Arjun signed the deal with Ravi which proposed that he had to deliver fifty thousand copies of previous year questions booklets and twenty thousand copies of solution books within the next two weeks. He was paid in advance for the already printed books which was about to Ninety thousand for the booklets and one and half lakh for the solution books.
Together he had made two lakh forty thousand rupees for everything. The balance Ravi promised would be cleared two weeks after the final delivery being done. Ravi warned though, if the delivery was delayed even by a day their deal would be invalid.
Arjun and Bhargav left the Mannath distribution center with huge smiles on their faces. Bhargav was thoroughly impressed with Arjun, this kid managed to make a profit of almost two lakhs within three weeks of acquiring the printing machines. Even Madan's enterprises did not have such high rate of turnover.
When he mentioned this to Arjun however Arjun denied it. Anna the only reason we have profited this much is mainly because of the upcoming exam season, any other time and we would not even receive half the order. Also you must note the deadline for next handover, Ravi made sure it was a tight one so that if we showed any signs of laziness he would get the entire shipment for free. This lot of books would also help them compete against Hanish and help them take up their reputation among the kids up a notch.
By the time next year comes they will prepare their own set of materials and with their reputation already established in this field kids would be more willing to purchase their publication more than others. So even though we made plenty money we cannot use this same method next year.
In a way we are paving way for these distributors and publications in this field which they can exploit for years to come.
Bhargav upon hearing Arjun's explanation was left speechless, While he was jubilant about the money earned this kid was lamenting about the money lost. As they conversed they reached SJU office where Bhargav promised to introduce Arjun to his brother.
The SJU office seemed to Arjun like a primitive version of local party offices. But instead of it being filled with old men in their common white clothing, this office was filled with college students who wore their own distinctive clothes and were shuttering around excitedly. It gave him a feeling of returning to his college days where everyone was excited every day without any reason.
As he was looking around Bhargav came back to him and asked to follow him to the vice president chamber. The chamber was nothing exciting, a small table, a chair with various books and letters scattered across the table. A college kid who gave the vibe of not belonging here sat there and got up excitedly to greet incoming Arjun and Bhargav.
Bhargav then proceeded to introduced Arjun to his brother Tharun. Tharun who was pursuing his degree in political science at the famous Siddhartha college greeted enthusiastically and enquired his purpose of visit. Bhargav had already informed him earlier not to look down on the kid he was about to meet. When he mentioned him earning over two lakh rupees within span of a month Tharun was impressed. What puzzled him though was their purpose of visit, what could their union do to help a newly established publisher, he wondered.
Arjun had an impression of the college Tharun had mentioned, just that it was not a good one. It was impressive in academics as it was regarded as one of the best colleges in the state. But the students however were very famed for their notoriety among the townsmen. With him being from that college if he could get some popularity in the college, it would make his name famous among the townsmen and it made sense for him to become vice president of the union.
Arjun was starting to think whether partnering with such a person was a good thing or a bad thing. Perhaps it would not hurt to have some ruthless person with ambition nearby if they were trustable. All he needed to make sure was not to handover too many responsibilities.
He then proceeded to explain their purpose of visit to Tharun. He handed him the All in One sample to Tharun. Once he browsed through it Tharun felt if he had such book during his tenth class perhaps he would have scored at least fifty more marks.
Tharun complimented Arjun "This is very impressive Arjun, but i still do not understand what could this have to do with me? We are a student union, not a distribution center."
Arjun : "Yes anna but i do not want to sell these through distributors"
Tharun : "What do you mean Arjun?"
Arjun : "I was thinking of selling them through students instead of selling them at stores. With these books being a new entry into the field not many shopkeepers would be interested in placing them at counter and not many would notice if they were placed on the back.
If they could be sold to kids using other kids instead, it would help gather more popularity and perhaps sell more copies. The problem is i am not very familiar with any student outside my village surroundings. If you could help us with this it would be a win-win for both of us".
Tharun was once again stunned by this proposal. He had never thought of using their union in such a manner, what he wondered though was whether this was legal or not. Upon contacting their in house legal counsellor and confirming it was not illegal he relaxed. If this could be done they would receive considerable amount of funding and also have another way to make money in the future. This could help them analyze whether this method would be successfully implemented or not and iron out the inefficiencies.
Especially with Bhargav introducing them he could expect a certain amount of leeway if any mistakes were made. He then enquired Arjun about the pricing and how much would be allocated to them per piece.
Arjun then gave two options to Tharun, The first one was a fixed price of three rupees per each book sold, the other option he offered was a cliff mechanism. If they were to sell less than ten thousand copies they would only make two rupees per book, anywhere from ten to twenty five thousand copies they would be offered three rupees of commission per book, any thing over twenty five thousand books to fifty thousand books he would hand four rupees of commission and the commission would go up to five rupees per book for any sales over fifty thousand copies. Arjun also mentioned each All in One was going to be priced at forty rupees each which could help Tharun in making his choice.
Tharun started contemplating about his choices, Especially with this being their first time to sell something using their union they could safely make three rupees per book. But the other option was too attractive. If they could sell fifty thousand copies they would make two and half lakh rupees. This amount of money was more than what they collect from student memberships and party funds for a year.
Arjun understood this point too. He firmly believed for someone to give it their all they needed to have enough motivation, and what better motivation than money.
Tharun who was lost in his thought realized this matter was not such a simple one to be decided on the spot. He requested Arjun for some time so they could convene a meeting and further discuss things with main members of the union. Arjun accepted the proposal and took back the sample All in One to prevent any further complications. He asked Tharun to visit his village to inform him about their decision as he would be heading back to his village the same day, but he asked not to delay too much as then they would have to go to some other union.
Bhargav wanted to speak up but could only shut up noticing Arjun's stare. He understood this was a trap laid by the kid to convince them faster but was left helpless as Arjun did not let go of him throughout their trip to Vijayawada.
Bhargav and Arjun went on to purchase more raw materials for the new orders and All in One production as the stocks they had were already almost done.
They ordered raw materials for one lakh and fifty thousand rupees but this time directly from the dealers instead of going through the convoluted methods they had done previously. Arjun also purchased another used offset machine which was only two months old for fifty thousand rupees since they finally had orders in hand and any delays could be catastrophic.
The duo then proceeded to the same shipping company they had previously contracted for taking these to their village. They had also contracted them to do the shipping of already printed books to Mannath distribution center in their return trip to save costs. Bhargav would also accompany the return shipments to prevent any other issues during the shipping.