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Freelancers: Start in India – end up in Google

March 14, 2016
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In July of 1972 a boy was born in Chennai, Tamil nadu, in India. How could we imagine that that boy would go on to some day be the CEO of one of the most well known companies in the entire world? That boy is today known as Sundar Pichai (Pichai Sundarajan) and he is today the CEO of Google.

This is what we on IndiaFreelancers.com know so well. We in India have the abilities to be the best in the world. We have produced people who have created, invented and changed so many things in the world for the better. Today there are Indians who are CEOs and heads of companies such as Pepsi (Indra Nooyi), Microsoft (Satya Nadella) and Adobe (Shantanu Narayen). Indians are running things all over the world.

And where do they get their start? They get their start with the strong work ethic and strong sense of family and community that they learn as young lads in India. They learn to respect hard work and perseverance. They learn to respect their elders and love their families – and they take these lessons as “gifts” with them to go out to the rest of the world and bring glory to India. They let the world know that India is tomorrow’s economy. India is the world’s future.

Once upon a time the world thought that the next USA would be Japan or, more recently, China. But we have seen that this is not the case. Japan’s economy has decreased very much over the last decade and, more recently, the Wall Street Journal reported (January 19, 2016) that China’s economic growth in 2015 was the slowest rate of growth for the last 25 years.

But that is not the case with India. We are growing – and growing fast. India is today one of the most impressively developing technological countries. For all of our persistent poverty, we have large cities developing like flowers blooming. Technology, and web sites such as IndiaFreelancers.com which bring the world’s employers in contact with the wonderful minds of our great programmers, web site designers and other technological wonders in India are the bridge between the world and our wonderful young minds.

So please do not worry if today you are working as a Freelancer on IndiaFreelancers.com. This is your stage and your chance. This is your introduction to the world. The world – and its employers – are waking up to the beautiful diamond which is India and websites such as IndiaFreelancers.com serve as the introductory means by which these two worlds meet (the world’s employers and India’s outstanding tech professionals) and, if you will, marry.

Many a young person started on IndiaFreelancers.com, was discovered by a major employer on the website and was then hired to go to the employer’s country to grow with them. In India, I do not think we are wrong if we feel as if the 21st century is ours for the taking.

Ranjiv P for IndiaFreelancers.com

Freelancers and mobile phones: The Micromax tale

March 13, 2016
IndiaFreelancers
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The tale of Micromax is one which our freelancers on IndiaFreelancers.com may wish to learn from. Although we do not think of our freelancers as companies, the reality is that each freelancers can, in a sense, be considered his or her own small company. They each have services which are offered, they each do work and are paid for their work. They even have the ability to place a small advertisement on IndiaFreelancers.com to advertise their services (see “recommended” on IndiaFreelancers.com). And, lastly and most importantly, each freelancers on IndiaFreelancers.com may at some point grow such that they consider taking on a partner or partners.

If a freelancer on IndiaFreelancers.com starts to attract a large following and a large amount of work orders, please be careful to manage that growth. Grow slowly and in an organized manner. Too much growth can be as hurtful as not growing enough. More importantly, as we will see below, growing with the wrong partners can be even more devastating.

Let’s take a look at the tale of Micromax. The company which today we know as Micromax, which has its headquaters in Gurgaon, Haryana was founded in the year 2000 by Rahul Sharma, Vikas Jain, Sumeet Arora and Rajesh Agarwal. Micromax started life working in electronic embedded devices but by the year 2008 had moved to mobile telephones. Powered by Rahul Sharma’s vision of a long-lasting mobile phone battery, by 2014 Micromax became the mobile phone manufacturer in India which was shipping the most telephones in one quarter. They shipped numbers which even exceeded those of giant Samsung. This was pretty impressive stuff for a company started in India by four friends.

Then the problems started. Fresh from the reports of these heady numbers in 2014, the founders  brought in outside managers to lead the company – and the problems started. Understandably, tensions soon started to arise between the founders and their new executives. This is not unusual. This happens all the time in business. The newcomers were not there during the heady, inspired days of the start of the company and their views often clash with the view of the founders to whom the company is “their baby.”

These clashes between the old and the new have, of course, caused problems. There is now not a single voice with a single focus on how best to move the company forward – there are a number of voices. Many of which conflict with others. As such, investors such as Alibaba, who was considering investing $1.2 Billion dollars in Micromax for a 20% ownership of the company, in May of 2015 decided to not invest. Unfortunately, in the wake of Alibaba’s decision, other potential investors also did the same. To make matters worse, the disconnect at the top has also affected the company’s performance itself.

The leadership, in its turmoil, was not quick to realize and react to the fact that their original Chinese outsource partners were themselves entering into the “white-hot” India mobile telephone market with products of their own. Thus, Micromax has this month (March 2016) seen their market share drop by nearly 50%. Truly sad. To be complete, it is important to note that Micromax had other problems (for example, the Rajesh Agarwal bribing scandal and the Ericsson patent infringement litigation to name two), but the bringing in of new people was a particularly salient issue.

So what is the lesson in this for our freelancers on IndiaFreelancers.com? The lesson is simple and yet complex at the same time. In a nutshell, the lesson is “chose your partners wisely.”

Remember, we have seen this movie before and it did not end well. On April 8, 1983 Steve Jobs brought in John Sculley to head Apple Computers thinking that Sculley could be a great “organizer” for Apple. What happened next is, of course, now history. Sculley and Jobs soon clashed and Sculley soon led a Board of Directors take over which included encouraging the Board to fire Steve Jobs – which they did.

Therefore, when the Micromax founders decided to bring in their OWN “John Sculleys” into Micromax, they would have been well served to have learned from Apple’s example. They should have considered the almost inevitable clash between the newcomers and the old guard.

Therefore, as our freelancers on IndiaFreelancers.com grow and consider taking on partners. Please bear in mind the Micromax and Apple stories above. Be very careful who you bring on board to your company and your efforts. Great new partners can be a blessing, but the wrong new partners can mean the possible demise of your company.

Ranjiv P for IndiaFreelancers.com

Freelancers and Money: Employed, Freelancing or both?

March 12, 2016
IndiaFreelancers
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More and more firms – both national and international – are making names for themselves in India. Even more importantly is that, as they do, they need more and more qualified employees.

No company in the world today can exist without having an IT infrastructure. Someone needs to take care of their network, their servers, their websites, their databases and on and on. Therefore, as companies grow, the number of well qualified personnel – especially technical personnel – that is required to keep them growing and thriving increases.

Recently, companies such as so-called “brick and mortar” companies like Tata Motors and Internet based companies such as Flipkart and Vodafone as well as financial firms such as Paytm and Future Group and established companies such as Panasonic, Mahindra & Mahindra and Godrej all announced that they are willing to pay their top performers as much as 200% more for the coming year than they paid them for the previous year – if they keep performing well and if they do not leave the company. For example, financial firm Paytm announced that it has budgeted approximately $3-4 million dollars to pay extra pay and bonuses for its top performing employees. Paytm, as well as other companies mentioned above, have announced that they will also rewarded top performing employees with generous stock options and promotions within the companies.  Companies in India are willing to pay a premium for good talent these days – and this trend is growing!

This is where IndiaFreelancers.com comes in. On IndiaFreelancers.com you, the programmer or web designer, are able to interact with these companies as a prolonged “employment interview.” Companies hire programmers from IndiaFreelancers.com all the time. The way it works is that companies first hire a programmer or developer or website designer using IndiaFreelancers.com and, when they see the quality that the freelancer brings to the table, they offer the freelancer a job in their company.

It is a wonderful “try before you buy” sort of arrangement where everyone wins. The Freelancer is able to get his or her skills in front of companies and the company is able to test the potential employee to see if their is a “fit” between the employee and the company. Everyone wins.

Therefore, if you are a young – or not so young – programmer or web developer who wishes to “break in” into larger companies and their lucrative salaries, consider creating a profile on a site such as IndiaFreelancers.com and letting these large companies FIND YOU instead of you finding them. Let them hire you on IndiaFreelancers.com and see the excellent qualities you bring to the table – and very possibly they will hire you.

Ranjiv P for IndiaFreelancers.com

Freelancers: Health Care – Cervical Cancer

March 11, 2016
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If you knew that a bad storm was coming, wouldn’t you take cover? If you knew that a car was going to crash into you, wouldn’t you get out of the way? If you knew that lightning was going to strike in a certain area, wouldn’t you leave that area?

These are simple and easy to answer questions. Of course you would get out of the way of these problems, and yet people do not get out of the way of Cervical Cancer in India – even though they know its coming and can do something about it before it gets here!

Cervical Cancer is a cancer of the uterus in women. The cervix of the uterus is the part of the uterus in women which is exposed to the outside world the most. It is precisely because this part of the uterus is exposed to the outside world, that it is able to be infected with a type of virus called a papillomavirus (also called HPV) which can cause Cervical Cancer.

Medical science now knows that this HPV type of virus infection can cause this type of cancer. Medical science also now knows how to PREVENT this type of cancer – by doing regular check-ups called “Pap smears” and by – at a young age – taking a vaccine against the HPV virus which causes the cancer. And yet, despite this knowledge, in India, Cervical Cancer in women is a big killer. Last year over 62,000 women in India DIED of cervical cancer! In fact, Cervical Cancer accounts for almost 1/4 of all cancer cases in India. That is unbelievable! That is just crazy! Why in the world should even ONE woman in India die of something which we can prevent with a vaccine and monitor with a regular simple check up? The answer is: information. We need to get the information out to all women in India that they do not have to die or even get this cancer. All women need to do is to get regular “pap smear” check ups and/or when they are younger, take the vaccine against the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer.

How is uterine Cervical Cancer relevant to IndiaFreelancers.com? Well, on IndiaFreelancers.com we have outstanding programmers and developers. We have unbelievably great minds on IndiaFreelancers.com. I am sure that at least ONE of these great minds on IndiaFreelancers.com can think of an application or a program or a website which can help to educate women in India about Cervical Cancer and how they can help themselves to not get it. I am sure of it. We just need a posting like this to nudge one of our great minds on IndiaFreelancers.com to become enthusiastic about this and make one of their great projects. I bet they will do it and it will be great.

Ranjiv for IndiaFreelancers.com

Freelancers: Are tablet computers going away?

March 9, 2016
IndiaFreelancers
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There are things which we look at and think that “they will not last”. When tablets were first introduced, this is what we thought. A regular desktop computer with a nice sized screen and a keyboard make sense. It is very easy to interact with the keyboard, the mouse and the computer on a desktop – not so easy with a tablet.

First of all, there is no easy keyboard. Yes you can have a “virtual” keyboard, but its not the same. Secondly, the virtual keyboard takes up some of the space which would normally be used to view whatever you are seeing on your screen. Then there is the issue of “How do you hold it?”. Tablets just do not seem to be easy to grasp. Do you put your fingers on the screen in order to hold it? Are you scared of dropping it? Have you dropped it?

For all of these reasons we feared that tablets might not remain in demand and, unfortunately, it is starting to seem as if we were right. The International Data Corporation, a global research firm, in December 2015 published the results of a study they conducted which indeed noted that “Despite a decline in overall tablet shipments worldwide, business use tablet segments are positioned to see steady growth.” Now to many who read this, the sentence where it says that “tablets segments are positioned to see a steady growth” would catch their eye. But to us, the part that says that “a decline in overall tablet shipments” is the part that catches our eye.

These are things to keep in mind if you are a programmer and/or website developer on IndiaFreelancers.com. As you write for and create programs, please make sure to remember to make them responsive. Remember to make them able to be viewed across all screens – mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers. Why? Well, because even if the tablet – as we now know it – may be in decline, there are millions of them around and people still use them. Thus, it makes sense to take them into account when you create programs or web sites.

Ranjiv P for IndiaFreelancers.com

Freelancers also pay traffic tolls

March 8, 2016
IndiaFreelancers
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Think of the long lines that exist whenever there is a toll station on the road. Cars wait and wait to pay their tolls and the toll attendants sometimes even give the drivers paper tickets for each toll paid. Except for the rare driver who is on business and needs to report his expenses, why in the world would anyone need a paper receipt for a pay toll?

Well a young 19 year old man from Mumbai named Tapan Kane has invented a mobile phone app which goes a long way to attempting to solve this problem. As the saying goes, “there’s an app for that” and in this case – its true! Tapan Kane, has invented an app which he calls the Virtual Toll System (V-Toll App) which uses the GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) system to be able to tell when a car is approximately 500 meters and then 50 meters from the toll station.

When the car is 500 meters away from the toll station, the mobile phone app and the toll station communicate and a message is sent to the driver that a toll station is coming up and how much is needed to be paid. When the  car is 50 meters away from the toll station, the app now deducts the amount of the toll from the driver’s account and pays the toll. This means that the driver is able to go through the toll station, pay the toll and not even need to slow down. Think of the savings. Tapan has said that “Approximately 10 crore vehicles pass toll plazas annually, wasting 87600 crore litres of fuel, estimated at Rs. 54, 000 crore. The carbon dioxide released during this period adds up to 22,812 tonne, thus becoming a health hazard to commuters, toll booth operators and residents living alongside the highways.”

We at IndiaFreelancers.com applaud inventors and developers who create things which make life better for all of us – such as what Tapan Kane of Mumbai has done. It is this creativity from India which is making our country one of the most sought after economies in the world. Employers from all over the world – America, Australia, Europe and China – come to IndiaFreelancers.com to hire tech talent because they have come to know the excellence and quality that is found in India and the tremendous value that comes from hiring a technological expert in India.

Ranjiv P for IndiaFreelancers.com.

 

Freelancers: The Akash Mittal story

March 7, 2016
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Akash Mittal is a handsome, energetic and hard working young man. He is presently pursuing the final semester of a five-year integrated Ocean Engineering programme at IIT Kharagpur. As any young man thinking of his future when his studies are nearing completion, he thought to apply to Flipkart for a job. He knew that “Being a six-pointer (CGPA), I knew I will never get through. So, I tried something innovative,” and so he did something innovative. Last week, he made a screenshot of a Flipkart listing page onto which he photoshopped  information about himself and uploaded it on to the Flipkart career page.

Well, he may not have been what Flipkart was looking for, but he is most certainly what the world is looking for. We at IndiaFreelancers.com have known all along that the world is very much looking for India’s IT talent.

So this is how the Akash Mittal story then unfolded. He may not have been quickly “snapped up” by Flipkart, but his innovative posting on Flipkart’s career page went “viral” and, as Akash has noted, soon many employers were calling Akash and offering him jobs!

As quoted in an article on EtRetail.com, Akash said that “After this thing got viral, I have received a number of offers, including that of chief product manager and chief technology officer.”

While this is wonderful news for Akash, it is what we at IndiaFreelancers.com have known all along. Employers from all over the world want India’s programmers and web designers. The world is waking up to the enormous quality that is to be found with technology professionals from India at a tremendous value because of the currency exchange. This interaction between employers worldwide and technology experts in India is exactly what we facilitate and bring together on IndiaFreelancers.com. We help to bring the employers and India’s excellent tech professionals together.

Therefore, although we are very, very happy for Akash and the wonderful happy ending to his job application story, we know that if he did not have such a happy ending to his application for employment going “viral”, he could have as well created a profile on IndiaFreelancers.com and earned large sums of money from the employers who would have hired him to develop programs and other application for them through IndiaFreelancers.com.

Ranjiv P for IndiaFreelancers.com

Freelancers: Travel abroad

March 5, 2016
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In a series of recent articles in the Times of India as well as in Hindustan Times, we note that the number of Indians travelling abroad is increasing. Of course, the costs for international travel are a major consideration in deciding to travel, but as our economy in India increases, the number of our countrymen able to travel abroad is increasing every year – and is projected to increase.

A survey recently performed by the website and travel company known as TripAdvisor noted that of the approximately 1,000 people from India who responded to their poll, a full 53% said that they had plans to increase their travel budget this coming year. Yes increase. So what amount does the average person from India budget for travel abroad? Well, the same travel site noted that the average expense for a family from India consisting of three members is expected to increase from Rs 2,17,800 in 2014 to Rs 2,55,100 this year – a 17% growth! These are amazing numbers of expense. Some families in India would never, if rarely be able to afford such an expense – let alone increase that amount for this year just for travel.

The places where most people from India travel abroad are Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand and France. The United States and/or other countries were not among the top ten destinations. Of course, costs are a major factor in deciding where to travel. According to a recent sale held on the travel site Kayak.com, an inexpensive round trip airline ticket to the United States since the price of the airline ticket to the United States alone can be as much as Rs 69,360 – for an inexpensive ticket. Imagine what it would cost for a more expensive  ticket. Still people travel abroad.

It is projected that because of the optimistic environment now in India, one where we feel that things are improving, more and more people from India will travel abroad. To make things even more interesting, in February of this year 2016, the government of Japan announced that it had extended the validity of the Visa-On-Arrival to Japan from three years to five years. What this means is that someone who wishes to travel from India to Japan, now may obtain a visa to do so by simply arriving at the airport in Japan and being granted one that is good for five years – and has multiple entry and exit authority. If any developments tell us that India is moving closer to becoming one of the major international authorities in the world, developments such as these certainly do.

We at IndiaFreelancers.com encourage our programmers and technological experts – as well as all of our freelancers – to consider travel. Consider going to the United States, Australia, and France to meet the employers who hire you. The connections that are possible can only but increase the strength of one’s pool of employers. The wonderful thing is that the income which our programmers make allows them to be among the highest paid people in India – and therefore the ones who can afford to travel abroad.

So please consider travelling abroad. Now that the government of Japan has relaxed the restrictions for travel, this tells us that they – just as the rest of the world is doing – are taking our technical, programming and other skills very seriously and wish to see us come to their countries to share our expertise with them.

Ranjiv P for IndiaFreelancers.com

Freelancers and mobile phones: Used iPhones in India

March 4, 2016
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In a further example of India’s growing strength and importance on the world stage as far as electronics are concerned Apple, the electronics giant company, has applied for permission to the government of India to import and sell pre-owned iPhones in India.

On the surface this seems like a great idea. India would have the ability to buy one of the world’s most popular mobile telephones for a discounted price. However, if we look at other considerations we see that, as is the case in life, there are other thoughts which come into this. For example, last year Apple applied for a similar permission from the government to import one lakh of used iPhones and 2.5 lakh of used iPads but the Technical Review Committee (TRC) of the Environment Ministry turned down this application by the tech giant  on July 2, 2016 citing concerns that it would add to India’s e-waste.

In its decision to turn down Apple’s request last year, the TRC argued that refurbished electrical and electronic equipment (also known as EEEs) have a shorter functional life and became obsolete quicker. A shorter half life, therefore, means that these devices will find themselves as being waste much sooner than new devices. The concern therefore, understandably, is that these devices with their shorter half life would potentially substantially amplifying the country’s e-waste burden. Furthermore, the TRC reasoned that it would view favorably imports of EEEs which were less than three year old and had at least five years of residual life.

All of the above does make sense. One of the main functions of our government is to protect us. If these devices by Apple will strongly add to India’s electronic waste burden, then we should think twice before allowing them into the country. On the other hand, India is rapidly joining the world stage as a major economy and a major player on the world’s stage. Thus, it would be desirable for us in India to have increased access to one of the world’s most popular mobile telephones.

We at IndiaFreelancers.com will continue to watch and monitor these events for you. Regardless of the outcome of these negotiations and thoughts one thing is certain: tech titans like Apple and others worldwide are paying closer and closer attention to India – and to our tech capacities. Our IndiaFreelancers would do well to follow this situation carefully and learn to code for the Apple platform. New or Pre-Owned, Apple iPhones are on their way to our country and we at IndiaFreelancers.com should do our best to be ready.

Ranjiv P for IndiaFreelancers.com

Freelancers: Now may be a good time to buy a house

February 29, 2016
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In a speech this past Monday February 28th, 2016 Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented his third budget. In his speech, Mr. Jaitley focused on what is commonly referred to as his big ticket reforms – reforms which are focused primarily providing relief for farmers under distress and on the rural sectors of the country.

To that end, Mr. Jaitley announced that the promotion of affordable housing is one of his “thrust areas”, meaning that this is a sector of the economy whereby he wishes to make a strong impact. As things now stand, people are able to deduct up to Rs 2,000,000 from their taxes for the interest that is paid on their home loans. That means that if you have a mortgage on your home and you pay up to Rs 2,000,000 in interest on that loan, you can take that Rs 2,000,000 off of your taxes and pay that much less in taxes. Well what Mr. Jaitley has now announced is that if you are a first time home buyer, you can deduct from the money you would be paying in taxes yet another Rs 50,000 that you pay in interest on your home mortgage. Stated in another way, if you are a first time home buyer and you pay Rs 2,050,000 in interest on your home mortgage and if the amount in taxes that you owe the government is Rs 2,050,000 – in theory – you would not have to pay any taxes at all. You are able to deduct from your taxes the amount that you pay in interest on your mortgage.

What does this mean for our freelancers on IndiaFreelancers.com? Well, what this means is that our freelancers are now able to purchase a home a little easier. Having and owning one’s home is a strong measure of security in this world – and we want that security for our programmers and other technical professionals on IndiaFreelancers.com. Therefore, we encourage our freelancers to please look into these new programs which were announced yesterday, February 28th, 2016. It may be that this may a great opportunity to purchase your first home and to make your freelancing on IndiaFreelancers.com a little more comfortable and stable.

Ranjiv P for IndiaFreelancers.com

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