From working at EY for 10 years to starting my own Online Portal. Was it worth it?

Here we share a story of CA  Deepanjan Periwal, who came to Mumbai from a town in Rajasthan. He managed to convert all his struggles into SUCCESS by just ‘Not Giving Up’ and still does.

He left his job at EY to start his own CA Firm. Later on, he launched 'DEBTORS WATCH', India's 1st online portal that helps businesses of any form and size to Report Trade Defaults, Perform Credit Checks, and Monitor Customer’s Creditworthiness on an ongoing basis.

He has been featured in STARTUP 360 and Co-Founder Magazine. He is also registered under STARTUP INDIA INITIATIVE of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India (GOI) for promoting innovative business ideas.

My Articleship Journey

Struggle and not failure are the pillars of every success. “There is a very thin line of difference between failure and struggle,” he said.

We all struggle by default, however, failure is something one chooses. 

In my initial days of being in Mumbai in 2005, I made applications to more than 50 CA firms for articleship. It was a struggle, however, getting into EY (Ernst & Young) was a success. 

Thereafter, while being on the learning curve and still meeting the client’s demands along with the studies was another struggle. But clearing CA and coming out stronger, wiser, and bolder was a big success.

Entrepreneurial Journey of starting my own CA Firm & Online Portal

After working with EY for almost 10 years, I wanted to switch over to start my own venture but could not take the bold move due to the fear of losing fixed cash flows. 

That’s when, I also got the opportunity with Marsh - a leading insurance broking and risk management firm, with a good pay rise and change in the profile from consultancy to marketing. 

But in less than 90 days I realized that I was not able to satisfy my urge of being an entrepreneur and hence, I quit immediately to start my own journey.

My wife, CA Deepika Singhania Periwal (by the way we both met at EY. So EY has played a very big role both in my professional and LOVE life !!!!!.) supported me greatly.

And now you know as to why my struggle was even harder…it was not only learning, working, and studying but also managing our relationship. 

I then embarked on my entrepreneurial journey and started my consultancy firm. Trust me, so many people said, “Life is perfect, you are employed with best of the companies, get paid enough, then why do you want to risk it and get into your own venture, etc." 

A lot of questions played on my mind as well however the benefits of me struggling to make my venture a success were far more than the regrets of not giving it a try. Hence there was no looking back!

Since I had worked in the corporate world for almost a decade I was sure that getting clients would be a cakewalk. 

Reality check- it was a struggle again. So every day for almost 12 months we STRUGGLED and I pushed myself harder.

The more we struggled, the more we were motivated and pushed ourselves. The closer we used to get to success and eventually succeeded. 

However, with this success, came another struggle- Managing cash flows from my clients. 

My 3 years in a self-advisory role had given me enough flavor of bad debts. On experiencing it, I always wanted to know the recourse I could take against non-paying clients or the steps I could have performed before engaging with them.

On a daily basis, after my normal working hours, I would sit and research how could we find a way to help companies know about the history of their customers. That's when 'DEBTORS WATCH ' was born. 

I knew this was another journey of struggle but our vision of helping businesses prevent bad debts and improve their cash flows kept us ahead and we won the confidence of many companies who believed in this platform.

My Advice to all

• We ALL HAVE THE POWER to make our lives the way we want it to be, there are NO LIMITATIONS.
• The struggle can lead to Failure ONLY if you GIVE UP on YOURSELF. " he concluded.