Category: Business

CSI’s New Office


It is always nice to see companies which you have whished to flourish well coming up in a great fashion. Yesterday was the office warming ceremony of Contus Support Interactive Pvt. Ltd.

This company was founded 2 years back by a bunch of my friends and today they have crossed a milestone in their life. When I was out from the company I founded and till I started Cogzidel I was consulting these folks.

I’m emotionally attached with this company as I was there since its inception and it helped me to divert myself from all the problems I was facing during that time. Even today I interact with the founders and pass on my suggestions and they reciprocate the gesture.

I must give credits to the entire founding team as they took the risk of quitting their high paid jobs from companies like TCS, Accenture, IBM, Southerland, Slash Support etc.

Today they have proved their critics wrong and have made their well wishers proud. Soon they will be moving to this cool office and I think it must be a treat for all their employees.

I wish Contus & team all the very best for their future endowers.

Finally BNI has landed in Chennai


Last year same time me & Bala went to Bangalore to attend 2 BNI meetings and we were really startled to see the way networking and business happened there… We were very much worried that Chennai didn’t have one and we thought of taking rights for Chennai. Unfortunately costs were too high for us to offer.

A month my old time college mate, now a client & friend Mr.Raghavan has taken rights for Chennai and he has successfully conducted 3 meetings at Hotel Courtyard Marriott. I must say that Raghavan has brought to Chennai some pride and we must thank him. We all must see to it that he makes this initiative a grand success…

So, for those who are all new to BNI. Here is a small FAQ;

What is BNI?

BNI is a place / platform where we convert our contacts into contracts!

Already 9 people have enrolled for many categories and hurry to enroll your category. 

For more details shoot an email to Mr.Raghavan raghavan@rsggroup.in.

ZENCART FLV PLAYER ADD ON


I heard from my friend that a FLV player add-on for Zencart has been released recently.  In fact, I had been searching for a good FLV player add on for my website, which is an Ecommerce website built on Zencart.  I wanted a FLV player add on to showcase my products in a video demo, but unfortunately, I did not find a suitable add on.  Since I heard from my friend about this new player add on, I felt curious to find about the quality, and downloaded the plugin from this link – http://www.hdflvplayer.net/zencart/  To my astonishment, the FLV player was of high definition quality and had so many options that I never heard of !!!   In fact, until now, I do not know how many features this product has.  It was very easy to download and install.

In the free download version, the logo of the company is present, “HD FLV Player Demo.”  I contacted the support team from www.hdflvplayer.net and they said that it comes as part of the free trial, and and also informed me that the commercial version will not be having this logo.  Since I was very much impressed with the quality that I expected, I went ahead and bought the commercial version, and now, I have installed it in my website and successfully showcasing my products in a video demo.

I strongly recommend this player to anyone who wishes to get a FLV player add on to Zencart websties, it is simply amazing.

Salem Professional Tax Experience


Yesterday was one of the electrifying days in my professional life. Everything got done in a jiffy. But things started with a shaky note. I woke up in at 5 AM in the morning only to find that my mobile charge is too low. Then I put my mobile in charge and went to refresh and take back and after coming back after 45 min I was shocked to see that charger was crap and the mobile was not charged. 

Mobile was very inevitable because I needed bala’s help or clients Branch Manager’s help if needed. Then I charged the mobile with Kannan’s charger and my travel was delayed by 2 hours. 

Then I boarded a bus to Salem by 8 AM and it travelled to places Dhindikal, Karur, Namakkal & Finally reached Salem by 2 PM in the afternoon. But travelling was not as boring because climate was cool and also it was raining often. Also I was able to watch 2 movies while I was travelling. Even more importantly the bus was not crowded that I was able to sit comfortable till the end of the journey. 

Then on reaching Salem I enquired about Corporation office and on reaching there I came to know that Treasury works form 10 AM – 2 PM and I reached there by 2.45 PM. But I was asked to go to Hastampatti where there is the Corporation office for the zone where I wanted to Register & Remit Professional Tax. 

I reached that office by 3 o clock and I was made to wait for the PTO. In that time I went and had lunch in a near by hotel and I was walking at near by places. I returned back to 3.45 PM as it was too hot. By the time I returned to Corporation say in 5 min, it got pitch dark and started raining for next 45 min. 

I went to the computer room’s visitor area and took a small nap. Then I went to a Peon and told him I wanted his help as I’m from Chennai and I wanted to get that work done at any cost. Then the PTO came by 5 o clock only to go back again. But with the help of the Peon I got everything done in 30 min. 

By 5.35 PM I got the receipt and assessment number. This made me feel good as it took 10 days to get this work done in Coimbatore & Bangalore. 

Then I reached back to KPN office by 6.30 and with all their mess I got a ticket by 7 o clock. Then I brought a Money Today magazine and I went to near by mobile shop to charge my mobile and had Pizza as dinner and I boarded the bus by 10 o clock and reached home by 5.45 AM today. 

Over all my confidence is at a new high after this experience. And at the end of the day what made me feel happy is I learned from my previous mistakes and caught hold of the right guy to get things done.

Services offered & to be offered by CCS


Thought there are bouquets of services offered by Cogzidel Consultancy Services (CCS) we have accomplished most of the listed services we have offered and it is my desire to complete the entire cycle of services soon.

Some of the services which have already been offered:

Company Incorporation: In fact I must say this has been the star product/service offered by CCS. From the date of inception we have incorporated 20+ Private Limited companies.

Trademark Registration: This is our second star product/service. Though this service was listed right from our inception. We got our first client only in the month of March 2009 only to get more and more every month. Till date we have applied for Trademarks for 20+ companies.

Statutory Compliance: This has been our third superstar service. We have registered for Service Tax, Professional Tax & Sales Tax for 15+ companies some are renewed banks. We have also calculated, worked & filed Service Tax, Sales Tax, Professional Tax and Income Tax returns for 40+ companies.

Accounting & HR Services: This service includes Accounts Punching, Tax Calculation, Payroll Processing & Statutory Compliance Management. We take care of all the Accounts & HR (Excluding Recruitment) operations of an organization leaving the promoters to concentrate on operations and marketing. This is one service which we want to promote as this gives us residual income. We have 7 clients for whom we work on this on a monthly contract basis.

Drafting Agreements: Though we do this to our clients for most of the services. We have serviced 4 clients to whom we have exclusively drafted agreements.

Individual IT returns filing: Thought this is not in our core business agenda we have added this in our services list as we have to file IT Returns for our own staff who number around 50 people and to our client’s staff who number to another 150+ people. We had a target to file 1000+ individual IT returns but we ended up by filing for 250 people only. We went to people at the last moment and we have our lessons using which we can achieve our target by next financial year.

Business Plan Writing: This is one service which is picking up off late. After serving a client in writing his Business Plan 6 months back to pitch in for investment. We are getting couple of enquires off late.

Fund Raising: This would have been our No.1 product provided if we are able to raise funds for all enquires. We are working on ways to be successful in raising funds for our clients though Venture Capitalist, Angel Investors, Private Equities, and Bank Loans etc. once we catch hold of a formula we will take this in a Big way.

Till now we have not offered services clients for only one listed service.

Franchise Consulting: Thought we have all necessary alliance and knowledge to help individuals to get a right franchisee or for a company to launch its own franchisee we have not reached to the targeted clients yet. Still we have not received any enquiry on this. I must sit and analyze where we are lacking and how to improve in this service.

Incorporating a LLP: Incorporating Limited Liability Partnership is a new option for individuals to run a registered company like LLC in US. This is a very new service and we have to tap this market.

If you want details about any of the above listed services kindly email Mr.Bala Murugan (bala@cogzidel.com).

Registering Limited Liability Partnership in India


A Limited Liability Partnership may be incorporated as per the procedure explained below:

User Registration

• Register yourself on the website of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, developed for LLP services, i.e. www.llp.gov.in. This website may also be accessed through the website of the ministrywww.mca.gov.in. On the home page of the URL www.llp.gov.in click “Register” tab on top right hand corner of the page.

• Fill in the registration form. Fields marked * in the form are to be mandatorily filled. Select your user name and password.

• Upload digital signature certificate

• On successful registration, system will give a message that you have been registered successfully. 

Obtain Designated Partners Identification Number (DPIN).

• All designated partners of the proposed LLP shall obtain “Designated Partner Identification Number (DPIN)” by filing an application individually online in Form -7.

• For obtaining DPIN kindly log in by clicking on the “Login” tab on top right corner of the home page, enter your user name and password. After login, click on the E-forms link. List of e-forms will open. Click and open  Form 7.

• Fill up “Form 7” for allotment of DPIN

• Pay filing fee of Rs.100 online through credit card (master/visa)

• Submit the application form online. The system will generate a provisional DPIN. Kindly note it carefully

• Take the print out of the application form, affix a latest passport size photograph and get it attested/certified for submission physically along with documentary evidences for proof of identify and proof of residence with the Registrar LLP.

• Deliver the printed and signed application form, along with the prescribed documents by hand/courier/registered post to the Office of Registrar, Ministry of Corporate Affairs,  3rd Floor, “Paryavaran Bhawan”, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003.

• For more details see Instruction Kit provided on the home page under “Users Guide” tab.

Digital Signature Certificate

• Partner/Designated partner of LLP/proposed LLP, whose signatures are to be affixed on the e-forms has to obtain class 2 or class 3 Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from any authorized certifying agency, details of which are available on the home page of the llp portal under the tab “Certifying Authorities”.

Reservation of name

• Log on to the LLP portal by clicking the “log in” tab on the top right corner of the homepage and enter your username and password. After login, click “E-Forms” link.

• Open Form-1 for reservation of name and fill in the details. Select name of the proposed LLP (upto 6 choices can be indicated).

• Any partner or designated partner in the proposed LLP may submit Form-1.

• Append digital signatures and submit the e-form

• Pay the necessary fee by credit card (master/visa).

• Free name search facility (of existing companies / LLPs) is available on MCA portal (hyper link available on LLP portal).The system will provide the list of similar/closely resembling names of existing companies/LLPs based on the search criteria filled up.

• Details of minimum two designated partners of the proposed LLP, one of them must be a resident of India, is required to be filled in the application for reservation of name. Only individuals or nominees on behalf of the bodies corporate as partners can act as designated partners.

• Check status of your application by logging on the portal.

• For more details see Instruction Kit provided on the home page under “Users Guide” tab.

Incorporation of LLP

• Once the name is reserved  by the Registrar, log on to the portal and fill up Form-2 “Incorporation Document and Statement”.

• Pay the prescribed registration fee as per the slab given in Annexure A of the LLP Rules, 2009, based on the total monetary value of contribution of partners in the proposed LLP.

• Statement in the e-form is to be digitally signed by a person named in the incorporation document as a designated partner having permanent DPIN and also to be digitally signed by an advocate/company secretary/chartered accountant/cost accountant in practice and  engaged in the formation of LLP.

• On submission of complete documents the Registrar after satisfying himself about compliance with relevant provisions of the LLP Act will register the LLP, maximum within 14 days of filing of Form-2 and will issue a certificate of incorporation in Form-16.

• You can check status of your application by logging on to the portal

• For more details see Instruction Kit provided on the home page under “Instruction Kit” tab.

Filing of LLP agreement (Form-3) and Partners’ details (Form-4)

• Form 3 (Information with regard to LLP agreement and changes, if any made therein) and Form-4 (Notice of Appointment of Partner/Designate Partner, his consent etc.) may be filed with the prescribed fee simultaneously at the time of filing Form-2 or within 30 days of the date of incorporation or within 30 days of such subsequent changes.

• For more details see Instruction Kit provided on the home page under “Instruction Kit” tab.

Details of Fee

1. For registration of Limited Liability Partnership including conversion of a firm or a private company or an unlisted public company into Limited Liability Partnership:

(a) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution does not exceed Rs. 1 lakh

Rs. 500/-

(b) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution exceeds Rs. 1 lakh but does not exceed Rs. 5 lakhs

Rs. 2000/-

(c) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution exceeds Rs. 5 lakhs but does not exceed Rs. 10 lakhs

Rs. 4000/-

(d) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution exceeds Rs. 10 lakh

Rs. 5000/-

2. The difference between the fees payable on the increased slab of contribution and the fees paid on the preceding slab of contribution shall be paid through Form 3.

3. For filing, registering or recording any document, form, statement, notice, Statement of Accounts and Solvency, annual return and an application along with the Statement for  conversion of a firm or a private company or an unlisted public company into LLP by this Act or by these rules required or authorized to be filed, registered or recorded:

(a) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution does not exceed Rs. 1 lakh

Rs. 50/-

(b) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution exceeds Rs. 1 lakh but does not exceed Rs. 5 lakhs

Rs. 100/-

(c) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution exceeds Rs. 5 lakhs but does not exceed Rs. 10 lakhs

Rs. 150/-

(d) Limited Liability Partnership whose contribution exceeds Rs. 10 lakh

Rs. 200/-

4. Fee for any application other than application for conversion of a firm or a private company or an unlisted public company into LLP shall be as under:-

(a) An application for reservation of name u/s 16

Rs. 200/-

(b) An application for direction to change the name u/s 18

Rs. 10000/-

(c) Application for reservation of name under Rule 18(3)

Rs. 10,000/-

(d) Application for renewal of name under rule 18(3)

Rs. 5000/-

(e) Application for obtaining DPIN under rule 10(5)

Rs.100/-

5. Fee for inspection of documents or for obtaining certified copy thereof shall be as under:-

(a) For inspection of documents of an LLP under section 36 Rs. 50/-

(b) For Copy or extract of any document under section 36 to be certified by Registrar

Rs. 5/- per page or fractional part thereof

6. Fee for filing any form or a Statement of Account and Solvency or a notice or a document by foreign limited liability partnership

(a) For filing a document under rule 34(1)

Rs.5000/-

(b) Any other form or Statement of Account and Solvency or notice or document

Rs.1000/-

If you need any assistance in Incorporating a LLP company you can get in touch with Mr.Bala Murugan. Here are his contact details;

Email: bala@cogzidel.com
Mobile: +91.9884039129
Phone (O): +91.44.64990102 

Source: Cogzidel Consultancy Services

Something about SEO


What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization is the term given to optimize a website to get listed in Search Engine.

How important is SEO required for a site?

SEO is very vital to get good listing for a site in a search engine. If you want to get your sited listed in top 10 results page of a search engine for a particular Key Word then you have to optimize your site for your Key Word.

Better ranking will result in business conversion.

What is a Key Word?

Goto www.google.com and search for the term “SEO services firm” and see for results. You will be having http://www.iseofirm.com would be comming as the 7th result.

What are basic SEO standards for a website?

To get better search results a website must have

  • Title, Meta Description & Meta Keywords.
  • Must have maximum one way links. We can get one way links through;
    • Must be bookmarked with social bookmarking sites.
    • Links from other blogs.
    • Links from social networking sites.
  • Publish news about your site in free PR publishing sites.
  • Publish articles about your site.

Is there any firm providing professional SEO services?

There are several firms providing SEO services. But I’ve personally used the services of www.iseofirm.com…

Their tariffs are nominal and they are offering high quality services. Their site is also highly informative…

Bangalore professional tax experience


Preparation for registering and remitting professional tax for our clients Bangalore branch started on Sunday. I had to get the route from maps.google.com. My client’s office changed six months back but it was not updated in their system in head office. So went to the old address only to find they no longer exist there. Their new office was located near to my house. One good thing for the client is they changed the new address in all their communication only yesterday.

Then from then on I had to head to Strum Board Building put up is Raseeldar Street in Sehsadripuram. The trail in Google map was long one. My father guided me thru a short route. It didn’t take more time to find places in Bangalore courtesy to my roaming in Bangalore in my college days. Now I realize noting goes as waste in life :).

Again irony in Bureaucracy started immediately. The concerned officer was on leave and there was no alternative to handle the case. But one particular staff was good enough to look into the document and told me that we didn’t fill Form I & II. I was shocked seeing the form it was completely in Kannada. I requested the offer for a copy in English / Hindi. Unfortunately forms are only in Kannada. Returned for the day doing nothing

Next day had to goto client’s office again to get the form filled as I didn’t have any clue on the contents of the form. Then I reached the professional tax office and found soft spoken gentle men who were present today. He still found some missing elements and he gave me the numbers about the penalty to be paid and he asked me to meet the superior.

One entering the superior office that is of gazette officer rank asked me come after 2 hours. Then I had to wait outside the office playing games in my mobile and making calls as my house is 25 KM from this place.

I went back after 2 hours and the officer spoke to me for 30 min without any point. He asked for offer letter of 50 employees. Immediately I understood he is expecting a bribe. He asked for 4 more documents and he said he wanted tax till date to create a Professional Tax no. and I had to return back with only 50% of work getting done.

Now we have requested clients for more documents and sure it is going to take time from their end and I must return to Bangalore again sometime this month.

Over all it is a good experience and tomorrow I’m leaving to Salem to register and remit professional tax there and I going there without expectation…

Cogzidel offers Work Station on lease


CCS has moved to itz own office a month back. We have 5 extra workstations which we are planning to lease out. So these are the facilities available; 

  • 5 computer tables & chairs.
  • 2 MBPS Broadband from BSNL. This will be shared by 12 systems.
  • Invertors backup for upto 4 hours.
  • Fully air-conditioned office.
  • A small open cafeteria to have snacks and lunch.
  • Ample two wheeler parking. Cars must be parked on the road.
  • Office located on West Mambalam which is centre to city.
  • Easily accessible to public transport. Hardy 500 meters Mambalam & Kodambakkam railway station. 250 meters from Five Lights bus stop.

If you are interested kindly contact Mr.Bala Murugan at bala@cogzidel.com also he can be reached in his mobile +91.9884039129.

Professional Tax experience in Coimbatore


CCS has won a deal from subsidiary of one of the largest bank in India which takes care of back end processing of the bank. The work is to register and remit their Professional Tax in Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore & Bangalore. Having our presence in Chennai Bala finished all the work there. Now we had a problem in remitting & registering it in other cities. Engaging a consultant will not make sense as we have signed a confidentiality agreement and also having a consultant means shrinking of our margin. So we were forced to send one of our team members. That is when I thought why I shouldn’t try doing it myself as; 

  1. I have experience in Registering and Remitting Professional Tax with my previous company.
  2. I can save lodging cost as I’ve my relatives in all cities. Where in if we send a team member we have to bare the lodging cost.
  3. Our team members are loaded with work and sending them out of city will effectively mean we are delaying other tasks.
  4. I like to explore new things and I wanted to get a feel of it.

So I felt I decided and when I said I can do it Bala was initially hesitant. He felt a CEO need not do all these things. I told him that there is no written rule that a CEO need not get down and work. When I listed the above mentioned points he got convinced.

I thought I can finish Coimbatore first and then Salem on 30/09/2009 & 01/10/2009 respectively and finish Bangalore next week. Sadly my work didn’t get over in Coimbatore today courtesy to Indian Bureaucrats.  So, these are my experience; 

  • Went to Corporation office only to learn that they have different office for different wards and I had to go to a different place. But they clearly gave the name of contact person and place.
  • South Zone office was not too far from Corporation Office. Reached South Zone office only to fine all the concerned officer are on rounds and were expected only by evening. I was asked to come back by 4 o clock.
  • Then came back home and took a nice nap as I was deprived of good sleep last two nights.
  • Slept by 11.30 AM and got up by 3:30 PM and by the time I reached the bus stop it was 4 o clocks and I thought for a min that I must take an auto. Then my intuition said Bureaucrats will not be perfect.
  • My intuition was right. Reached South Zone office by 4:30 only to find concerned officer was not there.
  • Then checked with his colleagues about the formalities and ended up getting confused. There were two Circular which had Revised Tax details. We have made calculations with one Circular information and the other stated the slabs got revised 6 months back. Ironically they themselves didn’t have a clue when I asked which is valid.
  • Finally the concerned person reached his office by 6 o clock and he got all the documents and asked me to come same time tomorrow. When I said I’m from Chennai and I had a booking back to Chennai. He showed me a sad face expression he was helpless. I can understand no it was the end of the day and he has to leave.
  • Over all nothing happened as per my plan and this is common with Indian Bureaucracy. But I was happy with two things;
  1. Climate was good and waiting for long was not difficult.
  2. In culture coimbatorians are very polite. I’ve never seen Bureaucrats answering with polite tone.

With all these experience I had to close my day one assuming I might finish this job by tomorrow. Also I was called by the officer by 5:30 PM tomorrow and I don’t have any concrete work till them thought I can engage myself. Until them please prey the almighty to keep the office in good mood & see to it that he is in office (as next three days are holidays)…