Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

Himanshu Joshi has been after me for a couple of days regarding the renewal of Office 365. We have merely 5 licenses and the total order value would be in the vicinity of Rs. 25,500. Not exactly a scintillating order size. But today no business is doing well and people are now employing desperate measures to grab whatever orders they can get. Yesterday Himanshu called me and offered me a credit period of 1 month. I would still not budge as there is no clarity about where our business is headed. A little while ago, someone from Microsoft (allegedly) called me to check on the renewal status. I told him that we would be deferring the renewal by a few months. Upon hearing this I got to hear the usual crap about the imminent hike in prices and how it would be wise to lock the price before 30th June. I dilly dallied. He then out right offered me a credit period of 2 months! This is unheard of.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Microsoft or for that matter no major software company would offer such conveniences to their customers. They were just busy milking the cash cows that they had managed to cultivate over the years. But with the very imminent possibility of businesses shutting down, even they are bound to feel the pinch. This is somewhat like a reverse pay it forward effect. One small company like ArtMart doesn't buy/renew. But there are several more across India who are facing the same predicament and defer or cancel their software buying plans. This puts a spanner in the software company's plans as no sales, no bonuses, no salaries, no commissions. So now even their jobs are at risk.

Moreover there are many options available to Office 365. Some of which are free to use. Google Docs is a very convenient and cheap alternative and so is LibreOffice. So far I had been very loyal to Microsoft because our clients would expect seamless work from us. Work done in any proxy office software does not have fidelity when opened in say powerpoint or word. I will have to make this decision based on how much revenue Office 365 is able to generate for me. Till last year we had a decent amount of work coming from Novo Nordisk. They have now sadly discontinued for reasons they didn't confide in me. 

At this stage spending even Rs. 25,000 seems difficult to me. I also am not sure about how much staff we would be retaining going ahead. The outlook looks very hazy. I may buy maybe 3 licenses so that I don't get red flagged at their end. 

I am still in denial about where our business will be in a few months. Am I being an optimist or just plain stupid? Only time will tell. I am sure about one thing though – Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures. This is what I have been subconsciously doing over the past 2-3 months. My stints at learning technical trading, taking on html conversion work, doing small amounts of share trading... anything to pacify my nerves. I have also been following up with my contacts for work and payments. I cannot be proud of what I have achieved so far. But again, my clients too are facing the same pressures that I am facing.

So to stay in the hunt, one will have to remain desperate, hungry and clear headed. Passion without purpose and speed without direction will take us nowhere. As Shane Parrish says, we should always focus more on the process rather than on the outcome.