In the winter of 1999, I met Lee in a fast food restaurant in Auckland University. He was badly in need of money to pay his hostel bills and to continue his education. "I am thousands of miles away from my country. My parents are poor. I have no one to help me," Lee said in a choked voice. "Only you can help yourself. If you aspire to solve your problems and stop expecting others to help you, you will make progress," I told him. "Please tell me what I should do now," Lee requested me. "Becoming conscious of the world around us is the first step in building our own prosperity. Careful observation of everything around us is an important key in building up your consciousness," I replied.
At that moment, two overseas students sitting at the opposite table began to talk about the safety of their travel documents and educational certificates. I told Lee, "Did you hear them? They have a serious problem. If you can solve it, you will make money,"
Then we began to discuss about the number of students, their needs and problems. Suddenly, an income idea flashed. There were more than 5000 overseas students in that area. Security of the documents was important to all of them. Ahoy!
Lee had a computer in his room. He bought a good second hand scanner with the money a friend gave him as a temporary small loan. He learnt to scan documents beautifully and convert them into PDF. He offered to scan the documents, create a PDF package and burn it on a CD. In addition, he would create a free online account with Yahoo for each customer and store the files there. This value added service enabled the students to access the documents from anywhere in the world without bothering about the originals, and photocopies that would become illegible within a few months.
Lee worked hard and offered service with a pleasant smile. Within two months he settled all his bills and opened a recurring deposit account.
Lee did not invent any technical device or created software. He just used common sense to solve an obvious problem of the immediate market. Anyone out of 5000 students could have done it.
In the summer of 2001, I was waiting for a bus in Auckland. I did not realize that it was a Sunday and that there was no public transport on week ends. Suddenly a friendly hand waved from a white Toyota Corona. It was Lee. He offered to drop me at my place. On the way, Lee told me his story:
"Six months ago, I completed my education. I did not want to return to China. But, I had some problem with my travel documents. To sort out my problems, I tried to meet the local MP. But the MP did not want to meet me. He was a busy man. On my visits to the MP's Office, I learnt that there was a flow of hundreds of application forms and thousands of documents every week. I knew that each MP received a million dollars every year to improve his constituency. I wrote a project report suggesting that the MP could develop an entrepreneurship scheme. Each MP's office could engage up to five entrepreneurs as document digitizers who would convert all manuals, applications and documents into digital format. Only a few essential forms that need original signature would remain in paper form. That plan would save paper, trees, postage, space and, above all, create 500 entrepreneurs in the county. The MP saw the political mileage he would gain. He accepted the report and was a hot topic for a week in the newspapers. He got me not only the residence permits but made me the project coordinator for all the projects. I, instead of scanning thousands of documents myself, supervise others who scan. I am earning thrice my dream income."
Before I could find out how much actually he earned, we arrived at my house. I was not in touch with him for more than 3 years. Recently, he called me over phone and told me that he had sent a proposal to a big search engine company that had been working on creating online digital library. He is confident of bagging a six digit contract.