No.

You need to understand the difference between Self-Employment and Business:

• Self-Employment: If a business will not work without you if you wish to then it is Self-Employment. From a financial perspective, Self-Employment is often equivalent to having a job. Returns generated by the Self-Employed person are not at all comparable to returns generated by investors in “Entrepreneurship as an Investment Asset” that we are creating. You will be comparing apples with oranges as you are not calculating the opportunity cost of the Self-Employed person doing a job and earning a salary.

• Business: If a business started has systems, processes, delegation, fund-raising etc and can, over time, work without the person/s who started it then we call it a business. 

We are not creating Self-Employment type businesses. We are creating Businesses of the second type.

There is no written content available for jobseekers. The only way jobseekers can get details is by watching an animated video explaining the details, and you can get this video by clicking the WhatsApp button under jobseeker section on Home Page. It is advisable to watch this video first before reading FAQs on this page.

If a Company wishes to get listed on Main Board of stock exchanges:

• It does not need to be profitable 

• There are no criteria for it to already be in existence for a few years.

However:

• When such a company IPOs, 75% of shares open for subscription in IPO need to be subscribed by Qualified Institutional Buyers i.e. large institutions. This regulation is in place to protect retail investors as professional investors are more capable at vetting such risky companies.

In spite of this, you usually do not see companies getting listed on stock exchanges so early because:

• There is no track record of the company and IPO investors may not invest at premium valuations for a new company, which is not the case with Holding Companies in our model as they IPO at same Effective Cost Per Share as that of Initial Investors.
• If a new standalone single company gets listed, it may face issues in future with respect to delisting if it wishes to close business and return money to investors. In our case, if a subsidiary company does not perform well, the money gets returned to Holding Company which redeploys the capital received towards another suitable ready plan and team. Hence, no delisting is required in our model.

One US statistic suggests that 33% of businesses survive after a 10 year period. However, the difference is that in this statistic there is no filtration done by an independent third party as anybody who wishes to start a business can do so. However, in Return40’s model, there is filtration. Hence, the success rate is expected to be much higher than the general success rate.

Also, when people start businesses, they often lack the business skills required to make their business a success. Though these skills may be gradually acquired over time, lacking skills significantly increases the risk of failure. Again, this is not the case with Return40 as its Strategy and Implementation Consultants go through an exhaustive training program where they acquire 500+ entrepreneurial and business skills before they are allowed to consult and help start and manage businesses. 

However, in spite of various efforts, if a business does not work out, its capital expenditure may have to be brought down significantly, or the Company may have to be closed to protect remaining investor capital in that Company.

If someone who was previously a Manager somewhere had got CEO role when this Company got started, then, in spite of losing this CEO job, this person can get a good job elsewhere, not of a CEO but definitely something much better than their previously held Manager role. This is because they have verifiable CEO experience of a funded company on their resume, and they have proved themselves to some extent by getting selected by Return40. Return40 may also help people who lose jobs get placed in other companies in its network, depending on various factors. However, a CEO may have to be satisfied with a non-CEO role at such other companies in our network. However, there can always be some hope of getting selected again for a CEO role by applying again!

Yes because even similar looking businesses usually end up having some differentiation of their own and the team strength and growth strategy usually differs. However, no two similar businesses are started under the same Holding Company.

Firstly, it is not compulsory to invest. In case you wish to, ownership is possible only at Holding Company level, not in the particular business you propose which will be started as a subsidiary. So you will have diversified ownership. You will be given details regarding the other businesses selected by your investor at the right time in your journey.

It is good execution that holds immense value, not the idea itself. Ideas are even available for free on the internet. Also, usually, the person who suggests an idea is usually better suited to execute it than someone else. Also, even if someone were to “take” your idea, then they would need help from other people to execute the idea. In our model, you anyways propose the idea to execute it as a salaried leadership professional and it is investors who own the business because applicants are not required to take entrepreneurial risk. So, suppose even if someone has an opportunity to “take” your idea, won’t they think it is better to not “take” it and hire you to execute it?

Yes, you can back out at any point of time in the process. However, we suggest you inform your Consultant regarding the same whenever you do so. (It is not polite to not inform!).

To understand how to get this information, make sure you have watched both videos for jobseekers. You can get both these videos on WhatsApp by clicking the relevant button on Home Page.

As mentioned in the second video received in your WhatsApp message, you will be able to discuss the same with the consultant when the consultant gives you initial approval. However, you need to develop a deep understanding regarding 3 things with respect to this matter:

• The scope of future growth in your compensation
• More importantly, how company performance linked variable compensation (i.e. ESOPs) can generate immense value for you. To understand how ESOPs can generate great value for you, you will be shared a document before the tentative compensation discussion taking place during the Initial Approval stage
• Value of your pre-IPO investment rights

Once you understand the role company performance linked incentives (ESOPs) and pre-IPO investment rights will have in what you earn, the importance you give to salary will naturally reduce and the question itself will become irrelevant. Also, the number you share will not affect the number you tentatively agree with the consultant. In fact, sharing such information helps the consultant to assess you better, arrive at a more sound initial capital amount, arrive at a better combination of fixed and variable pay for you, and help negotiate better on your behalf to investors when such discussions take place with investors. We understand the salary you earn right now may not be correctly reflecting what you deserve and should not become an obstruction in you getting what you rightly deserve.

It is your efforts and talent and the efforts and talent of your team that will help the company grow. Hence, more important than salary for you should be to see who the people you are associating with are, along with Return40’s capabilities and the impact of Return40’s unique long term growth strategy. It is all these things combined that will help you better cash in on your company performance linked incentives.

Also, you need to understand that even if you get selected for a CEO role, it does not mean that you have all the skills necessary for being a CEO. What it means is that you have the potential of reaching the required level expected from you. Also, this is one of the main reasons why we have a strategy & implementation consultant involved in almost full-time execution of each company to fill in the gap in your skill-sets. While co-leading the business with you, consultant will also help you further increase your business skills after you get the leadership position.

Your compensation will be tentatively discussed initially with the Consultant. However, it is investors who have final authority regarding the same. Depending on the situation and investor preference, you may have an opportunity to discuss this directly with investors or only through the Consultant.

You need to watch both the videos made for aspiring working professionals like you, links to which you must have received on WhatsApp.

Only people who get initial approval from Consultant can register on the portal to start the process. Please watch both the videos received on WhatsApp and take actions mentioned in the same for more details.

You will need to apply independently as an individual.

Yes there are a number of businesses that will not be accepted. Businesses in:

– Meat, leather, silk, aquaculture, poultry farms, slaughter houses etc

– Alcohol, cigarettes and any other intoxicants

– Weapons

– Any form of poison

– Gambling

Also, among businesses which get accepted, products & services that support the above businesses are prohibited.

Also, kindly note that this list is not exhaustive. Your consultant will let you know if there are any issues with the business you propose.

Also, due to conflict of interest, we also do not help start businesses which involve B2B Lending, Direct Marketing Services, Stock Broking, Asset Management, Investment Banking etc.

You can submit any number of one page initial proposals over WhatsApp to the consultant. You should let the consultant know which approved proposal you wish to work on, and mainly, get the consultant’s view on which proposal is more likely to get selected. After getting the consultant’s view, you should work on only one business plan at a time. However, after you reach a 100% score on that plan, or if you feel it will be very difficult or not possible to increase the percentage score to reach 100%, you can start working on another proposal.