What Is the Limit?
Ambalal Patel owned a moderate size business. He had approached his middle age and yet had not struck gold. His only ambition in life was to make money and that too lots of money and that too quickly. He was supplier of a few materials that were required in the chemical industry. He was struggling hard for past fifteen years but till date did not get a good break in his business.
Then one evening while he was attending a social get together, he met one of his old friends after several years. They celebrated their meeting. They had drinks together and started catching up with the events of intervening period. When both of them consumed a good amount of hard liquor, they started talking more intimately and about the secrets of business.
In the process of this exchange, Ambalal Patel opened up his heart and shared with his friend about his disappointment in not doing the kind of big business that would bring him enormous money. He said, “Despite my best efforts I am not getting any sizable order for supply of my materials. For some reason or the other, the competing suppliers walk away with the plum orders from my clients and I am left high and dry.”
On the other hand, his friend declared, “I was also struggling for a good number of years like you. But now I am very successful after painful initial twelve years. I have earned more money in just past two years- much more than what I could not earn even in the first twelve years of business”.
When Ambalal Patel got curious to know the secrets of his sudden success, his friend assigned it to joining Regent Club whose members mostly consisted of corporate executives and businessmen. He advised boastfully like a big brother, “Ambalal, you must have the right contacts. Regent Club is the answer.” Then after blurting out this much involuntarily in his intoxicated state, he stopped this topic here itself and turned to other gossips. He soon realized that he was making mistake by giving out his secrets of business to Ambalal Patel on the platter. Possibly, Ambalal Patel might become his competitor if he knew more about his business secrets. And he would not like it.
However, Ambalal Patel was quick to retain in his memory the name Regent Club. Next morning, past last night’s hangover, Ambalal Patel developed a terrific craving to visit Regent Club that brought money to his friend. He wanted to explore the possibilities for himself by knowing more about the club.
He met the manager of Regent Club. Ambalal asked him, “Is the membership in the club open? And if yes, what will be the membership fee?”
Manager gave him all the information of the club and also emphasized, “Mr Patel, people like you and many corporate managers primarily are the constituent members of the club.” Then, he gave the details of one time entry fee and other annual fees of the club.
Ambalal Patel was shocked to hear the astronomical fees of the club. He mumbled, “I say, the fees are too steep, far higher than many other clubs of the city. Its an unaffordable expenditure even for a businessman like me.”
To which the manager replied, “Mr Patel, do not call this as expenditure. Call it investment instead. You will recover the entire fee of the club in just about an year or little over the year and after that, its all profit. This is not my version; this is the version of the members of this club. I hear many of them say so from time to time. I understand from them that the club provides an excellent meeting point to develop business and social networks.”
Ambalal Patel remembered what his friend had mentioned the previous evening. This Regent Club was responsible for his sudden prosperity. Ambalal Patel did not wish to waste a minute; he was in a real hurry to make lots of money. He joined the club by taking loan from his bank and giving the membership fees to Regent Club.
To start with, Ambalal was not quite comfortable with the secretive environment of the club. But soon he got introduced to a senior purchasing executive of a fairly big chemical company. The senior purchasing manager’s name was Partho Dey. They struck chords with each other since both were having one thing in common in a big way. Both had insatiable capacity to hold the drinks. Soon they became company to each other, though most of the time Ambalal paid the bills for their drinks and dinner. He remembered the club manager’s words, “Mr Patel, perceive this expenditure as an investment.”
And soon it worked. Ambalal Patel found an occasion to offer to supply to Partho Dey’s company. When one day, during their drinking time conversation, Partho mentioned that his company was looking out for a reliable source to buy a particular type of chemical material, Ambalal Patel spoke without wasting a minute, “Sir, why do you have to search for a source? The source is sitting right in front of you. I am in the business of supplying the very material you mentioned. I am capable of supplying any amount of it regularly and with 100% reliability.” Partho Dey nodded. Patel thought that to be a good sign. He worked out in his mind, “If Partho Dey places this order on me, it would mean a huge order in terms of volumes and money. And that’s what I need at this point of time.”
Why was Partho Dey willing to consider Ambalal Patel’s offer? The reason was that Partho Dey was not very happy with his existing supplier since the existing supplier was not meeting the terms and conditions set out by Partho Dey. The existing supplier was not willing to increase the bribe percentage that Partho was demanding now. Partho had raised his expectation of bribe from his current rate of 15% to 25% which the supplier thought was obnoxiously high. He mentioned to Partho that he was willing to stretch up to a cut of maximum of 20%- the going rate with many of the purchase managers of many of the other companies where he was the supplier.
Now Partho Dey was not much worried about losing his current supplier of many years since he had in front of him a new and hungry supplier- Ambalal Patel who, in his assessment, would be more than willing to grab that huge order on the terms and conditions of 25% bribe amount set out by him. He had gathered that Ambalal Patel was in a hurry to become rich overnight. So, he opened up his cards in front of Ambalal Patel and as expected, Patel readily agreed for 25% kick back demanded by Partho.
All of this happened over the sixth peg of whisky in the company of Partho Dey that night; Ambalal Patel got the much needed break. He had finally bagged a very big order from a big chemical company. Silently, he thanked his friend who gave him the tip to join Regent Club. He thanked the club manager for sharing his wisdom with him. He thanked Partho for giving the order at 25% kickback (he calculated quickly that despite this kickback he could still make lots of money for himself). He thanked Regent Club.
He started supplying the material.
An year went by.
During this period Ambalal as well as Partho made lots of money.
Partho and Ambalal also continued maintaining their team spirit over the spirits they consumed together at Regent Club regularly. Of course, Ambalal continued booting the bill.
And one night, after they had several pegs of whisky, Partho opened up his heart. He put up his cards in front of Ambalal, “Ambalal, you will appreciate that the year went by smoothly for you because of me.”
Ambalal nodded in affirmation.
Partho continued, “I wish to further add to your kitty and this time at a very fast rate. You had mentioned to me on several occasions that your main aim in life has been to make huge amounts of money real quickly. Now I wish to help you once more to fulfill that dream of yours. Are you with me?”
Ambalal Patel was like a mouse in front of the cat. He mumbled, “Sir, can I ever dare to go against your wishes? Please tell me what do you have in mind?”
Partho said, “To start with, for the next six months, my cut will be raised to50%. We need more material in the company and so the quantity on order for you will be doubled. After six months we will review and work out suitable terms and conditions. Is that OK with you?”
Ambalal was puzzled. He thought how he could make money if he had to give away 50% of his earnings to Partho. But he did not wish to contradict Partho and annoy him. He remained silent.
Partho watched Ambalal keenly and patronized by saying, “Look, we are onto experimenting a new thing as a part of our association. That will make you very rich in just about six months. You must be wondering how it can happen when you have to shell out your 50%. I will tell you how. In reality, you will not supply the quantity of material on order. You will physically supply only 50% of the ordered material and yet bill the company for the full amount. I have my boys in the stores department trained in taking care of all of this. So don’t you worry at all and just do as I told you. OK?”
Ambalal had become a past master in bribing by now but this new proposal coming from Partho was quite startling for his brains. A shiver of great fear ran through his spine. His mind and heart and conscious (?) were not allowing him to go along with Partho on this.
Partho was an intelligent man. He could sense the legitimate hesitation of Ambalal. He said, “Ambalal, I cannot wait for long but you being my drinking partner, I will give you time to think till tomorrow evening. Give me your consent by tomorrow evening here in the club. Then we will drink to our continued business association. But if you are not willing to be a part of my proposal, do not fear that we will break our drinking association. It will still continue but for the next six months at least, you will not be in a position to be a supplier to my company. You will definitely lose a lot. Also, I cannot guarantee what will happen after six months. I have spotted a new supplier who has just joined our Regent Club and who seems pretty much promising to me. He needs some business urgently. You know that I am willing to help such people.”
Ambalal Patel tossed and turned in his bed the whole night without getting a single wink of much needed sleep. He was still very afraid to say “yes” to Partho’s proposal.
Ambalal Patel owned a moderate size business. He had approached his middle age and yet had not struck gold. His only ambition in life was to make money and that too lots of money and that too quickly. He was supplier of a few materials that were required in the chemical industry. He was struggling hard for past fifteen years but till date did not get a good break in his business.
Then one evening while he was attending a social get together, he met one of his old friends after several years. They celebrated their meeting. They had drinks together and started catching up with the events of intervening period. When both of them consumed a good amount of hard liquor, they started talking more intimately and about the secrets of business.
In the process of this exchange, Ambalal Patel opened up his heart and shared with his friend about his disappointment in not doing the kind of big business that would bring him enormous money. He said, “Despite my best efforts I am not getting any sizable order for supply of my materials. For some reason or the other, the competing suppliers walk away with the plum orders from my clients and I am left high and dry.”
On the other hand, his friend declared, “I was also struggling for a good number of years like you. But now I am very successful after painful initial twelve years. I have earned more money in just past two years- much more than what I could not earn even in the first twelve years of business”.
When Ambalal Patel got curious to know the secrets of his sudden success, his friend assigned it to joining Regent Club whose members mostly consisted of corporate executives and businessmen. He advised boastfully like a big brother, “Ambalal, you must have the right contacts. Regent Club is the answer.” Then after blurting out this much involuntarily in his intoxicated state, he stopped this topic here itself and turned to other gossips. He soon realized that he was making mistake by giving out his secrets of business to Ambalal Patel on the platter. Possibly, Ambalal Patel might become his competitor if he knew more about his business secrets. And he would not like it.
However, Ambalal Patel was quick to retain in his memory the name Regent Club. Next morning, past last night’s hangover, Ambalal Patel developed a terrific craving to visit Regent Club that brought money to his friend. He wanted to explore the possibilities for himself by knowing more about the club.
He met the manager of Regent Club. Ambalal asked him, “Is the membership in the club open? And if yes, what will be the membership fee?”
Manager gave him all the information of the club and also emphasized, “Mr Patel, people like you and many corporate managers primarily are the constituent members of the club.” Then, he gave the details of one time entry fee and other annual fees of the club.
Ambalal Patel was shocked to hear the astronomical fees of the club. He mumbled, “I say, the fees are too steep, far higher than many other clubs of the city. Its an unaffordable expenditure even for a businessman like me.”
To which the manager replied, “Mr Patel, do not call this as expenditure. Call it investment instead. You will recover the entire fee of the club in just about an year or little over the year and after that, its all profit. This is not my version; this is the version of the members of this club. I hear many of them say so from time to time. I understand from them that the club provides an excellent meeting point to develop business and social networks.”
Ambalal Patel remembered what his friend had mentioned the previous evening. This Regent Club was responsible for his sudden prosperity. Ambalal Patel did not wish to waste a minute; he was in a real hurry to make lots of money. He joined the club by taking loan from his bank and giving the membership fees to Regent Club.
To start with, Ambalal was not quite comfortable with the secretive environment of the club. But soon he got introduced to a senior purchasing executive of a fairly big chemical company. The senior purchasing manager’s name was Partho Dey. They struck chords with each other since both were having one thing in common in a big way. Both had insatiable capacity to hold the drinks. Soon they became company to each other, though most of the time Ambalal paid the bills for their drinks and dinner. He remembered the club manager’s words, “Mr Patel, perceive this expenditure as an investment.”
And soon it worked. Ambalal Patel found an occasion to offer to supply to Partho Dey’s company. When one day, during their drinking time conversation, Partho mentioned that his company was looking out for a reliable source to buy a particular type of chemical material, Ambalal Patel spoke without wasting a minute, “Sir, why do you have to search for a source? The source is sitting right in front of you. I am in the business of supplying the very material you mentioned. I am capable of supplying any amount of it regularly and with 100% reliability.” Partho Dey nodded. Patel thought that to be a good sign. He worked out in his mind, “If Partho Dey places this order on me, it would mean a huge order in terms of volumes and money. And that’s what I need at this point of time.”
Why was Partho Dey willing to consider Ambalal Patel’s offer? The reason was that Partho Dey was not very happy with his existing supplier since the existing supplier was not meeting the terms and conditions set out by Partho Dey. The existing supplier was not willing to increase the bribe percentage that Partho was demanding now. Partho had raised his expectation of bribe from his current rate of 15% to 25% which the supplier thought was obnoxiously high. He mentioned to Partho that he was willing to stretch up to a cut of maximum of 20%- the going rate with many of the purchase managers of many of the other companies where he was the supplier.
Now Partho Dey was not much worried about losing his current supplier of many years since he had in front of him a new and hungry supplier- Ambalal Patel who, in his assessment, would be more than willing to grab that huge order on the terms and conditions of 25% bribe amount set out by him. He had gathered that Ambalal Patel was in a hurry to become rich overnight. So, he opened up his cards in front of Ambalal Patel and as expected, Patel readily agreed for 25% kick back demanded by Partho.
All of this happened over the sixth peg of whisky in the company of Partho Dey that night; Ambalal Patel got the much needed break. He had finally bagged a very big order from a big chemical company. Silently, he thanked his friend who gave him the tip to join Regent Club. He thanked the club manager for sharing his wisdom with him. He thanked Partho for giving the order at 25% kickback (he calculated quickly that despite this kickback he could still make lots of money for himself). He thanked Regent Club.
He started supplying the material.
An year went by.
During this period Ambalal as well as Partho made lots of money.
Partho and Ambalal also continued maintaining their team spirit over the spirits they consumed together at Regent Club regularly. Of course, Ambalal continued booting the bill.
And one night, after they had several pegs of whisky, Partho opened up his heart. He put up his cards in front of Ambalal, “Ambalal, you will appreciate that the year went by smoothly for you because of me.”
Ambalal nodded in affirmation.
Partho continued, “I wish to further add to your kitty and this time at a very fast rate. You had mentioned to me on several occasions that your main aim in life has been to make huge amounts of money real quickly. Now I wish to help you once more to fulfill that dream of yours. Are you with me?”
Ambalal Patel was like a mouse in front of the cat. He mumbled, “Sir, can I ever dare to go against your wishes? Please tell me what do you have in mind?”
Partho said, “To start with, for the next six months, my cut will be raised to50%. We need more material in the company and so the quantity on order for you will be doubled. After six months we will review and work out suitable terms and conditions. Is that OK with you?”
Ambalal was puzzled. He thought how he could make money if he had to give away 50% of his earnings to Partho. But he did not wish to contradict Partho and annoy him. He remained silent.
Partho watched Ambalal keenly and patronized by saying, “Look, we are onto experimenting a new thing as a part of our association. That will make you very rich in just about six months. You must be wondering how it can happen when you have to shell out your 50%. I will tell you how. In reality, you will not supply the quantity of material on order. You will physically supply only 50% of the ordered material and yet bill the company for the full amount. I have my boys in the stores department trained in taking care of all of this. So don’t you worry at all and just do as I told you. OK?”
Ambalal had become a past master in bribing by now but this new proposal coming from Partho was quite startling for his brains. A shiver of great fear ran through his spine. His mind and heart and conscious (?) were not allowing him to go along with Partho on this.
Partho was an intelligent man. He could sense the legitimate hesitation of Ambalal. He said, “Ambalal, I cannot wait for long but you being my drinking partner, I will give you time to think till tomorrow evening. Give me your consent by tomorrow evening here in the club. Then we will drink to our continued business association. But if you are not willing to be a part of my proposal, do not fear that we will break our drinking association. It will still continue but for the next six months at least, you will not be in a position to be a supplier to my company. You will definitely lose a lot. Also, I cannot guarantee what will happen after six months. I have spotted a new supplier who has just joined our Regent Club and who seems pretty much promising to me. He needs some business urgently. You know that I am willing to help such people.”
Ambalal Patel tossed and turned in his bed the whole night without getting a single wink of much needed sleep. He was still very afraid to say “yes” to Partho’s proposal.
Related Book
"Sensitive Stories of Corporate World" (available from Amazon, get it online)
Read many more management anecdotes/management case studies in the eminent author Shyam Bhatawdekar's best selling book "Sensitive Stories of Corporate World" available online from Amazon as an eBook as well as a printed book.
For everything you wanted to know on building leadership and management, refer Shyam Bhatawdekar’s website: http://shyam.bhatawdekar.com/
(Also, refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)
For “out of box thinking” articles by Shyam Bhatawdekar, refer: (Out of Box Ideas) http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/
Read other blogs of Shyam Bhatawdekar at: (Home Page for Writings of Shyam Bhatawdekar) http://writings-of-shyam.blogspot.com
Novel "The Peace Crusaders" http://peacecrusaders.blogspot.com
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Novel "The Peace Crusaders" http://peacecrusaders.blogspot.com
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