Deepak pulled out a big, thick file from his shoulder bag and handed it over to me. "What is it?" I asked him. "I contacted more than ten bank managers and collected from them copies of various project reports. I have put all those reports in this file," Deepak replied. "Why do you need them?" I asked Deepak. "I want to start my own business. I don't know what to do and I don't have money. So I decided to collect as many project reports as possible, select the best one, prepare a similar project report and then apply for a bank loan. But now I am in trouble. Because I am an M.Com graduate, I am able to understand how the project reports are prepared. But I don't know which one is suitable to me. Can you please have a look at it and decide for me?" replied Deepak.
I returned the file without even opening it and told him, "You have to decide for yourself. However I can suggest you a project that you can do without borrowing money." Deepak looked at me with some suspicion in his eyes. "Is it really possible to start a project without bank loan or private loan?" he asked. "Do you know how to use computer and Microsoft Excel program?" I asked Deepak. "Yes, I do know. But I have limited knowledge," replied Deepak. "Most people that apply for loans need to submit project reports. Many of them depend on consultants and Chartered Accountants. If you can help them by creating templates for project report preparation, you can make money," I told him. "Can you explain it?" Deepak asked me. "In a spreadsheet template of a project report and application form for loan, the applicant needs to fill in only the information he knows. All calculations will be done by template automatically. For example, there are dozens of ratios that are used by the finance companies to calculate the viability of a project. Liquidity ratio is one of them. To find out the liquidity ratio, you need to use a formula over a series of financial figures. Your template will automatically do the calculations. Your template will allow the users to enter only valid data. It will guide them in preparing the project report. Both the borrower and the company can save time and prepare error-free reports." Deepak considered my idea for a few seconds and then replied, "Will this be a viable project? My distant dream is to make Rs.10,000 a month. I believe many institutions already supply project reports in spreadsheet template format."
"There are tens of thousands of small and medium sized finance companies and institutions. Each company has dozens of schemes that change from time to time. Only a fraction of them use such templates." I told Deepak. "If what you say is true, there is a big untapped market. But, what is your idea? Do you want me to create templates and sell them to borrowers or to the institutions?" Deepak asked me. "I think you must sell the templates to the borrowers through the institutions. Usually, the borrowers are concerned about the loan. They would not mind about such small charges. The companies benefit from the templates because they know all the requirements would be met with and the calculations would be correct."
"Where would I begin?" Deepak asked me. "First master a spreadsheet program such as Excel. Study as many excel templates as possible. You can go to websites that sell excel templates and download free or trial templates. Then you must contact small and medium sized companies and offer them a proposal. Make it clear that they are not under an obligation to pay you. Once you overcome their initial resistance, you will start making money."
After two months Deepak met me. He had a broad smile on his face. It was clear that he had some good news. "I spent four months in learning how to program Excel," he said. "Come on, how can that be true? We met only two months ago," I said to Deepak. "I worked day and night. What others learn in four months, I learnt in two months. Then I downloaded hundreds of templates from the worldwide web and learnt how others create templates," Deepak said and continued, "Once I was confident, I contacted six companies. You told me that there would be some resistance in the beginning. But, you are wrong. All of them were very receptive. Yesterday, one of the companies has approved a template for the use of its buyers."
"What are the terms?" I asked that important question. "The applicant has to pay Rs.100 for a form that is supplied on a disk. The company will take Rs.40 and I will get Rs.60. The company says every month there would be 25 applicants. That means Rs.1500 a month from one template. The company has asked me to develop templates for other schemes. Five-digit income is not a distant dream anymore."