entrepreneur-Everyone-ebook/dp/B07ZGLN8C7

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Amitabh Saxena is founder of Anexas, a well-known lean six sigma and project management consulting organisation. He has trained over 50,000 participants and has 30 years of experience in consulting more than 300 organisations around the world including Fortune 100 companies across industry domains. With a strong team of 25 Master Black Belts, his organisation Anexas has been helping individuals and organisations achieve eminence through excellence since 2006. They can be reached on enquiry@anexas.net.