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)…

Startup Martix


Came across this presentation and it is accurate. As a startup I practice this but have not documented. I can endorse this presentation.

This is how business works


It is the month of June, on the shores of the Black Sea , it is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted. It is tough times, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town. He enters the only hotel, lays a 100 Euro note on the reception counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one.

The hotel proprietor takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the butcher.

The Butcher takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the pig grower.

The pig grower takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed and fuel.

The supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the town’s prostitute that in these hard times, gave her services on credit.

The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the 100 Euro note to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.

The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 Euro note back on the counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything.

At that moment, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms, and takes his 100 Euro note, after saying that he d id not like any of the rooms, and leaves town.

No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now without debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the business is today…..

CCS files I-T returns for Reliance BigFlix Chennai Staff


bigflixI’m thrilled to have Reliance BigFlix as one of our client. I think this is one great moment in the books of CCS and kudos to Mr.Bala Murugan for his non-stop follow up and for striking the deal. Though this is a small deal we are thrilled for more than one reason. 

  • BigFlix admin team Googled for “tax consultants” and got our link from Google Search.
  • It is always nice to see your website site working for you.
  • Then another excitement is working for a brand like Reliance.

Now I think we must be a part of their vendor list and would be glad to grow our business with them and try to win more orders with this credential.

Once again Nice Job Bala!!!!!

Four ways to change life & business


There are only four ways that you can change your life and your business. Here they are:

1. You can do more of certain things.

What are the things that you should do more of? Obviously you should do more of the things that are working the very best for you already.

You should use more of the marketing and sales methods that are getting you face to face with the best customers, the ones that buy the most readily and who most appreciate the special features and benefits of your products and services.

It is amazing how many sales people lose track of their most effective selling methods, including networking on a regular basis with other sales professionals in your area, and start off doing something new, different and unproven. Then they are surprised when their sales drop and their income declines. Sometimes, the very best thing you can do is to get back to doing what is already working the very best for you.

2. You can do less of other things.

Many people fall into a comfort zone of doing things that are not working particularly well, but because they are comfortable doing them, they continue doing them nonetheless.

You only have so many minutes and hours each day. If you spend your time doing things of low value, that time is no longer available to you to do things of higher value. You must be continually thinking about the value of your time, every minute of every day.

You should do less and less of those things that are giving you few results, so that you have more time to do more of those things that are giving you better results.

3. You can start something brand new.

In a time of turbulence and rapid change, with customers, markets, prices, demand and competition changing every day, you must be continually open to the need to start doing something that you have never done before.

Jack Welch once said, “Our greatest competitive advantage is our ability to learn and apply new ideas before our competition.”

Perhaps the most important thing you can do is to commit yourself to being an aggressive, continuous, life-long student of the profession of selling. It is amazing how many people come up to me at my seminars and tell me that one method or technique that they learned at a previous seminar, or from a training program of mine, had changed their selling careers. They had doubled and tripled their incomes; they had gone from rags to riches. They had started their own businesses and become millionaires. And it was all because of a single, simple idea that was ideal for them that they had learned through continuous study. You should do the same.

4. You can stop certain things altogether.

Use the zero based thinking question everyday and applies it to every sales and business activity. “Is there anything in my life that, knowing what I now know, I would not start up again today, if I had to do it over?”

Look over all of your business activities and be willing to discontinue or eliminate any activity that you would not start up again today if you had to do it over again with your current state of knowledge and experience.

Many people are lemmings. They will continue running in the same direction, doing the same things, getting fewer and fewer results, until they go over the financial cliff.

Top people are always open to the possibility and the need of doing something completely different. They are willing to stop doing anything that no longer works. They don’t get stuck into a “comfort zone” and stay there just because it feels good. They are willing to take the risks and the potential failure that goes with embarking on any new course of action.

This is going to be a wonderful year for people who make it a wonderful year. Throughout your day you should continually ask the questions, “Is there anything in my life that I should do more of, less of, start or stop?”

These questions will keep you on track and will help to guarantee that you become one of the highest paid people in your industry.

Source: Brian Tracy
Courtesy: Padmanaban

Is leadership Skill or Trait?


Last two week I’ve been working with my Project Managers to understand;

 

Why there are slippages in delivery?

What they are unable to keep up to the commitments?

 

After throwing those two questions… They immediately wanted to defend them and came with many explanations and at last they explained their working process and their challenges… What I got from them took me by surprise and these are issues with them;

  •  They assume things and they create their own version about things…
  • They get contented on their own performance as well as their sub-ordinates… They never challenge themselves…
  • Then they said they have fear of Karma by being strict…

The third point took me by surprise and shock… But I forgot to understand the cultural values… In Hinduism Karma means getting back the bad deeds we do and mostly it is believed that we will get it back or our children will be affected…

 

I’m sure by conducting workshops I can help them to over first two blocks; but I’m not sure how I can make them understand / realize that cultural values are different from professional values…

 

Then I remembered a scene from Tony Jhaa’s movie where his mentor will tell him that “Killing and being merciless is the last trait of a leader”… Likewise I had to explain them that knowingly or unknowingly there is a culture created in IT and we have to be demanding and strict to be competitive…

 

I don’t know how far I can succeed in making them understand the difference between Cultural Values & Professional Values… If any of you have come across such challenge and if you have any solution please share it here…

 

So, I’m preparing a presentation for my leaders with example for them to overcome the challenges / blocks they have in the pursuit of becoming a leader… And my presenting will be mostly covering;

 

  • Communication which is very much important for their first challenge…
  • How excellent leaders challenged themselves and their peers to gain excellence…
  • Collecting clips from leaders to show them why they are successful as leader… Also explaining them about what Democratic, Autocratic & Laissez Faire leadership traits are…

 

And let me see how they understand it and transform…

Internet best route for startups!!!


Internet has created lot of opportunities for creating wealth, sharing knowledge and created new type of hobbies… There are lots of success stories on the Net and these are something that we all use in our daily life Yahoo, Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and many more which all became big in a very short span of time…

 

But all the above are well known stories and there are many more untold stories of Netpreneurs who maintain a low key profile and still making it big or using internet to make a decent living…

 

There are thousands and millions of individuals are directly benefited because of internet… To my knowledge following types of business are possible with low investment;

 

·        Offering programming & technical services for internet and other applicable requirements.

·        Offering Search Engine Marketing, Internet Marketing & Search Engine Solutions.

·        Webmaster services like running websites that caters to user needs.

·        Even hobbies created revenues (Eg:Famous bloggers will get paid for some posts).

 

Classified services can be further broken into several options and also there could be many options which I could have missed… Over all making a living out of internet is easy and also you can carve your niche and can create a USP (Unique Selling Preposition) quickly…

Cogzidel Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. Services


Where ever we talk about services offered by Cogzidel Consultancy Services (CCS) people get excited about list of services… Some people & well wishers also expressed their concern stating we are concentrating on too many services… For those kinds of people I’d first request you all to read this blog post http://www.anandnataraj.com/how-ccs-evolved… Now let me tell you the advantages of outsourcing to CCS;

 

  • Saving cost by outsourcing non-core functions which are mandatory for functioning of business…
  • Getting services from experienced professionals…
  • Getting a professional outlook for your entity by complying with all compliances…
  • Professional book-keeping where we have a copy of all your records and can avail in time of need…
  • Saving the company paying fine and penalties which arises because of inexperience in support functions…

 

In short we provide Compliance Management & Business Process Management services and we provide single window service for all services which falls under CM and BPM parse… There are the types of services which we offer;

 

  • Accounting Services (including Internal Audit)
  • Payroll Processing
  • Regn of company / society / trust / partnership firm
  • Employee-friendly Tax planning
  • Filing IT returns
  • Obtaining PAN / TAN
  • Statutory compliances – PF / ESI / Sales Tax / Service Tax / STPI etc
  • Trademark / Patent Registration
  • Business Incubation Services
  • Bootstrapping

 

For more information about the services please feel free to visit http://www.cogzidel.in