Mad_About_Money_April 2017

MadAbout 

April, 2017, 

Issue no. 7. 

Money 

DEVELOPING 

A MILLIONAIRE 

MINDSET 

Schools create employees not 

entrepreneurs 

pg. 10 

Press the right buttons: 

Earn in leisure 

pg. 12 

Desi Finance: See an opportunity 

and make it happen! 

pg. 26

Mad About 


Issue no.7 

Content 

10_Schools create 

employees not 

entrepreneurs 

06 

The desire to 

be rich is as 

important as the 

business model 

12_ Press the right 

buttons: Earn in leisure 

14_ Things to do in the 

new economy 

08 

Financial Fears Sure Fire 

Growth Stoppers 

Dissatisfaction 

can be the driving 

force to grow 

wealthy 

16 

18_5 reasons why rich 

people go broke 

20_ Developing a 

millionaire mindset 

26_ Desi Finance: See 

an opportunity and make it 

happen! 

28_8 Weird Ways to 

make money 

30_Re-Skilling for the 

ones aiming to be rich 

32_Get rich, stay rich 

34_Diamonds are not 

forever - a feature on 

declining prices of diamonds 

24 

There is a difference 

between ‘being rich’ 

and ‘being wealthy’ 

22 

Feeling that the 

‘world is mine’ can 

Neither this publication nor any part of it 

may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval 

system, or transmitted in any form of by any 

means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, 

recording or otherwise, without the 

permission of MadAboutMoney magazine. 

All information in MadAboutMoney magazine 

is checked and verified to the best of the 

publisher’s ability, however the publisher 

cannot be held responsible for any mistake 

or omission enclosed in the publication. 

2



Editor’s Note 

Welcome to this edition of Mad About Money! 

In our previous editions we have talked about the specific 

money mindsets needed to get rich as well as the individual 

personality traits and habits that rich people have and the 

tools they use in order to get there. This edition, as always, 

we have something new and unique for you to know and 

understand! The answer to the all-important question 

– What do you do once you get rich? 

Like our cover for the edition says – GET RICH. STAY RICH. 

Yes, that’s right…this edition talks about how to go about 

once you have already reached your destination. You must be 

thinking that once you get rich, that’s the end of your journey 

right? The happy ending to all your money problems, and the 

‘I lived happily ever after’ conclusion to your life’s story? Well 

that’s far from being true. Trust me, getting rich is just 50% of 

the journey. The struggle to keep that money, staying rich and 

sustaining your lifestyle is the next crucial 50% of it! 

There are too many people in this world who have made 

it big in life, gotten rich, only to lose all or most of it later 

just because they did not know how to handle it. Specially 

for people who have not been born into wealthy families 

and are actually seeing so much money for the first time. 

Knowing how to go about it and what to do with your money is 

extremely crucial and cannot be avoided. 

So starting from providing you different weird ways to make 

money to stating the top reasons why rich people go broke, 

from showing you how to see an opportunity and encash on 

it, to making you understand the difference between being 

rich and being wealthy, all topics in this edition of Mad About 

Money is about sustainability. Sustaining your wealth, your 

money. Not just being rich but truly staying rich forever and 

after in your financial fairy tale. 

So Mad About Money is here to talk about everything to do with 

money that draws your attention and passion, but in a different 

way, with a slightly different touch… that unique magic wand 

of mindset change that just makes all this not only attainable in 

practical terms but also sustainable for you and your coming 

generations to enjoy!. Simply put, if taken in seriously and 

internalized with sincerity, it holds the power to change lives and 

destinies. Are you up for it? Keep reading and keep getting rich! 

Happy reading 

Sachin Mittal 

3



The Mad Gang who makes 

it possible every month 

Vijendra Singh, 

Manager Money Craft 

Giving a tight twist to money 

Shravan Giri, 

Creative Technologist 

Tech at his fingertips 

Rajiv Ranjan, 

Joint Creative Technologist 

Joining forces in troubleshooting 

4 

Swadesh Mishra, 

Officer Out-standing 

The world in his pocket 

Anubha Rathore, 

Arts & Crafts Designer 

Designer craft creator 

Dheeraj Kumar, 

Chief Money Scientist 

Sees the glass half full



Akanksha Mishra, 

Associate Money Scientist 

Hopefully optimistic 

Johny Chopra, 

Buzz Ambassador 

Spreading the good word 

Soma Ghosh, 

Chief Buzz Creator 

Creating the big buzz 

Abhijit Banerjee, 

Idea Ambassador 

An idea for a song… 

Ahmed Ansari, 

Lord of the Ledgers 

Tight fisted…always 

Dillip Rout, 

Account-ability Officer 

Magazine designed by: 

Wire | Digital Creative Agency 

5



DISSATISFACTION 

CAN BE THE DRIVING FORCE 

TO GROW WEALTHY 

6



YOU MUST NOT HAVE HEARD THIS PHRASE QUITE OFTEN. 

IN FACT, YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE HEARD THIS PHRASE AT ALL. 

THE MAIN REASON FOR THIS IS BECAUSE MOST PEOPLE WILL 

ASK YOU TO BE “CONTENT” IN LIFE. THEY’LL TELL YOU TO BE 

SATISFIED WITH WHAT YOU HAVE AND BE AT PEACE. HOWEVER, 

TODAY I WILL TELL YOU SOMETHING WHICH IS COMPLETELY 

OPPOSITE. I’LL ASK YOU TO BE DISCONTENT IN LIFE IF YOUR 

AMBITION IS TO BE RICH AND SUCCESSFUL. 

Being content is closely 

associated with being happy. 

A philosopher once 

studied what happiness 

actually is. She says that 

happiness is relative and 

everyone experiences different 

types of happiness. 

All these happiness is 

not necessarily related to 

each other and one kind 

of happiness may conflict 

with the other. So, in other 

words having too much of 

one kind of happiness might 

undermine other kind 

of happiness, making you 

docile and handicapped 

in your thinking process. 

EVOLUTION: 

Let’s look at how we 

evolved into the most 

dominant species on the 

planet. We evolved from 

being mindless apes to 

super intelligent homo 

sapiens. From building 

fire to building nations, we 

have done it all. How did 

you think all this happened? 

By staying content? I 

don’t think so. 

If humans would have 

been satisfied by just 

building fire, they would 

have still stayed in the 

stone age killing animals 

and living under rocks. 

The inherent nature of 

human beings is being 

dissatisfied, otherwise 

there would have been no 

evolution for us, or more 

precisely evolution so 

fast. It is that dissatisfaction 

that has made humans 

go the extra mile, lift that 

extra kilo, move that extra 

brick. 

Evolution is the biggest 

proof that humans have 

been dissatisfied through 

centuries, and that is not 

a bad thing. In fact, that 

is the best thing that has 

happened to our species, 

and that is why we have 

come so far. 

REVOLUTION: 

Don’t listen to your peers 

or elders or gurus saying 

that you should be satisfied 

with what you have. 

You should never be satisfied 

with what you have, 

in fact you should never 

be satisfied at all. Make 

sure that you stay hungry 

to make more and make 

plenty. That’s the revolution 

I want you all to have 

within yourself. Break free 

from the comfort zone, 

get cracking today. 

If you have made a significant 

amount of money 

either by saving or by 

smartly commercializing 

your skills, it does not 

mean you should stop 

or you have come to any 

sort of an end. It basically 

shows what you are capable 

of and you should use 

it to build your confidence 

to make more of yourself. 

Building your wealth is 

not a journey from point 

A to point B. It sure starts 

from point A but there is 

not point B, that journey 

should never end for you. 

Revolutionize the way you 

think! It all starts there. 

Being content with what 

you have today basically 

means you are strangling 

the hopes of what you 

might have tomorrow. 

Go all in, take risks, make 

calculated decisions and 

make your money grow 

with you. Look at opportunities 

around you, know 

the market, invest wisely 

and quickly. You will be 

surprised how rich you 

can be if 

IF YOU HAVE MADE 

A SIGNIFICANT 

AMOUNT OF MONEY 

EITHER BY SAVING 

OR BY SMARTLY 

COMMERCIALIZING 

YOUR SKILLS, 

HOW TO 

GROW UP 

AND GET 

RICH 

STEP 1 

If you want to stay rich, 

stop taking financial 

decisions abruptly. 

The rich are extremely 

careful about making 

investment decisions. 

STEP 2 

You will find plenty 

of investors keen on 

investing in a new idea 

or startup. Be fully ready 

with your proposal 

with a long view of the 

turnaround. Leveraging 

your credentials and 

experience can tip the 

pitch in your favor. 

7



FINANCIAL 

FEARS 

SURE FIRE 

GROWTH 

STOPPERS 

8



FINANCIAL 

FEAR 1 

Financial fear refers to 

the fear or anxiety that we 

have in life regarding our 

finances. One of the most 

traumatizing financial fear 

that people possess is 

that ‘a catastrophe will 

happen and drain all my 

finances!’ 

Needless to say, this fear 

wreaks havoc in many an 

individual’s mind, limiting 

him/her in taking 

risks or other important 

financial decisions in life. 

For example, one hears 

about someone’s relative 

meeting with a serious 

accident and immediately 

your financial fear crops 

up that what if this happens 

to you and all your 

hard earned savings and 

investments get drained 

by sudden unforeseen 

medical expenses! You 

get traumatized just thinking 

about it!. 

Well, the only way to 

deal with this financial 

fear is consciously and 

gradually shifting from 

the ‘what if’ to the ‘then 

what’ approach! Simply 

put, your strategy should 

be to think about what 

you could financially do 

if such an event does 

takes place. Remember, 

you will always have 

things that are under your 

control and beyond your 

control. Focus on the 

former and gradually let 

go of the latter. Always 

keep 6 months salary as 

an emergency fund and 

tell yourself that only by 

making little changes in 

the factors that you can 

control, can the uncontrollable 

factors have less 

impact if they happen at 

all. Lastly, deep breaths. 

Everything doesn’t happen 

to everybody. Stay 

calm and get rich! 

FINANCIAL 

FEAR 2 

Financial fears almost 

always keep one from 

taking prudent financial 

decisions leading to 

losing out on great investment 

opportunities most 

of the time. One of the 

most common financial 

fears happen to be this – 

‘I will lose everything that 

I have in the stock market!’, 

and needless to say, 

people shy away from 

investing in the stock 

market even in the face 

of seemingly very good 

investment options. 

WELL, THE ONLY 

WAY TO DEAL 

WITH THIS 

FINANCIAL FEAR 

IS CONSCIOUSLY 

AND GRADUALLY 

SHIFTING FROM 

THE ‘WHAT IF’ TO 

THE ‘THEN WHAT’ 

APPROACH! 

That is sad. We slog all 

our life in order to make 

it big and when such 

an opportunity comes, 

especially through the 

stocks avenue, one shies 

away from it just because 

of the financial fear. I am 

not asking you to put all 

your saving in stocks. No, 

never. But a well-planned 

equity strategy gives you 

more ROI than anything 

ever can and if someone 

cannot take the advantage 

of this just because 

of the inner anxiety, then 

that’s sad. 

So Step 1 – Assess your 

risk tolerance level. Ask 

yourself how much you 

will be comfortable to 

lose in case of a market 

correction. Let’s say it’s 

20%. Once you realistically 

think and arrive 

at this 20% figure, you 

can easily diversify your 

portfolio against this 

across asset classes and 

size of companies, etc. 

Step 2; tell yourself that 

until and unless you give 

100% of everything in the 

stock market, you do not 

stand a chance to lose 

‘everything’. Lastly, always 

remember that not 

investing in stock market 

also offers a certain level 

of risk since then you are 

assuming that inflation 

will never erode the interest 

on your savings. So 

worry less, earn more! 

CHANGING 

YOUR 

MONEY 

MINDSET 

METHOD 1 

Debts have destroyed 

many people’s dreams 

of becoming rich. Hence, 

it is essential you 

keep a close eye on 

your existing debts and 

reduce them to zero as 

soon as possible. 

METHOD 2 

Our typical middle 

class outlook makes 

us turn our face away 

from money. We pretend 

it is not part of our 

life so we do not try to 

manage it. This must 

change. 

METHOD 3 

We learn how to manage 

our household 

expenses basis our incomes. 

But we do not 

try to play the market 

and look for alternative 

routes to make money. 

9



SCHOOLS CREATE 

EMPLOYEES 

NOT ENTREPRENEURS 

Schooling is a system that has been in vogue for many 

centuries now. While the methods of schooling might have 

differed between periods, the concept has been in existence 

across the globe from time immemorial. This concept has 

contributed a large number of people to the working class 

which has striven hard for the development of the society. The 

reality however has been that all efforts of schools culminate to 

create employees, not entrepreneurs. 

10



TEAM WORK 

MATTERS 

If you are aiming for financial 

freedom and has a family, your 

spouse also needs to think 

likewise. As a team, you need to 

work out on your financial gains 

and expenses to reach towards 

financial freedom. 

CONTRIBUTION OF 

CONVENTIONAL 

SCHOOLS 

Conventional schools 

prepared students for 

living life in a disciplined 

manner. Students of 

such schools were 

expected to just absorb 

information in a passive 

manner. The teachers 

acted as the major 

source of knowledge and 

information. Parents had 

no role to play in a typical 

conventional school 

scenario. 

Conventional schools 

treated the community 

around as a separate entity 

which was involved only 

for commercial purposes 

attached to education. 

Marks scored by the 

students in the exams 

conducted by the schools 

acted as the basic tool 

to assess the level of 

knowledge of students. 

Schools worked more 

like one of the tasks to be 

endured by the students 

than a value adding place. 

All the above created a 

subservient mentality in 

students right from the 

young age. They grew up 

with a mindset which was 

highly closed. The activity 

of fostering thinking did 

not happen at all. Children 

grew up like machines 

which worked in a perfect 

manner as per the given 

instructions. 

ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

IS A DIFFERENT BALL 

GAME 

The gap between the 

education system and 

entrepreneurship is 

still huge despite the 

developments witnessed 

in the schooling systems. 

Progressive schooling is 

the requirement of the 

day. Instead of preparing 

students to live life, 

schools must become 

a part and parcel of life. 

Schooling must not 

alienate students but 

involve them in activities 

as problems solvers and 

planners. Teachers must 

take the role of guides 

and facilitators fostering 

creative thinking skills 

rather than remaining 

entities of authority. 

Parents must be involved 

in the learning experience, 

making children learn goal 

setting and many more 

attributes that will lead 

them to success. 

Children must be allowed 

to take decisions so that 

their risk taking abilities 

get fostered right from a 

young age. Learning must 

be approached more 

from a pragmatic angle 

and must not get limited 

to the content in the 

text books. Knowledge 

assessment of students 

must be based on 

their interactions rather 

than just their grades 

in the exams. Such 

assessments must lead 

to progression rather 

than being the end point 

to define the potential of 

students. 

CHANGE IN THE 

APPROACH OF 

SCHOOLS 

When the approach of 

schools changes and the 

community gets involved 

in the complete process, 

every child will learn 

entrepreneurial skills right 

from their childhood. No 

school or college can 

foster entrepreneurial 

skills in an exclusive 

manner. They can only 

teach a bunch of life skills 

which can value add to 

the students as future 

human beings. 

Creating entrepreneurs 

is the collective 

responsibility of many 

entities around students. 

Let us stop creating 

employees in huge 

numbers. Employees 

create middle income 

class of people in the 

society. When we focus 

in creating more and 

more entrepreneurs, 

we create a world of 

successful business which 

will improve the quality 

of life we live in a holistic 

manner. 

11



PRESS THE RIGHT 

BUTTONS: 

EARN IN LEISURE 

Wealth is a passion of the highest order- immortalized by every 

nobleman, Patrician, Prince that ever existed. Once the world had 

industrialized in the eighteenth century, people had leisure time. 

New forms of entertainment sprang up. The smarter people leisurely 

invested in leisure goods. 

As the Fourth Industrial revolution dawns upon with complex neural 

networks, quantum computers, robots, 5-D printers, self-driving cars; 

it is time to get smarter! What happens when the Fourth Industrial 

revolution disrupts the job market? What shall be your sources of 

income and the sources of multiplication of your wealth? Take a 

moment to fathom the massive amount of changes that lie before you. 

12



SAY THE MAGIC 

WORDS AND 

ENCORE! 

The four magic words 

for the fourth disruption: 

Press the Right Buttons. 

Technology has 

transformed the way 

financial markets are 

organized. FinTech is 

the elusive golden hen. 

There are no limits to the 

growth of FinTech. With 

the right software, the right 

approach and portfolio, 

and the right risk appetite, 

you can earn as much as 

you want. 

Money is evolving with 

time. Trading went digital 

in the nineties. Now, 

currency has gone digital, 

transformed by the 

revolutionary blockchain 

technology. Bitcoin is one 

such market disruption. 

It would be smart to 

use this commonplace 

knowledge to advance 

your monetary interests in 

the currency market. And 

this is just the first stroke of 

the multiple opportunities 

that lay before you in the 

leisure time that the fourth 

industrial revolution brings 

with it! 

THE SEDUCTIVE 

APPEAL OF 

FINANCIAL 

MARKETS 

Researchers at IBM and 

Google have proclaimed 

that the entry of quantum 

computers in commercial 

applications is not far. 

The appeal of quantum 

mechanics laid in its 

weirdness. Simplistically 

speaking, a change in 

one particle could cause 

a change in another 

particle across space. This 

is exactly how financial 

markets work. 

Federal Reserve is due 

to announce a possible 

hike in interest rates this 

month. This means a 

capital flight from India to 

United States because the 

dollar is a safer currency 

for investment purposes. 

Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi’s party wins the UP 

elections and the stock 

market jumps in joy (pun 

intended). Or on a grimmer 

note, Lehman Brothers 

KEEP DREAMING 

LIKE LALAJI 

BECAUSE THIS 

PARTICULAR 

LALAJI IS HAVING 

THE TIME OF HIS 

LIFE! 

goes bankrupt and stock 

markets across the world 

collapse (a financial 

tragedy). 

Financial markets are 

where sociological, 

political, regulatory, 

and economic agendas 

intersect. And hence, a 

popular photograph that 

circulates around when a 

tragic incident occurs is 

of people staring at the 

building of the Bombay 

Stock Exchange in 

Mumbai. So when your 

regulatory authority 

decides to decrease 

the amount of cash a 

Non-banking financial 

corporation can dispense 

for gold, it is time to sell 

your stocks! 

With all its complexities, a 

passion for wealth cannot 

exist without a passion for 

financial markets. 

AS LAZY AS YOU 

CAN GET, LALAJI 

There is an old man of 

forty. He lives with his 

parents in a rented threeroom 

apartment in a wellconnected 

part of New 

Delhi. He is unmarried, by 

choice. He is a freelance 

software developer who 

invests in Bitcoins (1 Bitcoin 

= 82089.92 Indian Rupee), 

sold his shares in a famous 

NBFC today, has a general 

store and a shoe shop 

where he intends to install 

the software the popular 

‘Amazon-go’ supermarket 

uses, has bought a 

three-storey building in 

the north campus that 

he rents out to students 

and has invested in 

Exchange traded funds 

of the recently floated 

public sector insurance 

companies. 

13



Millennial 

Finance 

THINGS TO DO 

IN THE NEW 

ECONOMY 

Rachel Green, the legendary character from the show F.R.I.E.N.D.S left 

the groom at the altar and ran away from her wedding because she 

thought her husband’s head looked like a potato. She found a gravy 

boat more attractive than her fiancé. 

Hilarious, was it not? 

The show was the lifestyle Bible and still provides solace to everyone 

who has ever watched it. As the show progressed, the viewers 

realized, Rachel did not leave her fiancé because she thought he 

looked like Mr Potato head. She left him because of her drive to be 

financially independent. 

14



BEING RACHEL 

The Indian youth has a significant disadvantage in 

terms of being financially independent. They live-off 

their parents as the latter’s cultural duty. There is a set 

trajectory that life takes, albeit at a different time for 

everyone. After school, college, job, marriage, childrenrepeat. 

There is little space for financial independence. 

The space for financial independence that should, in theory, 

be free from all interferences of culture is actually saturated 

with it. The first thing a millennial in India needs to do is: 

Leave such a trajectory at the altar because it is antediluvian. 

AS INDIA ASPIRES TO BE 

‘BRAND INDIA’ 

The cultural influence on the idea of financial 

independence is enormous. Terms such as, ‘middleclass’, 

‘simple life’, ‘simple needs’ are not only glorified 

but are considered legitimate goals to aspire towards. 

Even as India aspires to be ‘Brand India’, banking upon 

her absolutely gorgeous demographic dividend; being a 

depositor, simple, average, middle-class person with a 

stable job (a clear misnomer in the twenty-first century) 

and small short-term desires are considered noble. Here 

is the second thing a millennial needs to do: break away. 

The term ‘noble’ is as antediluvian as the trajectory 

mentioned earlier. The contradictions of traditional 

simplicity as a goal to aspire towards is not a choice 

anymore. The intoxication with the simple, sub-continental 

life ended in 1991 and more so in 1993, when the 

Securities and Exchange Board of India was established 

(more on this in the next issue of Mad About Money). 

YOU ARE SO LUCKY! 

The world is standing at the cusp of a new beginning. 

More than the exciting politics of our times, it is 

technology that shall change the manner in which life 

operates. Did you know that by 2030, privacy is going 

to be a thing of the past with the rental economy in its 

full bloom while your morning coffee shall be served 

with toast by a robot? (Check out the World Economic 

Forum’s website for more details). 

What this means is, you shall have enough money 

(hopefully with a basic income if the governments decide 

in the affirmative) to invest. The cardinal choice that you 

shall make 10 years later is not which course to study, 

but which skill to invest in! 

THE THIRD THING A 

MILLENNIAL NEEDS TO DO 

Lucky to be born in such exciting times, are we not? 

So, the third thing a millennial needs to do: Skill up, and 

then diversify. The term ‘interest area’ or specialization 

as we know it today will undergo huge changes in the 

new economy. For instance, Political Science, Research 

methodology, Python (or its grandchild) in Data Sciences 

and Economics or Eugenics, Nanotechnology, Quantum 

Mechanics and Financial Market shall be ONE skill. 

The change is evident in the new MOOCs one can find online. 

Mass production of skills is history! Robots have it covered. 

And that gives the Millennials of today an unprecedented 

opportunity to be the risk-takers, history-makers! 

UNO, ZWEI, TROIS! 

A successful investment banker who works in the city of 

London leaves his job to start a juice bar that also sells 

quinoa in central Delhi. Be ready to hear more stories of 

the kind because profit, money, quality, passion and drive 

to succeed is going to converge in emerging economies 

like India. 

Our advice? Invest, invest in this new form of 

sustainability! Uno (success), Zwei (knowledge) and Teroi 

(happiness): nothing is more real in the new economy 

than these three virtues. 

In our subsequent issues, we introduce you to the 

options that are for the risk takers, the ones with the 

appetite for more-than simple. So the fourth thing a 

millennial needs to do is: subscribe to Mad About Money! 

SKILL FOR THE TWENTY 

FIRST CENTURY 

Let us leave you with a problem that requires emotional 

intelligence and critical thinking (an indispensable skill 

for the twenty first century): 

You start earning via freelancing as a writer/developer. 

You earn your first income, i.e., twenty five thousand. 

It is not much. But it is your first. You have your eye 

on a new range of hair products by the ever-fantastic 

Body Shop. You have been longing for it. The money 

is in your account. You have three options: set up a 

professional website to showcase your work, invest in a 

SIP (systematic investment plan) or purchase the gingercastor-argon 

hair care range that you have longed for a 

year. Ponder away! 

15



THE DESIRE TO 

BE RICH 

IS AS IMPORTANT 

AS THE 

BUSINESS 

MODEL 

Napoleon Hill, a Great 

Depression-era author and 

former advisor to President 

Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 

famous book “Think and Grow 

Rich” stated that thinking about 

being rich is as important as the 

act of making the money for 

being rich. You must have come 

across thousands of personal 

finance books on the shelves 

these days you will find hundreds 

of titles on how to spend less, 

how to save more, how to invest 

better, how to retire early, how to 

get out of debt faster so on and 

so forth. But the most important 

thing all these books fails to 

mention is taking the first step – 

get the “desire” to be rich first. 

16



YOU MUST BE THINKING HOW IS DESIRING TO BE RICH CAN BRING YOU 

RICHES. SIMPLY WISHING SOMETHING DOES NOT MAKE IT MAGICALLY 

COME TO LIFE. IT’S TRUE, YES. WISHING TO BE RICH WON’T BRING YOU 

RICHES. BUT DESIRING WITH A SOLID STATE OF MIND WILL MAKE IT 

INTO AN OBSESSION, AND THEN YOUR MIND WILL PLAN DEFINITE WAYS 

AND MEANS TO FULFILL THAT OBSESSION, MAKING YOU RICH AND 

SUCCESSFUL. 

TODAY I’LL EXPLAIN TO YOU FIVE VERY SIMPLE STEPS THAT WILL 

TURN YOUR DESIRE OF BEING RICH TO ACTUALLY BEING RICH AND 

SUCCESSFUL. AND THESE STEPS MUST BE INTEGRAL TO YOUR 

BUSINESS PLAN BECAUSE THESE STEPS WILL ENSURE A SMOOTH 

JOURNEY FROM THE DESIRE TO REALITY. 

Step 1: 

Spend some time alone 

and fix the exact amount 

of money you desire. 

Create a benchmark for 

yourself. It is not enough 

for you to say something 

intangible like “I want a 

lot of money” or “I want 

plenty of money”. You 

have to have a tangible 

amount in mind and be 

definite to the imagined 

amount. 

Step 2: 

Now comes the very 

important next step. 

Determine exactly how 

much you intend to give 

in return of getting the 

imagined amount of 

money in future. You have 

to realize that there is no 

such fact as “something 

for nothing”. You must 

be ready to sacrifice and 

toil for reaching your 

monetary goal. How 

much will you sacrifice 

and toil is entirely upto 

you, but remember, 

your effort is directly 

proportional to the 

results. 

Step 3: 

Now establish a definite 

date when you want to 

possess the money you 

desire. Like the desired 

amount can’t be an 

intangible number, same 

with the date. You need 

to have a target date fixed 

in your mind so that you 

have a clear path laid in 

front of you, a clear path 

with a deadline. Without a 

deadline, there is no way 

for you to reach your goal, 

on time. 

Step 4: 

Now what you need to 

do is create a definitive 

plan for carrying out 

what you desire, and 

begin immediately. Once 

you have the plan, start 

without further delay. 

Once the plan is set, it’s 

set. Whether you are 

ready or not, get on with it 

immediately. 

Step 5: 

The final step of the plan 

is basically a culmination 

of the last four steps. 

Write down a clear 

concise statement of the 

amount of money you 

desire to acquire, the time 

limit for the acquisition, 

your intention to what 

you want to give for the 

money, and the entire 

roadmap of your desired 

acquisition. Now what you 

need to do is read out the 

written statement aloud, 

twice daily. Once right 

before bed at night and 

once in the break of the 

morning. 

IT MIGHT SEEM LIKE A 

PRETTY BASIC PLAN 

IF YOU COMPARE IT 

TO ALL THOSE HEAVY 

PERSONAL FINANCE 

GUIDES YOU READ, 

BUT BELIEVE ME 

THIS IS WHAT ALL OF 

THEM COME DOWN 

TO. THEY JUST COME 

WITH A LOT OF BELLS 

AND WHISTLES 

BUT THEIR ENTIRE 

MATTER SPEAKS 

OF THE STEPS I 

MENTIONED ABOVE. 

SO START DESIRING 

TO GET RICH TODAY, 

BECAUSE THAT IS 

THE FIRST STEP TO 

A PLAN THAT WILL 

ACTUALLY MAKE 

YOU RICH AND 

SUCCESSFUL IN 

YOUR LIFE. 

17



REASONS WHY RICH 

5PEOPLE GO BROKE 

BEING RICH DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN YOU HAVE FINANCIAL EDUCATION. SO WHEN 

PEOPLE SAY THAT ‘WHEN I GET RICH ALL MY MONEY PROBLEMS WILL GO AWAY’, THEY 

HAPPEN TO BE FAR AWAY FROM THE TRUTH! THE FACT IS, WITH MORE MONEY COMES 

NEWER PROBLEMS AND WITHOUT PROPER FINANCIAL EDUCATION, YOU CANNOT KEEP 

THE MONEY WITH YOU. LOTTERY WINNERS GOING BROKE, MILLION DOLLAR WORTH 

ATHLETES GOING INTO DEBT, EXAMPLES ARE NUMEROUS ALL AROUND. THE REASON 

BEING THAT ONCE PEOPLE HAVE MONEY, THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT! 

HERE ARE THE TOP 5 REASONS WHY RICH PEOPLE GO BROKE: 

18



NOT 

GROWING UP 

WITH MONEY 

Individuals who have not 

grown up seeing money, 

and have become rich 

later on in life, do not 

have a clue as to how 

to handle it. Either they 

stash the money away 

in bank accounts or lose 

it in unwise gambling, 

etc. Him/her neither 

having a past of handling 

huge sums of money, 

nor having the right 

financial education ends 

up not doing anything 

constructive with it. 

Hence, the proverb 

– Money does not 

make you rich, financial 

education does.” 

THE 

EMOTIONAL 

EUPHORIA OF 

IT ALL 

Let’s face it, money gives 

a different sort of a high to 

people. Individuals start 

thinking they are very 

clever and everything 

that they are thinking is 

right while in reality they 

act more stupid then 

they think! Feeling that 

the ‘world is mine’ often 

leads to people spending 

all their money on luxury 

that they have always 

dreamt of, losing it all in 

the process. 

LENDING AND 

DONATING TO 

LOVED ONES 

When you have a lot 

of money, it becomes 

very difficult to say ‘no’ 

to loved ones, friends 

or family who are a little 

sort of cash right then. 

Infact people can’t even 

say ‘no’ to themselves 

and spend money on 

excessively expensive 

things so saying ‘no’ to 

loved ones also becomes 

very difficult and you can’t 

stop yourself from going 

further into debt with 

more money! 

INVESTING 

WITHOUT 

FINANCIAL 

EDUCATION 

When people become 

rich, by default they 

think themselves to be 

extremely financially 

savvy! This is of course 

the worst possible 

mistake to do! It might 

well be the case that they 

suddenly got lucky and 

got rich! So when you get 

rich, you start investing 

in whatever comes your 

way, whatever you feel 

would work without 

the right education and 

analysis. But remember, 

just because you can 

afford to make big 

investments doesn’t 

mean you should make 

them and lose all your 

fortune in the process. 

Again, getting financially 

educated is the right way 

to go! 

NOT 

KNOWING THE 

DIFFERENCE 

BETWEEN 

GOOD 

AND BAD 

EXPENSES 

Individuals usually make 

more bad expenses than 

good ones, especially 

when they are rich. The 

difference between the 

two is simply that good 

expenses are used to buy 

assets that create more 

assets in the future. Bad 

expenses on the other 

hand are expenses that 

you use to buy liabilities 

that eat up your money 

without producing any 

asset. Houses, cars, 

etc are all actually 

bad expenses since 

realistically speaking, 

all they do is gobble up 

your money without really 

producing other assets 

for you. 

So now that you know how 

rich people go bankrupt, 

time to hit those brakes! 

Step back, take a look at 

what you have and then 

get yourself financially 

educated so that you can 

use your money to make 

more money, instead of 

blowing it all up! Best of 

luck! Stay rich. Stay happy! 

OUR TYPICAL MIDDLE CLASS OUTLOOK 

MAKES US TURN OUR FACE AWAY FROM 

MONEY. WE PRETEND IT IS NOT PART OF OUR 

LIFE SO WE DO NOT TRY TO MANAGE IT. 

THIS MUST CHANGE. 

19



DEVELOPING 

A MILLIONAIRE 

MINDSET 

MILLIONAIRES ARE 

MILLIONAIRES TODAY 

OWING TO THEIR HABIT 

OF TAKING GOOD CARE 

OF THEIR MONEY. THEY 

PREFER TO GET RICH IN 

A SLOW AND STEADY 

MANNER, RATHER THAN 

IN A FAST MANNER. THE 

KEY DIFFERENCE IS IN 

THE MINDSET. 

20



Wealthy people think about 

their financial position for an 

average of three to four hours 

per month. On the contrary, 

self made millionaires who 

have put in their flesh and 

blood in making money, think 

for approximately thirty hours 

and more about their finance 

every month. This mindset 

fosters the habit of prudent 

decision making pertaining 

to money every time the 

same needs to be spent or 

invested. This mind set yields 

profitable results giving 

financial freedom in a slow 

but steady manner. 

Don’t ever lose money. 

Millionaires have financial 

habits that help them multiply 

their money. They never take 

time to think about investing 

the money. They usually take 

a long time to investigate 

about the investment options 

where their money is going 

to be parked. Financial 

decisions taken under the 

pressure of self or someone 

else usually tends to misfire. 

Financial decisions taken in 

urgency can result in loss of 

money. Consider investment 

opportunities as buses that 

keep coming one after the 

other. For all you know, many 

a times, money not invested 

in the wrong option is money 

saved from loss. 

Learn to negotiate hard. 

Millionaires value every 

penny of theirs. Negotiate 

hard and pay as little as 

possible when you buy 

something. Negotiate hard 

to increase the value when 

you sell something. Develop 

the habit of consciously 

monitoring every penny that 

goes out of your pocket. 

Remember, every negotiation 

saves or fetches you that 

extra penny which matters 

if you want to become a 

millionaire. 

Never wait depending on 

luck. Your financial position 

is like a bird in your hand. 

Do not look at the two birds 

on the branch to come in to 

your hands by luck. You may 

lose the one in hand too. 

Remember, luck favors the 

ones who try hard. 

3 

Mindset 

4 

Mindset 

Insure your earnings. Don’t 

get blocked by the usual 

mindset which considers 

Insurance as a waste where 

money lies idle. Insuring 

safeguards you during 

situations when you are 

caught unguarded. 

Wealthy people think about 

their financial position for 

an average of three to 

four hours per month. On 

the contrary, self made 

millionaires who have put 

in their flesh and blood in 

making money, think for 

approximately thirty hours 

and more about their finance 

every month. This mindset 

fosters the habit of prudent 

decision making pertaining 

to money every time the 

same needs to be spent or 

invested. This mind set yields 

profitable results giving 

financial freedom in a slow 

but steady manner. 

2 

Mindset 

1 

Mindset 

5 

Mindset 

6 

Mindset 

Becoming a millionaire is 

a combination of traits like 

thoughtfulness, courage, 

persistence and character. 

As the saying goes, slow and 

steady wins the race. 

Negotiate hard to increase the 

value when you sell something. 

21



FEELING THAT THE 

‘WORLD IS MINE’ CAN 

LEAD YOU TO FINANCIAL RUIN 

22



FINANCIAL RUIN 

NECESSARILY 

FOLLOWS FROM 

BEING FINANCIALLY 

WELL-OFF IN THE 

FIRST PLACE. THIS 

MEANS THAT IF YOU 

THINK GETTING 

A LOT OF MONEY 

WILL REDUCE 

ALL YOUR MONEY 

PROBLEMS THAN 

UNFORTUNATELY 

YOU ARE HIGHLY 

MISTAKEN. RICH 

PEOPLE GO BROKE 

TOO AND STARTING 

FROM MULTI- 

MILLION DOLLAR 

WORTH ATHLETES 

TO LOTTERY 

WINNERS, THERE 

ARE NUMEROUS 

EXAMPLES ALL 

AROUND US WHERE 

PEOPLE WHO HAVE A 

LOT OF MONEY WERE 

EVENTUALLY NOT 

ABLE TO HOLD ON 

TO IT, RESULTING IN 

FINANCIAL RUIN IN 

THE PROCESS. 

SO WHY DOES THIS 

HAPPEN? WHY DO 

RICH PEOPLE GO 

BROKE? AND WHY 

CAN’T PEOPLE 

HANDLE MONEY 

WHEN ONE HAS 

IT? THE ANSWER IS 

SIMPLE – THE ALL 

TOO TYPICAL AND 

USUAL ‘NOW THE 

WORLD IS MINE’; 

SYNDROME. 

‘WORLD IS MINE’ 

SYNDROME – 

WHAT IS IT? 

When you suddenly get your 

hands on a lot of money, be it 

an inheritance or a lottery win 

or even a business deal that 

went the right way, you feel 

that the world is yours! It can 

be of course, but you need to 

strategically plan for it! The 

‘feeling’ per se can do more 

damage than good and more 

than often leads to complete 

ruin! Let’s see why and how. 

YOU TEND TO 

OVERSPEND ON 

YOUR ‘DREAMS’: 

Let’s face it, when you 

suddenly win a lottery 

and feel that the ‘world is 

yours’, what do you do? 

You go around splurging it 

on things which you have 

always dreamt of but could 

never afford. That luxury 

bungalow, the sports car, 

perhaps a world trip? So 

basically you just splurge 

it all off and get back to 

where you started from! 

Nothing can be sadder. 

If and when you have a 

chance of changing your 

life forever and maybe the 

generations to follow, you 

should sit back, plan and 

judiciously and intelligently 

categorize your spending 

so that some goes towards 

such things but mostly the 

money is used to make 

more money…so that the 

entire corpus doesn’t dry 

up and you can sustain your 

new standard of living! 

YOU TEND 

TO BECOME 

GENEROUS 

TOWARDS THE 

WORLD: 

After your inner need to 

show the world that you 

are rich, comes the next 

dangerous need – the need 

to be generous towards 

your near and dear ones. 

Many of your dear friends 

or family might be short 

of cash and in some kinds 

of a problem which would 

get sorted if only there 

was a little money. A little 

push in the new start-up 

business, a sudden medical 

emergency, a marriage, the 

list is endless. You might 

suddenly feel bad if you 

do not help them out in 

their times of need when 

you possess so much 

money. Well, sadly – this 

is yet another sure shot 

way towards financial ruin. 

Such benevolent acts 

unknowingly spiral out of 

our control and honestly, 

most of these you will 

perhaps never get back. 

Even if you do, it would 

be without interest or any 

other kind of ROI. 

So the ‘world is mine’ feeling 

can eventually make you 

a popper again if you don’t 

step on the brakes now. 

Remember, the world can 

be yours only and only if you 

can sustain this money. Get 

yourself a financial planner, 

categorise your money, divide 

it into chunks of savings, 

investments, debt payments 

and spending and then sit 

back and sip on that drink… 

finally you have done your 

best to make the world yours. 

23



THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 

‘BEING RICH’ AND ‘BEING WEALTHY’ 

THE OTHER DAY I RAN INTO AN OLD FRIEND, 

WHO COMES FROM INDIA’S ONE OF THE 

BIGGEST RETAIL CHAINS- BIG BAZAAR. 

WITH A LOT OF DISMAY, HE TOLD ME THAT 

THEIR PRIME LOCATION IN SOUTH MUMBAI 

WAS BEING SHIFTED TO A SUBURBAN AREA, 

WHILE THE FORMER LOCATION WAS GIVEN 

AWAY TO THE GLOBAL LIFESTYLE BRAND, 

H&M. THE IDEA WAS THAT H&M WILL CATER 

TO UPMARKET CONSUMERS LOCATED IN 

SOUTH MUMBAI. 

IT WAS A PREMIUM LUXURY BRAND, 

DISPLACING A MASS BIG BOX RETAILER, BIG 

BAZAAR. IT LEFT ME WONDERING ABOUT 

THE STATUS OF LUXURY GOODS MARKET IN 

INDIA. ARE THERE ENOUGH LUXURY GOODS 

CONSUMERS? CONSUMERS BUY FROM H&M 

BECAUSE OF ITS ‘VALUE’ PROPOSITION OR 

IS IT BECAUSE THEY WANT TO ‘LOOK RICH’ 

WITH THE PREMIUM BADGE ASSOCIATED 

WITH H&M? 

24 

Ostentatious 

display of 

wealth 

The truth is, Indians love 

to flaunt their money. 

They do not shy away 

from ostentatious display 

of wealth. Marriages are 

one such platform where 

one can witness India’s 

ramp walk on ‘who is the 

richest’ show. Well, it’s not 

such a bad thing. If you 

got it, you will flaunt it. 

Who doesn’t want luxury 

and other shiny things in 

life? 

India’s consumption 

story of luxury goods 

has changed drastically. 

There is an increase in 

appetite for luxury goods 

amongst consumers. 

Number of High Net 

worth Individuals 

(millionaires) in India 

have increased and 

data suggest that 

luxury market in India 

has been growing at 

unprecedented levels 

(currently valued @$18.5 

billion). 

Strong interest 

in luxury 

goods 

There is a strong interest 

in luxury goods. The tags 

have become important 

for people. H&M stores



are opening and other 

global luxury brands 

are setting their foot in 

Indian market. Highend 

perfumes, jewelry 

and handbags remain 

consumers’ favorites. 

However, there are many 

reasons to feel downright 

glum about this market 

ebullience. 

As the consumption 

of luxury goods is 

increasing, consumer 

behavior is also 

undergoing a drastic 

change. Consumers are 

continually relinquishing 

their conservative Indian 

avatars, and having a 

hard time controlling their 

spending spree. India’s 

average household debt 

(amount of money all 

adults in a household 

owe to financial 

institutions) has been 

continually rising without 

fail for 5 years. In their 

attempts to flaunt their 

money and ‘look rich’, 

these riches are in actual 

losing their true wealth. 

Person who 

wishes to be 

wealthy 

When you spend on a 

Louis Vuitton bag or an 

Armani Suit or Mercedes- 

Benz, you are not being 

wealthy, you are being 

rich. Why? See, it from 

the point of view of a 

smart investor. Sure, 

you will ‘look rich’ with 

these, but in reality, 

you have bought these 

‘depreciating assets’ by 

trading your money for it. 

So, you have just become 

A WEALTHY 

PERSON LOOKS FOR 

OPPORTUNITIES 

TO GROW HIS 

ASSETS SO THAT HE 

COULD PAY FOR HIS 

LUXURIOUS WISHES. 

‘little less rich’ now. 

To the rich it may not 

matter if these are poor 

investments, but to a 

person who wishes to be 

wealthy, it should. Wealth 

doesn’t impress anyone. It 

seeks freedom. Freedom 

to buy anything one 

wants without losing on 

prior money. 

If you take into account 

one’s balance sheet, you 

may find both rich and 

wealthy the same. With 

all the hard assets in 

store of rich, the rich may 

look even richer than the 

wealthy one. But, is he? 

Put more 

money ‘in his 

coffer’ 

The difference between 

rich and wealthy is a 

simple one. A wealthy 

person looks always for 

alternative ways to put 

more money ‘in his coffer’ 

(even when it comes 

to buying), while a rich 

person may just put his 

money on a liability by 

taking money ‘out of his 

coffer’. 

I am not suggesting that 

you keep your money 

intact or don’t spend it 

on things that you have 

longed for. Purchase 

them. Invest in luxury 

goods all you want. 

But purchase them by 

keeping an attitude of a 

wealthy person, not a rich 

person. How? Let’s see. 

How to flaunt 

your wealth 

without 

spending on it? 

Warren Buffet invests in 

permanent assets such 

as roads, electricity and 

railways. He chooses 

them because new 

technologies and 

inventions may get 

replaced by newer ones 

and old stocks may 

go down, but roads, 

electricity, railways, etc. 

are some permanent 

assets which won’t go 

down so abruptly. 

A wealthy person looks 

for opportunities to grow 

his assets so that he 

could pay for his luxurious 

wishes. 

Take for example- You 

want to buy Mercedes- 

Benz. There are two ways 

you could go for it. You 

can directly buy this car 

or you can carefully invest 

in a short term stock, 

from which you can get 

good returns and from 

those returns you can 

buy a Mercedes-Benz 

for yourself. A wealthy 

person will choose the 

latter. Being rich is lucky, 

staying rich is strategy. 

Choice 

between 

creating 

wealth and 

spending it 

Ever heard, Money 

creates money? It’s true. 

Money works round the 

clock. It doesn’t do any 

good by lying in cash 

chests and nor does it 

grow by spending on 

depreciating luxury 

assets. It needs to keep 

moving. One needs to 

keep investing it for 

it to multiply. Money 

needs your nurturing 

and acknowledgement. 

A wealthy person well 

understands this. 

Don’t be a pretender 

spender. Flaunt away 

your money in limited 

edition watches, cars and 

handbags, but take a little 

longer route and create 

more wealth for fulfilling 

your whims and fancies. 

Be a smart spender! 

25



Desi Finance 

SEE AN OPPORTUNITY 

AND MAKE IT HAPPEN! 

26



WANT TO HEAR THE 

THREE MAGIC WORDS 

THAT SHALL MAKE 

YOU POP OUT OF 

YOUR CHAIR: YOU 

ARE BROKE. THAT IS 

OUR VANTAGE POINT 

FOR THE REST OF 

THIS ARTICLE. YOU 

ARE BROKE IN NEW 

DELHI/MUMBAI (PICK 

YOUR CITY) IN 2017. 

WHAT DO YOU DO? 

WALKING AROUND 

IN DELHI YOU SHALL 

FIND MANY MARKETS, 

SCENARIOS, AND 

OPPORTUNITIES. 

DESI FINANCE IS 

ABOUT THE THIRD: 

OPPORTUNITIES. 

Standing in the land 

of unexplored 

opportunities in 

an ecosystem of 

people who want to spend 

but do not know where to 

spend it is an entrepreneur’s 

dream. My NRI friend Aryan 

just got back to India from 

London mesmerized by the 

quinoa revolution. Quinoa 

is the staple diet for the 

Latin Americans. Rice is 

to India what Quinoa is to 

Latin Americans. It is hailed 

as the hallmark of success 

for globalization. Over a 

cup of coffee in the market 

complex opposite IIT Delhi, 

he asked me: 

“You have no idea how 

unexploited Indian markets 

are. I just wish I could start a 

quinoa revolution in India. Do 

you think it is possible?” 

Being the patriotic Indian, 

I replied, “No Aryan, you 

should not do it. We live in 

India. We should promote 

domestic grains like barley, 

maize and Bajra. Why 

should you import a grain 

from South America and sell 

it in India?” 

“No” is the favourite word for 

novelty 

“No” is the favourite word for 

novelty. If you hear “No” to 

something in India, you are 

doing something novel. And 

not everything novel is not 

worth pursuing. My friend 

Aryan started importing 

quinoa from a dealer in 

London, started selling it on 

Amazon and approached 

me to file a collective bid 

for a franchise restaurant 

based in New York. He saw 

an opportunity and he made 

it happen! The Baap of all 

protein foods is now catching 

on in India. 

Let us go back to our 

vantage point now: Imagine 

you are broke. You have no 

money. You are living with 

your friend in the suburban 

area of Rohini in Delhi. You 

have no money. You pick 

up a job as a restaurant 

manager near your place 

and now, you have to 

make money. You cannot 

borrow and in this particular 

scenario, your parents are 

not an option. 

The cultural baggage of 

financial dependence is 

shed. What are you going 

to do? Scenarios like this 

provide perspective on 

the importance of financial 

independence. We are lucky 

to be born in a culture where 

it is an obligation for familial 

systems to coexist financially 

but this is a matter of luck 

and not a privilege. And that 

is as much as luck as we 

should lead ourselves to 

believe we have. 

Money is not only for the rich 

It is empowering to be 

financially independent. 

Money is not a sin item. 

Money is money. It is an 

enabler. Money, contrary to 

what populist narrative would 

have you believe, is not ‘only 

for the rich’ or stratospheric 

entity you cannot achieve. 

Looking out for the correct 

opportunity at the right time 

is the basic characteristic 

of an entrepreneur’s mind. 

Not only should you be 

able to gauge the dynamic 

of the market, but win the 

hearts of your consumer. You 

should be able to crunch 

data into comprehensible, 

implementable ideas that 

are not only self-sustaining 

but increasingly profitable. 

But prefixing all that with 

an “I can do it” attitude 

is extremely important. 

Whatever you do, your 

cause, your product or your 

service has to be able to 

transform into a tangible 

entity that can promote itself. 

The comparative advantage 

is against you when you 

are starting a business or 

investing your money in one. 

The first hurdle that you 

have to cross is a “no”. It is 

hard. But it is surmountable. 

How do you deal with 

an audience whose first 

response to a product 

is “no”? My broke friend 

decided to open a café. He 

took a personal loan and I 

loaned him the rest of the 

money. He got the design 

ready, the menu ready; he 

had all the right ideas. We 

were looking for a space. 

“Indians are prudish”, he said 

brooding. We were standing 

near a chole-kulche stall 

opposite PVR Prashant Vihar. 

The patriot in me revolted. 

“How dare you say such a 

thing? It is blasphemy. Indians 

are honest and humble. 

People with simple needs.” 

Internet is a human right now 

“Well, simple needs is a 

flimsy concept. Needs 

change with time. Internet 

is a human right now. I think 

it should be a fundamental 

right, like equality. A 

hundred years later, it will 

be a need simple need to 

own a Tesla electric flying 

car. I am trying to sell them 

gold at the price of Channa 

and no one wants to buy it. I 

am selling them smoothies, 

coffee, juices, a detox diet 

and all organic! In a foreign 

country, it would sell in a 

jiffy! But here, choosing the 

right spot is a nightmare. 

And whenever I tell one of 

the people here the menu, 

they freak out and taunt me 

by showing me fresh fruits. 

How is one supposed to 

start a business here?” 

The patriotic fervour toned 

down a bit. “My broke 

friend”, I said lovingly, 

“You are looking in the 

wrong direction there. PVR 

Prashant Vihar sees a daily 

footfall of students, couples. 

It is a movie hall. The idea of 

relaxation for people here is 

a movie and a pizza.” I took 

my friend to a hospital. Well, 

outside a hospital and we 

rented the ground floor. 

That is where we run our 

successful café called, 

Swastha Bharat. (The patriot 

in me could not resist that 

name) 

Now, dear reader, would you 

be interested in working on a 

project of a grand seven star 

apartment on TRAPPIST 1? 

27



8WEIRD WAYS 

TO MAKE 

MONEY 

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU STORMED 

INTO YOUR ROOM, LOOKED FOR A LITTLE 

CASH HERE AND THERE, TURNED YOUR 

POCKETS INSIDE OUT AND EXCLAIMED 

‘WHY ON EARTH DO I NEVER HAVE 

ENOUGH MONEY?!’ IF YOU ARE READING 

THIS ARTICLE, CHANCES ARE, THAT 

A LOT OF TIMES! WELL, FOR ALL YOU 

FOLKS…HERE ARE THE TOP 8 WEIRDEST 

MONEY MAKING WAYS FOR YOU TO GET 

A HIGH ON! 

28



1. Sell your 

photographs 

Almost all of us have a 

DSLR now and what we 

all do with it is go click 

happy, taking snapshots 

of whatever we fancy and 

of course our vacation 

snaps! Well, organizations 

pay huge sums 

of money to buy well 

composed photographs 

from online sites for their 

webpages, blogs, etc. So 

go put your photographs 

on sale! 

2. Become a 

life model 

Being a ramp or a commercial 

model might 

need a lot of hard work 

and effort..including having 

the right height and 

body type, but unknown 

to many, being a life 

model for painters, sculptures, 

etc are not only 

a good thing for artistic 

reasons but it also pays! 

Such life modeling needs 

all types of body shapes 

and sizes, hence however 

you are you can definitely 

life model for art! 

3. Sell your hair 

Next time you get a 

haircut, try and earn 

some money for it! Hair 

is always needed for 

making wigs and other 

theatre disguises, etc. So 

you can sell your hair to 

earn some money! 

4. Become 

a hangover 

helper 

As weird as it may sound, 

life is all about identifying 

opportunities around you 

and encashing them! 

All of us have had those 

mornings with severe 

hangovers where you 

cursed being alone and 

thought ‘only if there was 

someone’ to do this, give 

that, help me get over 

the hangover, etc. Yes, so 

if you happen to live around 

a student community, 

become a professional 

hangover helper in the 

locality! 

5. Give Product 

Demos 

Starting from malls to big 

fairs, from corporates to 

individuals, brands are 

always on the lookout 

for people to give their 

product demo to win the 

mindshare of their potential 

target group. So be 

it the latest smartphone 

with some cool features 

or a household item 

like a roti maker, giving 

product demos are easy 

cash right there! 

6. Organize 

Games in Sales 

Meets 

Marketing, sales meetings, 

be it a product launch 

or a distributor meet, are 

always about inviting 

a group of people and 

then making them happy. 

Usually organized in five 

star properties, there is 

always a need for fun 

and games arrangement 

outside the banquet 

during the waiting hours 

etc when distributors can 

have fun and win prizes! 

So get hold of your dart 

set and go earn some 

cash! 

7. Sell a secret 

language: 

In today’s day of whatsapp, 

messenger and 

all the social networking 

apps and features, 

having a code language 

the code to which only 

you know and the person 

you share it with, is a 

novel and romantic way 

to make communication 

interesting! Rack your 

brains a little, invent a 

secret language and go 

sell it and its code key! 

8. Become a 

face painter in 

front of a kid’s 

school 

If you have drawing talent, 

want to earn cash by 

having fun, nothing like 

carrying a set of brushes 

and paint to a children’s 

school during the evening 

holiday hours. One 

kid gets his/her face painted 

and you are done! 

Get ready for atleast an 

hour of painting, laughter, 

happiness and of course 

fast cash! 

29



RE-SKILLING 

for the ones 

AIMING TO BE RICH 

30



TODAY ALL 

BUSINESSES 

FACE MULTIPLE 

CHALLENGES 

ON ALL FRONTS 

MAINLY BECAUSE 

OF EVER 

DYNAMIC MARKET 

ENVIRONMENT. 

WHAT’S 

HAPPENING NOW 

IS BUSINESSES 

DEMANDING 

ADVANCED SKILL 

SETS BECAUSE 

THE NATURE 

OF THE WORK 

IS CONSTANTLY 

CHANGING AND 

GROWING. THE 

CONCEPT OF RE- 

SKILLING HAS 

HOWEVER HAVE 

BECOME THE 

CENTRAL FACTOR 

FOR MAINTAINING 

THE BUSINESS 

MOMENTUM. 

If you are an ambitious 

business owner or an 

individual who aims to 

be rich, you must realize 

the importance of re-skilling 

yourself or your 

business or your work 

force. Re-skilling not only 

enables you to stay at par 

with the industry but also 

gives you the power to 

provide quick innovative 

solutions to the constant 

problems arising from 

day-to-day business 

affairs. 

You snooze, 

you lose 

Understand this, the demand 

and expectations 

from your customers are 

in a constant rise and it 

will keep on increasing. 

Only way to keep up with 

their increasing expectations 

is getting re-skilled 

time to time. You snooze, 

you lose. 

Re-skilling means acquiring 

new skills, which 

when combined with 

your understanding of 

your domain gives you 

the power to surge ahead 

in this fluctuating market. 

Re-skilling gives you 

the power to adapt fast, 

as fast as the market is 

moving and that is going 

to give you the edge 

your competitor will lack. 

Re-skilling is a smart 

move, a move you must 

make if you ever want to 

be rich and successful. 

We have extensively talked 

about the “why” part, 

now let’s talk about the 

“how” part. Here’s a simple 

7 step program that will 

help you or your business 

re-skill effectively: 

EVALUATE: 

Your primary first step 

is to evaluate the pain 

points in your business. 

Evaluate carefully to find 

out the shortcomings 

and how things can be 

better. In this process, 

you will discover certain 

traits and abilities have 

been left out, you can 

then add them with your 

re-skilling abilities. 

IDENTIFY: 

In this step what you 

need to do is identify 

your skillset and your 

performance gaps. 

Conduct assessments 

and surveys to determine 

what you know and what 

you need to know to 

achieve your goals. 

DEVELOP: 

What you now need to 

do is develop a re-skilling 

program for yourself. 

You can either do this 

yourself or take special 

help form re-skilling consultants. 

Either way, you 

must enroll yourself into 

a program. A program 

will help you develop 

skills you currently don’t 

possess right now, and 

learning these skills will 

help you fill the gap you 

have in your business 

right now. Invest in a 

re-skilling program, it’s 

highly recommended. 

PLAN AHEAD: 

Remember, re-skilling is 

a continuous process. It is 

not a one-time thing. You 

might acquire a re-skilling 

program that will 

enable you to fight your 

current shortcomings but 

what about tomorrow? 

You need to plan ahead 

and keep training 

yourself so that you stay 

ahead of the times, not 

let the times stay ahead 

of you. You must maintain 

a timeline where you 

can periodically re-skill 

yourself and always plan 

ahead for the future. 

Reskilling is often 

a matter of necessity 

in the business 

world. If you want to 

be rich and stay rich 

you must make sure 

that you must learn 

new skills and keep 

updating yourself. 

31



CREATE AN APP, INVEST IN MARTIAN 

POTATOES AND CORIANDER: 

GET RICH, 

STAY RICH 

It is said that change is the only constant. A successful 

individual employs tactics to exploit change to get rich, 

stay rich. A young man of about eighteen creates an app, 

sells it to a Chinese multinational, invests in a project that 

shall grow a variety of potatoes on Mars, uses the profits 

from this ‘ego good’ to finance his investment in premium 

quality coriander grown in Gujarat and buys exchange 

traded funds floated by the government of India and 

purchases a farm in the outskirts of Delhi to engage in 

peri-urban agriculture. 

32



He then uses his constant income to purchase 

an urban space on the twenty second floor 

of a building in Mumbai which he divides in 

half to rent out to a restaurant and set up a 

recreational centre for an ageing population. 

What you just read about is the dream life of a millennial 

in 2030. This is also the way wealth is created, retained 

and multiplied; by exploiting all opportunities that appear 

with changing times. 

THE POLE STAR OF THE 

CORPORATE WORLD: 

MONEY 

As technology changes the way we do things, it is 

essential to re-skill. This re-Skilling should not be merely 

about learning to code for big data or consulting, which 

are going to be base level requirements for most jobs of 

the future. 

Re-Skilling for the ones aiming to be rich involves 

learning to identify opportunities, embracing failures, 

moving on, starting again and walking through the maze 

of challenges of a changing society to get rich. 

Ambition has to be navigated using the pole star of 

the corporate world: money. Once you have reached 

your destination to stay profitable; navigate faster. In a 

changing world, it is paramount that you embrace all 

opportunities that come your way. If Elon Musk had 

continued working for PayPal, the explosive entry of 

SpaceX and disruptive forces of Tesla would have never 

happened. Intelligent navigation through the stormy 

waters of business involves being an adept captain: 

The vision is as important as the model. 

A talented employee is your best investment. 

Break-even should not elusive forever. 

You are the golden asset for your business. Listen to 

the market, listen to your employees (look at them like 

consumers of your product) and rely on data. Data is 

called the ‘new oil’ for a reason. 

Never ever ignore an opportunity to expand. 

But navigate using the pole star only! 

HOW DO 

ENTREPRENEURS 

STAY RICH? 

Ever noticed how some people do not work, but stay 

rich? One word answer to how that happens: Financial 

markets. They have been around since the first 

entrepreneur invested money in the first ship that sailed 

from Europe to explore the world for commodities that 

could be sold in the home market for a huge profit. 

The fixed deposits, treasury bills, National savings 

schemes, IPOs, ETFs, derivatives, futures, bonds, mutual 

funds, pension schemes; these are a part of the financial 

market. The intimidating jargon is only so in appearance. 

It works fairly simply: recently the futures of Coriander 

on an Indian stock exchange regained value in the wake 

of demand for premium Coriander in foreign market. 

Coriander is a part of the commodity market. Had 

you purchased a future of coriander for six thousand 

rupees last sowing season, you would earn rupees nine 

thousand from it this month. 

Did you know the savings interest rate that you gain 

when your money lies idle in the bank is a derivative of 

the manner in which financial markets operate? 

Three things you require to stay rich: 

Hawkish eye (which is a trait acquired by experience) 

Risk appetite: Idle wealth is worthless in practice 

Awareness of the limits to your risk appetite 

Once you have mastered the above mentioned mantras 

of ‘wealth awareness’, get on and sail on the ship to 

explore the treasures that lay hidden in the sea of 

constant change! Bon Voyage! 

33



THIS MONTH’S FEATURE STORY 

DIAMONDS ARE NOT 

FOREVER - A FEATURE 

ON DECLINING PRICES 

OF DIAMONDS 

Diamonds are forever – Definitely one of the most popular 

proverbs used by the marketers. Well, practically speaking, it 

is quite a hard stone so it will probably last for a long time. But 

financially speaking? Is it durable in nature? Will it hold good or 

increase in value over the years? If we look at the data of the past 

30-40 years or so as well as the current diamond price index, 

unfortunately, diamonds are probably not forever as is claimed. 

34



A BIT OF A BACKGROUND: 

A popular diamond industry benchmark, the Rapaport 

Diamond Index, states that the prices of top quality 

diamonds have gone down by as much as 80% in 

the last 35 years. And this collapse is real time, in 

inflation-adjusted terms. For example, if a diamond 

cost $6000 in 1978, as per the index it costs around 

$11,000 now. Even though this might look like an 

increase, but if one was to adjust it against the 

inflation, then the stone has actually lost about half its 

value in reality! 

Diamond prices had again picked up during 1980, 

but after the market crash in that year, it reached 

lows and from then have not really gone up again. 

They have kept up with the inflation, but if one 

was to include all the related costs – broker’s fees, 

commissions, retail percentages, insurance costs, etc 

then the prices are still very much in the abyss. As a 

comparison, people who had invested in government 

bonds or stock-index funds, have multiplied their 

money several times. 

THE RECENT PAST: 

Going a bit forward, if we look at our recent past, just 

9 years ago, world famous diamond producer De 

Beers opened Snap Lake - its celebrated landmark 

project in Canada which was their first underground 

diamond mine outside Africa. By 2014, $2.2bn 

had been spent on development and operations. 

However, not even a single diamond is now produced 

at Snap Lake and last year, the mine was closed 

along with a massive 400 job cuts. The family 

responded that they are facing the worst diamond 

market downturn in years. 

This temporary close down of the mine basically 

sums up the issues faced by the diamond industry in 

current times. The downturn gained momentum last 

year and has resulted in considerable financial pain 

for all stakeholders including miners, dealers as well 

as retailers. 

THE CURRENT PRICE FALL: 

Coming to the present, according to Rapaport’s report 

in January 2017, the average price of 1-carat diamonds 

fell by 5% and of 3-carat diamonds by 8.5% in 2016. 

In the Indian context, after PM Mod’s Demonetization 

move on November 8th, where high value bank notes 

were illegitimated, diamond sales suffered all the 

more in the fourth quarter. 

Since demonetization wiped out 85% of money 

in circulation, orders from local jewelers faced a 

huge dent. Domestic Indian demand saw a huge 

fall in demand even with the wedding season and 

valentine’s season being at the forefront. Average 

price of half carat diamonds and one-carat diamonds 

fell another 4.8% and 3% respectively in the fourth 

quarter. Only the 3-carat diamonds were seen to 

hold their stand with a 1.4% price rise over this period. 

Rough diamonds faced the same fate as that of their 

polished counterparts. 

Thus, it can be safely concluded from past data that 

irrespective of what marketers say, diamonds might 

not be a woman’s best friend after all, and definitely 

are not forever! 

35

Mad Mad 

Money

Mad_About_Money_April 2017

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?