Get Slightly Famous

India's economic future lies in its ability to grow its middle class. The more India grows its middle class, which now only constitutes 20% of its population, the more likely a trickle-down effect will take place because the middle class has disposable income to spend which gives a boost to the entire economy.

To focus on the middle class is to focus on prosperity. Yet, at a time when college educated Indians face bleak outlook employment prospects, this is no easy challenge. A recent McKinsey & Company-Nasscom report estimates that 110-130 million Indian citizens will be searching for jobs in the next 10 years, including 80-100 million looking for their first jobs; that's seven times Australia's population.

"India needs entrepreneurs. It needs them for two reasons: to capitalize on new opportunities and to create wealth and new jobs," says Rajat Gupta, the former Managing Director of McKinsey & Company. "Since traditional large employers will find it difficult to sustain this level of employment in the future, it is entrepreneurs who will create these new jobs and opportunities."

"I believe India has an extraordinary talent pool with virtually limitless potential to become entrepreneurs," Gupta adds. "Fortunately, today's knowledge-based economy is fertile ground for entrepreneurs in India. The success stories of businesses built on a great idea executed by a talented team have great appeal in India."

Jagmohan Saluja, 36, was born in New Delhi, India to a middle class family. After graduating from the University of Delhi, he realized that his chances for employment were slim. He supplemented his skills by enrolling in computer courses and succeeded in getting the first job in 1990.

"Computers in India at that time were a novice field," says Jagmohan. "Working in different capacities in computer-related industries throughout the 1990s gained me a lot of experience in software and networking. In my last job I handled the complete operations for the company providing back office support services to recruiting companies in US."

I met Jagmhan "virtually" in early 2003 when he approached me with an email message introducing his administrative support services for small businesses. As it turned out, I had a number of areas that needed attention. I began using his services and was extremely pleased with the quality of his work.

When I visited Delhi in September, 2003, I spent time with Jagmohan, his wife and two daughters. We talked at length about how might he grow his business. The following is a short interview with Jagmohan that personalizes the life, goals and challenges of an India entrepreneur whose goal is to grow his one-person business, improve his situation and create a business that creates jobs for others.

Q. How did you come to start your business?

The nature of my last job inspired me to work independently and support small-scale businesses with only one or two people. Commuting to my office costs me around three hours up and down. By having a home-based office, I thought I could save this time and use it productively.

I had to take a personal loan to fund my home office infrastructure. I then targeted small companies in the U.S. because I figured they could not only afford to outsource, but were also more comfortable doing business virtually. My goal was to be self-employed and to provide employment to others around me.

Q. What's the nature of your business?

My job involves assisting small businesses and the range of my services is vast. My client may expect me to support him/her in various types of online and offline works. Internet researching, database preparation and email management are my strongholds.

Many of my clients find it ideal that I'm located in India. The time difference of between 12-15 hours gives me an edge. When they assign projects to me in the evening, they are complete before the start of their next working day. It's also hard for small businesses to hire temporary employees for specialized tasks. When they hire me, they pay just for the time I spend on their assignments and are not liable to pay additional benefits.

Q. You promote yourself as a "virtual assistant." Is this a unique concept in India?

In India - definitely yes. The concept of independent virtual assistants providing support services to small businesses is a unique concept. No doubt there are big companies catering to the needs of business giants in the US. But this concept of providing clerical support services as a small home-based business is new in India.

Q. Why did you look beyond India for your clients?

There is an oversupply of educated manpower available in India. This has led to underemployment in the form of less pay for more work. Many companies, therefore, do not think in terms of outsourcing the specialized jobs because they can get an Indian to work full-time for so little compensation. Because of this, I have had to look for clients in developed countries.

Q. What challenges do you face?

I have to struggle to get clients. Retaining them is an equally challenging task.

It is a challenging task to market yourself elsewhere in the world beyond your country. My only resource is the web. Living up to client expectations from other parts of the world and establishing a business relationship based on trust, confidence and reliability are a challenge for me.

Q. Where do you want to take this business?

I wish I could take my business to the maximum heights attainable. Providing quality service at a reasonable cost to small businesses would always be my aim. Even better if I can create a few jobs along the way. I have already started training and outsourcing work to two employees.

I'm aiming for the skies but keeping my feet firmly on ground. I hope to establish the reliability of my work as the touchstone for my services. This would encourage the more small businesses to outsource small tasks to me until they are in a position to employ a full time worker.