“How a $250 Fix Sparked a Million-Dollar Journey”
Six months into my hustle journey, I had gone from making $30 per house call to around $2K–$3K a month fixing computers and servers. Respectable progress, but still less than what I used to make in my job before I quit.
No complaints—just truth.
I was averaging around $2,500 a month, which was enough to keep the hope alive. But this wasn’t a fairytale startup story. My Network engineering skill did get me to our first 5 digit deal from a government body, will keep this for some other day do not want to side track from $250 to million journey for now.
Ok lets get back …. 6 months into the business, one evening one of close friends Jiten Mehta a gold merchant came to visit me he was one of the roommates when I lived as bachelors. We chatted about life, dreams, the grind, and how Singapore had become our common launchpad.
Then he casually brought up a problem one of his clients was facing—a jeweler in Little India called Arthesdam. ( Chinese owner Jack, The name “Arthesdam” is inspired by the Tamil word for “lucky” and reflects the belief that wearing gold jewelry brings good luck and fortune.) The name has to do with the story so giving some context.
So Arthesdam was dealing with a very annoying issue: Wrong cheques. The cheques that were issued by his team had mistakes Typos in vendor names. Mismatched numbers and words. Every error cost $30 in bank fees and importantly 3 to 5 days delay. Every time. resulting in unhappy vendors.
Now, remember—this was 20 years ago. Cheques ruled the world of payments.
Jiten asked, “Can you build something to help him?” I didn’t ask how to solve it. My first question was—“How much is he willing to pay?” Jiten said: “He won’t mind $250.”
That $250 felt like a big deal. I was 27. A solopreneur with no employees. No product. Just willpower. I said yes without having a clue how I’d deliver.
THE SOLUTION – BUILT FOR $125
I called Waqar—my ex-colleague. A sharp guy with Visual Basic skills. His first question: “How much do I get?” Typical life. I offered him half—$125. He agreed.
Within a week, we had it: a Visual Basic app with two forms. It saved vendor names, converted digits into written amounts (e.g., 3500 → “Three thousand five hundred only”), and had a basic login screen.
Install at one of the computers at Artesdam office and he was super excited with the solution and we got our $250 with 10 minutes UAT (user acceptance Test) the fastest in my life.
BOOM. We had just delivered our first software product.
THE ACCIDENTAL BRANDING MOVE
While building our first company website (anbgroup.com), we didn’t have much to showcase. So, we added a “Product” section and gave this little app a name: ChequePRO – Cheque Printing, Professional-sounding. Two forms with a fancy label.
Then, we forgot about it. Moved on. Back to the grind in our 5×5 office that could barely fit two people and two tiny desks.
THE CALL THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Phone rings. I pick up. The lady on the line says she’s from Deloitte.
Me: “Sorry… who?”
Her: “Deloitte.
We’re a global audit firm.” Another call the same day. Singtel, Singapore’s largest telco. Both wanted a demo of ChequePRO, the cheque printing solution. I froze.
“Which product?” I asked.
They both said: “ChequePRO. It’s on your website.”
LIGHTBULB MOMENT
I played it cool: “Yes, of course. How can I help?” They wanted an onsite demo. I hung up and scrambled to check what we had written about ChequePro on the website and Googled these companies to understand who they were (yes, this was before LinkedIn!). As I stared at my tiny office space and thought about these massive corporations wanting demos of our product, I didn’t know whether to feel excited or terrified.
Was this an opportunity or a disaster waiting to happen?
Could we deliver something worthy of their expectations? Or
Would we embarrass ourselves? My mind raced with questions as I tried to process what had just happened.
Wow this was a crazy day unfolding for me …… have you ever had that mixed feeling and not sure which way to go… exactly there.
Let me continue this in another memo as this has become too long, more craziness ahead in the next memo.
