January 1st, 1658
Akhand Bhartiya Empire, Special Economic Zone, Thiruvananthapuram, Chera Nadu (Kerala)
John Brown, setting foot in Thiruvananthapuram and looking at all the familiar festivities, felt like he was back ho. Now that he had no chance to go back to Ireland, Thiruvananthapuram was the closest thing to remind him of ho, especially since Thiruvananthapuram holds most of the European population of the empire.
John Brown had been very busy for the past three months, because he had taken delivery of his four units of custom-designed Khaki Class Grain Transporter on September 26th.
Initially, John Brown was very nervous about whether his theory about the Bharatiya Empire focusing on Southeast Asia was true or not, but after the Philippines was captured, he let go of his nervousness.
The ti he received the delivery also turned out to be perfect, as the Philippines needed a lot of grain to be transported due to the war that had just ended. His ships, which were custom-built to carry grain, caught the attention of the governnt, so he was able to snag a neat contract requiring him to transport a total of 36,000 tonnes of grain for the hefty price of 48,422 Varaha.
John Brown was overjoyed because that was actually the price at which he bought one of his Khaki Class Grain Transporters, and it had barely been four months since he bought the ship, and one had already paid for itself. Additionally, due to his conscientious service, John Brown was asked to do more logistics work for the empire.
Putting aside nostalgia and hosickness, official business matters were the main reason why John Brown had co to the mainland of the empire, far away from his main activity area of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Looking around the streets, which were decorated with Christmas and New Year greetings, John Brown could not help but have a complicated expression on his face. Just half a year ago, he had been in the exact sa place, looking everywhere with hope for a better future, nervousness from the rash decision he had taken, and anticipation to make a living for himself.
Now, six months later, he was here again with none of those feelings. It was only confidence. He had done it—he had beco a successful person in the Bharatiya Empire despite all odds. He had emigrated from Ireland to the subcontinent, and he had won.
John Brown’s fists were clenched as everything he had done until now sunk in, making him punch the air repeatedly.
"Hell yeahhhh!!!"
His shout was loud, like that of a battle cry, but sadly it ended up attracting the attention of the passersby. John Brown was imdiately embarrassed, but not for long as he quickly moved forward, forgetting everything he had just done.
John Brown’s destination was the regional office of the Departnt of Trade under the Ministry of Trade, Comrce, and Industry.
He had an appointnt with the regional director to discuss the contract at 10:45 AM.
Now the ti was 9:12, so he still had so ti to spare, but he had a habit of arriving a little early to his destination. So, he did not stop anywhere else, not even in the city square where many wite people like himself were celebrating the New Year with an all-you-can-eat feast. However, John Brown was a man of sheer determination and commitnt.
He knew what his priority was, and he did not have a hard ti deciding between temporary enjoynt and long-term benefits.
However, on his way to the regional office of the Departnt of Trade, he ca across a street filled with shops selling kitchen appliances.
This alone was not too unusual, but what was unusual was that all the shops on the street had put up black signs with bright red fonts displaying discounts—X percent, Y percent, Z percent. Additionally the interior decoration completely stunned John Brown, that is in a good way of course, since the decorations were actually according to the aesthetics of European nobility.
John Brown was very impressed. If he were a rchant focused on selling kitchen appliances or appliances in general, he would definitely be interested in exploring the market.
However, his surprise did not end there, as he was greatly taken aback when he saw a shop called Harihara Kitchen Appliances offering discounts of up to 30%. John Brown imdiately thought the owner of the company had gone crazy. Despite seeing most people rushing into this particular shop, John Brown did not think it looked prosperous.
Instead, he felt like he was looking at a company that was about to perish.
But suddenly, exclamations rang out around him. John Brown was taken aback. "What happened?" He did not understand what was going on, but looking around, he saw people pointing at a shop with astonished expressions on their faces.
John Brown curiously turned around and was astonished himself after seeing that a shop nad Naidu Kitchen Appliances was being taken apart, and in its place, the plaque of Harihara Kitchen Appliances was being put up. John Brown looked at both signs to make sure he had not mistaken, but no. No matter how he saw the symbols, slogans, and even the advertisents, they were all the sa.
He had no choice but to believe they were both shops of the sa company.
"Was I wrong?" John Brown couldn’t help but doubt himself. Having been in the Bharatiya Empire for the past six months, he had so understanding of the prices in the empire since he frequently dealt with owners of different industrial companies. He knew that the profit margins of non-technical products like kitchen appliances were around 20% if shipping was not done by the seller.
But now he saw a kitchen appliance factory selling its products at a 30% discount, which, in his opinion, was a loss. But apparently, he was wrong.
John Brown did not understand what was happening, so he went over to inquire about the news.
"We have no clue, sir. Until yesterday, the shop was actually run by Naidu Kitchen Appliances, but unusually, at three o’clock yesterday, the shop closed down, and it only opened now. To our surprise, the owner of the shop had completely changed," a neighboring shop manager said with a confused expression.
"We have no idea, sir, but there is a rumor that Harihara Kitchen Appliances is run by a rich man whose family used to be large landlords a few years ago. After the rich man’s father died, he received a large inheritance in the form of gold, while his elder brother got most of the property."
"So, in my opinion, this prodigal rich man is providing this exaggerated 30% discount to fully gain the market and kill the competition."
"I don’t know if it’s luck or talent, but the guy might have actually succeeded," a knowledgeable white man, who appeared to be from Poland, replied with a contemplative expression.
John Brown did not doubt the man, since he had heard from people around that this Polish man was the biggest custor for kitchen appliances in the empire, as he had obtained an exclusive license from his governnt to handle all procurent of kitchen appliances from the Bharatiya Empire to Poland.
So, John Brown figured the man must have done extensive research, and he had no reason not to believe him. But John Brown was still doubtful.
"Even if that were the case, by the end of this discount spree, considering a 10% loss on one product alone, the company should be left without capital and close to bankruptcy." John Brown did not voice his concern, as he knew it would be useless, so he hurried over to the regional office of the Departnt of Trade by 10:00 o’clock.
---
The departnt building was a large five-story structure filled with offices responsible for dealing with trade and comrce-related issues with the Europeans. Even with such an impressive building, the crowd was overwhelming, and people had to line up to get their issues resolved.
Fortunately, John Brown had a special appointnt, and he was nominally a citizen of the Bharatiya Empire, so as soon as the security saw his credentials, they let him go directly to the stairs.
John Brown had to admit he felt a little good after noticing the envious eyes of hundreds of Europeans. This was the sa attention that nobles used to receive back ho.
In his smug expression, John Brown reached the 5th floor, where there were significantly fewer people.
There was a man who appeared to be the secretary of the director of the regional office.
"I have an appointnt with Director Venkateshu, please take a look."
John Brown had been in the empire for the last six months, so although he had an accent, he could now fluently speak the Bharathi language.
The secretary took a look at the appointnt letter, went through the docunts in his drawer, checked the director’s schedule, and confird the appointnt.
"Please take a seat, Mr. John. The director will see you in 40 minutes."
John nodded and sat down without much thought.
Hearing the waiting ti, the three people sitting in the chairs nearby were surprised, as their wait was actually longer than his. They took a second look at the white man who was receiving such preferential treatnt.
However, the stares only lingered for a short ti as they quickly resud their discussion.
"Mr. Gaurav, how do you think Harihara did it? According to common sense, he should already be bankrupt since he was selling his appliances at a loss for the past week."
"Yes, Mr. Gaurav, I have the sa doubt. Could you please explain the details of this matter? You are the deputy bank manager at Raya Royal Bank, right?"
The conversation imdiately caught John’s attention, as he had the sa question.
Gaurav, noticing the curiosity of the three people, did not hide anything. With a smile on his face, he replied, "The matter is actually very simple. Mr. Harihara just utilized the loan service our bank provides to its maximum level."
Not to ntion the two onlookers, even John was confused. Was there any special way to utilize the loan?
Gaurav understood the confused expressions so he explained further,
"Mr. Harihara fully mortgaged his dium-sized Harihara Kitchen Appliances company and secured a loan of around 3 million Varaha.
With the 5 million Varaha he had from his inheritance, he bought a large-scale military manufacturing enterprise, which imdiately provided him not only with a factory equipped with all the latest equipnt capable of mass-producing millions of appliances but also connections that could offer him better deals for raw materials, increasing his profit margin."
"Next, Mr. Harihara mortgaged the newly acquired factory again, which he used to secretly buy out shares of Naidu Kitchen Appliances, a company struggling the most under the onslaught of Harihara’s discounts."
"Not only that, but the senior technicians and talents were poached away by Mr. Harihara for his own company, completely crippling Naidu Kitchen Appliances."
"So, after multiple operations, although Mr. Harihara and his company, Harihara Kitchen Appliances, may look like they are in a bad situation with more than 70% of their company’s valuation in debt..."
"The situation is actually more than good, because with frequent expansions, Harihara Kitchen Appliances has beco the only company that can produce two million units of appliances per month. It also holds nearly 85% of the market share for kitchen appliance sales throughout the nation."
"With the further acquisition of Naidu Kitchen Appliances, Harihara Kitchen Appliances has already beco the largest in the empire. So, although there is a debt of 8 million to pay back, the money could be expected to be repaid in Q1 of 1658, considering their sales."
"The most amazing thing is that all this was done by Mr. Harihara without actually giving out any of his shares; he still owns 100% of the company until he is capable of paying off his debt."
The two people who were owners of small companies were greatly shocked, as they did not expect a loan to be used like this. On the other hand, John felt like a new world had opened in front of him, with countless thoughts rising in his mind.
"Mr. Gaurav, hello. My na is John Brown, and I run a logistics company called Brown Logistics. Could you please introduce to the products of your bank? I might be interested in the loan you ntioned."
Abhimanyu Gaurav was taken aback by the white man’s words, as he did not expect him to actually be the owner of a company in the Bharatiya Empire. It was the first ti he had ever heard of such a thing, but then he rembered the Bharatiya Citizenship Act and realized the truth.
Looking at the expectant expression on John Brown’s face, Gaurav felt like he might have t a big custor. "Of course, sir! Let’s discuss what your requirents are and what you would like to mortgage."
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