New Arshi FF : Merger - Link to Thread # 2 on Page 141 - Page 9

A/N: Thankyou all for showering so much love on this story. This one has some business jargon to showcase Arnav's plan. I have tried to keep it as low-key as possible. But I need to bring it out in some of the chapters to show how his plan is being implemented. Please share your thoughts if you found them boring.

I have tried to give a longer update too. So, let me know if this is ok.

Till about July 7th, I will be giving weekly updates on Wednesday mornings. After that I will try and give quicker updates.

So here goes the next chapter.

Chapter 4

Khushi entered the cabin slowly and stood near the door. Her eyes downcast. Arnav was waiting for her eagerly.

"Close the door. And come and sit on the chair."

Khushi's eyes shot up to see Arnav, in surprise. Oh, does he want people to feel comfortable when they are being fired?' she thought.

Arnav was taken aback. Her eyes were blood shot with tears brimming to be shed. What did I do now? Why does she cry every time I speak to her. And this time, I did not even talk' to her'. His concerned eyes looked into her sad ones.

"Sit". He said again, softly. She slowly walked to the chair and sat on its edge.

"I have lot more knowledge than just making coffee. You've got to believe me. I really need this job. Please don't fire me." Now the tears were flowing down her cheek.

"WHAT THE??!! When did I talk about firing you." Well Arnav, that's what you have been doing all morning, remember?' he chided himself. Now her tears make sense. She thinks I am about to fire her. Silly girl.'

"I am just a harmless' office assistant. What will you gain by getting rid of me? I know you and I met under wrong circumstances. But I plead you. Please don't hold that against me. I was in a very bad situation that day..."

"Again, Khushi...that's your name, right? When the hell did I talk about firing you? And I have already told you that, that incident is no longer important. Why are you still hung up on it?"

"You... Didn't ...call...me ...here... to... fire... me...?!!"

"And you thought that I called you here to fire you? And as if firing is my actual' profession. And as if that's my only' job."

"Yes... Ummm... I mean no..." ' Hey Devi Maiyya, Should I say yes or no. That's a bunch of trick questions."I mean yes, I mean no...??!!" Now she was thoroughly confused. So, she decided to shut her big fat mouth.

Arnav was totally amused at her confusion. This girl, who surprised him like no other in a span of one week, who seems to be more talented that just to make some coffee, actually thinks that he called her to fire her? Smiling a bit to himself, he decided to end her misery.

"I did not call you here to fire' you Khushi. I called you here to take your interview. Tell me about yourself and your work experience".

"You want to know my work experience? Why?"

"Stop parroting me. And I am going to be the one who will be asking questions in this interview. So get started and tell me what's the whole deal about you?"

"Deal? I have no deal?"

"For God's sake Khushi, just tell me what is your work experience."

Khushi, stop blabbering and come to the point. This Impatient Singh Raizada will fire you instead of interviewing you.' So she started.

"I am 12^th pass. My only work experience is that I used to work as an apprentice under a Chartered Accountant. I worked under him for 5 years".

"I joined him immediately after my 10^th. Going to his office from evening till night after school. And during weekends. And once my 12^th was done, I joined him as an apprentice after taking an entrance exam."

"Whatever I know today, I owe it to him. He taught me everything. And I am so grateful."

"Why didn't you finish your course?" Arnav asked, wanting to know more.

Khushi fidgeted with her fingers for sometime. And said in a low voice."I didn't have the money to pay for the exam fees".

"And what exactly did you do under him?" Arnav questioned.

Khushi went on to describe in detail what she did during the job. For an hour Arnav grilled her with questions. He tested the depths of her knowledge. He quizzed her with trick questions. And Khushi passed them all triumphantly.

At the end of the conversation Arnav thought that he might have just stumbled upon the exact person that he was looking for. Khushi just fit into one of job profiles he had been head-hunting for days now. He wanted someone who had good financial and legal knowledge. Someone who was good with reports and analysis and implementation of business law. Khushi was just that. To put it in her own words, "If she knew something, she would do a thorough job. And if she didn't, she would make sure to reach the right sources and get the job done." She had the passion he was looking for. If she indeed had the knowledge that she just said in the interview, all she needed was a little bit of nudging and tweaking to fit into the role that Arnav had in mind. So, there did remain the big word "IF".

With these thoughts, Arnav spoke to her "Ok Khushi. Everything sounds good till now. So, this is what we are going to do. I will move you into the role of my Executive Assistant. What it means is that you will not only handle all the administrative work related to me, you will also be handling some of my core work. You will be on a probation for 3 months. If you do good, you will be permanently promoted to that position. Else, you will be moved back to your old role. Your salary will be the same for the next three months. But if you live up to my expectations, I will correct the salary after the period. Would you like to take up the new role?

Khushi did not blink before saying "Yes. I will." She thought she had nothing to lose now. She would try hard to prove herself.

"Alright then, let's get started. You may use Manju's desk till she returns. And I will brief you in some time as to what will your role entail."

"Thankyou Sir". Khushi gave her dazzling signature smile. Arnav hadn't seen her smile even once till now. How happy and different she looks when she is smiling, compared to that teary and worried face that she otherwise has. She should smile more.'

***

Khushi went back to her Pantry to let Kaka know what just happened. She couldn't wait to let her sister and mother know. Kaka was delighted to hear her. He dusted Manju's desk and asked Khushi to sit on it. He blessed her saying she should earn the job permanently in 3 months.

Shortly after this, Arnav called for a meeting in the conference room. He asked Khushi to call NK from Marketing, Deepak from Production and Sharma from Accounts to the meeting. When Arnav entered the conference room, he saw that NK, Deepak and Sharma were seated, while Khushi mutely stood in the farthest corner. He seated himself at the head of the table. And asked Khushi to take the chair on the right to him. The other three gentleman did not hide their surprise.

Arnav started "You are all right to be surpised gentlemen. Khushi here seems to have a lot more talent than we give her credit for. Infact, I have given her the role of my Executive Assistant. In short, if you hear something from HER, just think that you are hearing it from ME."

"As that is settled, I have called the four of you here to discuss something very important. You four will be my Core Team. I have certain plans for this branch. And you four will be key in converting those plans into reality." He displayed his presentation on the screen. He read out loudly what was written on the screen.

"OUR TARGET IS - We have to increase our profits by 10 times in 5 months. And in one year's time, we have to be the highest market share holder of our product in our region."

Arnav observed the four of them. NK and Deepak nodded their head thinking its impossible. Sharma dropped his head down with a condescending smile. Khushi alone looked at him asking with her eyes How do we achieve that'. Arnav sensed that she believed in him when he said that the profits could be increased 10 times in 5 months. Is she nave? No, that she can't be. She has enough insight into businesses. Does she trust me to achieve it? Does she think I might actually be able to accomplish that?'

He continued "I have no sense of self-doubt when I look at this target. I have a very detailed and clear idea as to how we are going to achieve it. If you follow the steps I give you, achieving this target should be a cake walk." Now, he had NK's and Deepak's attention as well.

So, let me tell you how we are going to achieve this target. This Company has mainly THREE SECTIONS to it.

FIRST is the CUSTOMERS. NK, this is where you come in as a marketing person.

SECOND is the PRODUCTION/PURCHASE. The Head Office does all the production, on which we have no control. And our company's products are priced way too higher than our competitors. This is bringing down our profits. So, instead of getting all the garments from our Head Office, let us PURCHASE from outside suppliers, if their pricing is more competitive. DEEPAK, this is where you come in.

THIRD is the SUPPLY-CHAIN MANAGEMENT. That covers the transportation and handling of all our stocks. We need to strengthen that as well. Deepak, you will be handling that as well.

Bottomline is, NK you will concentrate on getting as many customers as possible. And the price that they are willing to pay.

And Deepak, you will try to match that price. But always ensure that we have atleast 30% profit in each deal.

Just keep buying and selling. I will ensure that there is no interference from the Head Office on the way we conduct our business.

Guys, today I am only sharing the vision I have for this branch. I will meet with all of you individually to guide you and make sure that we collectively achieve this goal.

So, I guess we all need to get started."

All of them quickly went back to their desks and started on their respective tasks.

Once in his cabin, Arnav asked Khushi to meet him in his cabin in one hour with a report of the salaries of all the staff in the branch. So, an hour later she walked into his cabin with the report.

Arnav asked her to sit down and quickly started to review the salaries of all the staff. He made salary corrections for some of the staff based on how they were performing. When he came to see Khushi's salary, he was alarmed. How can one live with a meagre income of Rs. 3000/- in present world. Hell, he spent more than that when he went for dinners in a restaurant with his family. That pretty much explains why she is not eating in the afternoon and walking to and fro to the office. He could not raise her salary without knowing her full worth. So, he doubled her salary, for now. And gave an additional allowance for bus fare and lunch boxes for the afternoon. When Khushi saw how much her salary was increased, she couldn't stop herself grinning from ear to ear. "Thankyou Sir. Thankyou so very much."

"Hmmm" Was all the reply that came from Arnav.

"Khushi, get the revised salary letters sent out to the finance department and the respective employees. Now lets move on to the main task that I have called you for."

"Khushi, I am an aggressive businessman. I do my ground work and research before making a decision. But once a decision is made, I implement them very fast. So, where you come in, is to check if my business decisions are financially profitable and legally tenable. If you find that my decisions or activities are touching the wrong side of the law, then pull me back. Fight and argue with me. But convince me to revoke my decisions. Do you get that?"

Khushi just nodded. Did this Arnav Ferocious Raizada ask Khushi Lamb Gupta to fight back with him. How is that even possible? But she ventured to poke the lion anyway. "Sir, do you mean I should validate the decisions you have taken today too?"

"Are you telling me that there are flaws in the decisions I have made today?" He cocked an eyebrow.

Even though intimidated by his confidence, Khushi stood her ground. "I didn't mean it as a flaw. I have seen that this branch has always sold products belonging to the Head Office. So, if we are buying from external suppliers, then we need to check if the Company's fundamental documents allow us to do that business. Secondly, we need to comply with State Laws. We might not even be registered to do that kind of business."

"To answer your first question. Yes, the Company's Incorporation documents allow us buy from external suppliers. And to answer your second question, I have checked with the branch auditors if we are allowed to do the business. They have said we need to alter our registrations a bit. So that will be something you need to handle too."

Arnav credited himself for trusting his instincts. This girl was bang on in find the loop holes in his plan. Yes, he had researched about them, and made sure that his decisions could be implemented. But in future, he could put her on to do the research work.

She also withstood his intimidation. Anyone else would have backed off saying that he was right. She was not a "yes-man". He liked that. And his respect for her grew a notch up, when she had for articulated the exact problems in such a short time. He continued to brief her about her other tasks.

"Your second job is to make sure that whatever prices that NK is selling, he needs to hike that up by atleast 20%. Just to make a sale, he might sell at a lower price.

And you need to support Deepak by providing him with all the costing analysis of the branch.

And for all this to happen, you need to make sure that Mr. Sharma keeps the books of accounts up to date, all the time.

So, after me, you will know everything about this branch from start to end. I donot want anyone, including the Head Office to know what's happening in this branch. Do you understand that?

Anytime you are stuck about any topic, just walk into my cabin, without hesitation. That is, only when the cabin door is open. If it is closed, then email your questions to me. Rest of the employees should make an appointment with me, before they can talk to me.

So, that's it for now. You can start with your tasks."

Khushi nodded and went back to her desk. To her surprise Arnav closed the door behind her. He was calling someone on the phone. She heard him say "Hello Aman" before the door was completely closed and she could not hear anything further.

Inside, Arnav continued the call "Hello Aman, give me the update for today."

On the other side Aman said "ASR. The Venture capital company that you had met before leaving to India has accepted your business plan. They are willing to invest in your company in USA. They have also agreed to give you a free hand to transfer 50% of the funds to India immediately. And once you have achieved the profits targeted for the next 2 years, you can transfer the remaining funds. The funds will be released as soon as you sign some paper work. I have emailed them to you. Once you have signed them, courier them back to me asap."

"That's great new Aman. I think you can now go ahead and book your tickets too. Once the funds are in, you can travel to India immediately. I will review the documents today and try and courier them by tomorrow."

"So, what next ASR?"

"Aman, I have a company in India. AR Pvt Ltd. I had started it when I used to work here. We can use this company to run our business in India. Talk to the top business lawyers and consultants in India to check how the funds can be invested into this company. AR Pvt Ltd will not do any business on its own. It will only make investments in other companies."

"Ok ASR. Talk to you soon."

Arnav hung up the phone. And sat back on his chair. He had gotten the ball rolling to implement his PLAN. Now, he had the money to invest. And internally, in his branch he had identified 3 capable people to run the show for him. NK and Deepak would take care of Revenue and Costs. And Khushi would hold his reins in case he is going off the course.

Somehow, the thought of Khushi shouting at him to control his actions, brought a smile on his face. It would be nice to see her aggressive side.

NEXT CHAPTER: A young team, tries to attain the goals. And each person becomes an integral part in the life of the other.

A/N: So how was it? Too much business jargon. But it is required to explain Arnav's plan. And how the relationship would build around the characters of this story.

So please COMMENT and let me know your thoughts. Or please press the LIKE BUTTON.