Business update

We have just posted off some papers to the company in India that is helping us set up our business and paid him for his work. It is the first exchange of money for the set up of the business.The time estimates we have been given are:

1. For name approval - 7 working days, once we have obtained Director's Identification & Digital Signatures of the proposed director.

2. For final incorporation - 12-14 working days, once the duly signed & authenticated documents are received back from your end.

I think it will probably take about 2 months for it all to be sorted and papers sent back and forth via post.
It has taken about 2 weeks just to get our DIN and Digital signature application together and signed and sent off. It is then about 5 working days for documents to be sent either way. Although, in saying that, With rate of everything else falling into place I may be surprised.

Potential buyer

We have a lovely Chinese lady who is very very keen on buying the house. She has been three times and had a QV valuer come yesterday. She had hoped he would have the report to her by the afternoon so she could come with an official offer. Her verbal offer sounds good so we will wait until Monday to see what happens. We sat and had coffee and chatted for about an hour. She had a lovely Irish man in his 80s with her. He has made an offer on our lounge suite that we will probably accept. Even though we might be able to get more for it, I just like the guy.

God is just blowing me away at the rapid speed everything is happening. I know that the house is not a done deal yet but I thought selling a house was supposed to be a major headache, God is so good and I just thank him for easing us through this.

The reality of it all

It is hard to know whether to be excited or not when telling friends and family of how things are falling into place. It is just so faith building and incredible to see God orchestrating everything. My enthusiasm sometimes goes before me and I don't stop to think about the impact on peoples feelings. I keep making people cry :( I am not quite sure how I should deal with this. Everything that falls into place is another step closer to us going and that excites me and also brings a tinge of sadness. As my youngest daughter (9) explains it, she is Exsaddened (both excited and sad). The first people you want to tell are those closest to you and those people are the ones who really don't want to hear it even though they are supporting us. The reality seems to be setting in for everyone. I think that for so long it has been something we were going to be doing in the future and now that future is on our doorstep. In all honesty though, I am ready to jump into that future.

The house is on the market

It has a been scrubbing, painting, tidying frenzy but the house is now on the market. We are not completely finished painting the house but decided to put it on the market anyway and let people know what else we are wanting to do.

We decided to try and sell privately first and advertise on trademe. Within one hour of listing the house I had our first inquiry and since then we have had many more. Today I showed three people through the house and they were all very interested and one lady is returning for another look shortly. We have had 372 people view our listing on trademe.

I contacted a lawyer today because I realised I didn't really know about how organise contracts through a private sale. I now know what we need to do if we get any offers. The lawyer was so helpful and cheaper than the one we used to use.

There has been some emotional times from the kids, mainly our second eldest daughter. I think selling the house has made everything feel very real and it is a bit unsettling. Taking down posters from their walls so it looks better for selling was just a bit much for them. A few night time sobs and cuddles from mum were needed. It is a real mixture of emotions at the moment, it's exciting, scary, fun and emotional all at the same time.

My provider

It is such an exciting place to be when you have to rely on God completely. I know we should always be in a place of knowing that God is our provider but it is all too easy to take things for granted, especially when we have a job that is bringing in an income. God provides the job but somehow we can fall into the trap of thinking we are providing for ourselves.

The other night we found out we are going to need to pay our accountant in India $1000USD after he has finished incorporating our business and that we will need $2000USD in capital in the company. We know these are legit prices after doing a bit of research and getting a few other quotes. So we were wondering where we were going to get $3000USD without dipping into our airfares that we have been putting money aside for. And here's what God has done: I woke early on Saturday morning and decided to check our bank account online. When I had logged on I noticed that there seemed to be way more in our account than there should have been, in fact, there was $2000 more! I went to our statement page and found I had been given a refund from IRD of $2230. We also received a home school supervisor form that gets given out every 6 months and there will be about $1100coming our way soon. This means we are only about $500 short now. Our God is an amazing God, he really does provide for what we need in ways that we don't even think about.

Fatigue

I can barely lift my arms to type. Day three outside getting weeds sorted, rust treated on garage door before we can paint, potting soil in pots ready for planting, water blasting anything that gets in my path. Today I have spent a straight 6.5hrs painting all our outside windows that happen to be french windows. This means lots of bitsy fiddly little things to paint. I did not realise I had been going so long and my arms were literally shaking when I got to the last window. I am a bit like a dog with a bone at times. Once I set myself a goal, I find it hard to stop until it is complete. I am sure my muscles will remind me tomorrow. 6.5 hrs with your arms above your head has got to firm up those muscles.
We want to put the house on the market after this weekend when our tenant moves out.

I hear the baby crying now, how I would just like to flop down and rest, but alas, I have a family that needs me and dinner to get ready. Let me get up from my 10 min sit down and drag my body around. Must say though, the girls have been so wonderful looking after the boys the last few days so I can get stuck into the jobs. Thumbs up to you girls, Love you :) What would I do without them.

Car boot sale

Yesterday we had a car boot sale. We have started to sell off or give away some of our household items. It is actually really freeing and refreshing to be clearing stuff out. There is a lot of stuff we had that we really did not need. Our cupboards are beginning to look bare with one or two pots in them and I have managed to sort through all Jaxon's things and get down to the bare minimum.

We managed to make over $100 dollars at the boot sale so the kids have now reached their target of paying Jaxon's airfare. It had been lovely to see them get involved like this. If we can get the cheapest fare and if we go before he is 2 yrs, he will only cost around $100. They have made $160 in total now. Go Kids!!! Proud of you.

I also got to practice my bartering, I am pleased I stood my ground with one couple from Afghanistan. They were very nice but trying so hard to get a bargain on a bargain. They ended up buying my food processor at a very good price and then set up their own stall to sell it for more. Seems cheeky to us but they obviously were not at all phased by it. They also gave me their number for when we are ready to sell other electrical appliances like T.V, vacuum cleaner etc. I am just pleased I did not budge on my already good price I had given them. They tried oh so hard.

DIN (director identification number) In India

We now have a provisional DIN (director identification number). This is the very first step towards starting a company in India. I found we could apply for this ourselves. It was a bit of a brain spinner initially trying to navigate around the Ministry of Corporate Affairs web site but once I found what I needed, it ended up working itself out. I had some trouble paying online and our good friends back in Bangalore did some running around for us to try and pay Rs200 ($5.86 NZD) They were having trouble finding a bank to accept the payment but with a bit of phoning around I managed to sort out payment online. I feel bad for the guys running all over Bangalore for us when I should probably just made the phone call in the first place. My pet phobia is making phone calls, I really get so nervous and clammy. It is so silly and I am way better than I used to be. I always try to get David to do the phoning but sometimes he displays tough love to help me over come my irrational fears.
We only had a week to get the payment sorted so we can hold onto our provisional DIN and from there we can send all the official signed documents via post to be verified and we can then receive our permanent DIN.
Our tenant is a lawyer and he has offered to certify any copies that we need signed, it is so nice to have him living next door.

In case anyone reading this wants to know the process for applying for DIN online, here it is:

1. Go to http://www.mca.gov.in/MCA21/index.html

2. Click on Apply for DIN tab and fill out online form. Once submitted it will give you a provisional DIN and will give you a PDF application form to print out.

3.Register as a user by going back to http://www.mca.gov.in/MCA21/index.html and clicking on
New user registration on right hand side.
You cannot pay without being registered. This will take you through the registration process.

4. Pay by logging in back at http://www.mca.gov.in/MCA21/index.html and then clicking on Pay miscellaneous fee. Find the tab to pay for DIN. This will take you through the payment process where you can pay online.

5.Once you have paid you will get a service request number that you can manually write onto your application form. This will be in a printable PDF format.

6. Get together verified copies of passport, birth certificate and one form of ID to verify your address. Get verified passport sized photo to add to application.

7. Send to India within 60 days of first application or you will need to start the process again.


You can check the progress of your application online by logging into MCA21

Missionaries???

One of my daughters asked me today if we are going to be missionaries. It's a funny question because peoples perception of a missionary is that if you go overseas to be full time for God, then you are a missionary. My reply to her was that we are already missionaries, no matter where we are, no matter where God puts us, no matter if we are employed by a church, working in a business, bringing up our kids, selling cars etc, our whole purpose is to reach those who don't know about Christ and to bring the good news of the kingdom of God in what ever we are doing and to bring Glory to God in all that we do. God places us all in communities, work places, sports groups etc and these can be our mission fields.

I would find it very hard to use the word "missionary" in relation to what God is calling us to, yes we will be missionaries, but not in the way most people think of a missionary. We are not going to be raising financial support from churches here in N.Z but if people want to and feel that God wants them to contribute financially then we would not reject His provision but we will not be asking for it or trying to drum it up. We plan on setting up a company that can help us financially and can also contribute to the economy of India and in time give employment opportunities to nationals of India. This in no way means we are not relying on God for his provision but I believe we are not to be a burden on others in what God calls us to and God is providing provision through our N.Z company, our rental property and also potentially our India based company. We are not trying to be self sufficient but trying to listen to what God leads us to do, we are still seeing it worked out before us.

Not sure if this makes sense, it does to me but not sure if it has come out right in writing.

Seperate company??

It is taking a while to get things moving along in India but we are fine with that. We are needing to answer a few questions asked by the guys helping us set things up for our company . They have asked us some questions that I have no idea of the answer, something about "what would be the Authorised Capital and issued/paid up Capital of this company, this is important as the statutory levies for formation of the company and various fees is based on this." Umm? pass. I have forwarded this on to our N.Z accountants to shed some light. I really am a greeny when it comes to the business side of things, it would have been so good if I had a bit more knowledge but it is amazing how much you learn as you go.

As I was writing this, our accountant has rung me and given me the number of a tax specialist who he believes will be able to help us out the best. He seems to think it would be better to start a complete new company in India because the only reason a subsidiary is needed is if you want to send money back to N.Z from it. It's funny because if we had not thought about a branch office or subsidiary company then we would not have looked at trying to keep our business going in N.Z. As it has worked out, our N.Z business will bring us a small income we can use in India and also provide others with work. We now would still be keen to keep the N.Z side of things going even if we don't need to for the sake of the India company.
It is also interesting that the N.Z side of the company has fallen into place very easily and quickly where the India side has been slow in setting up a subsidiary. Maybe it is time to change tack and look into setting up a completely separate company in India. Our accountant says that the initial set up may be more expensive but the ongoing tax issues between countries will be more of a hassle in the long run.

I have not even talked to David about this yet but it does seem much clearer in my mind.

contract renewal

After David sending out the new contract offer to all our schools yesterday, we have received 2 replies already. Both schools have said yes and one wants to increase their hours with us. So far so good. Just another cog falling into place and keeping the wheel spinning. I will keep updating this post as schools reply to us.

Check this out.

This is not the best filming but very funny to see just how many people can fit on one train in India.


Can You Believe That - The best video clips are right here

When to put the house on the market?

With the section now looking not such an eyesore we are thinking we should probably put the house on the market very soon. We will still paint but can do that after we put the house up for sale and let people know our intentions.

Our tenant/boarder has just given us notice today that he will be moving out in the next week or two. Even though we will miss the extra income, the timing is great because we can do a few maintenance things in the flat and make it look more appealing for selling. It's just one more thing making us think the time to sell is now.

David also sent a letter to a New Zealand company he sub contracts for to let them know that we will be off to India next year. They have replied saying they are in the process of setting something up in India and want to know where we will be situated. At present, David does remote access work for them and it could well be that he can continue this while in India. It is just another opportunity that perhaps God is going to use. Time will tell. This sort of thing excites me so much, God has the big picture and we are seeing it unravel before us.

The garden is shaping up

We spent a 9 to 5 day out under the cloudy and at times crying skies as we continued to try and get our section looking a little more appealing. We can now sit back an say, "Yes, it looks good" just a little more weeding of cobbles, water blast the deck, paint the house and then the outside is complete. Why didn't we do this before?

Letters

David is in the process of sending letters to all our New Zealand clients to let them know our plans and to introduce the guys who will be working for them if they decide to renew their contracts with us. It will be interesting to see how the response will be. This will be the deciding factor of how much work we will be able to give to Douglas, Erich and Stu. Over to you God.

We have set the ball rolling

We have now set the wheels in motion as far as getting our subsidiary company set up. I had e-mail contact with our newly found chartered accountant in Bangalore and he is referring us to another firm for the initial set up process. Sudhir who we have been having contact with has been amazingly prompt in communication and we have been very impressed with him so far. Hopefully the firm he puts us onto is just as good.

I have been doing a lot of googling on the start up processes and although some things we could probably get done on our own, there seems to be so many little bits of forms, documents, stamps, registrations, and who knows what else, that I feel it would be good to have someone orchestrate this for us. It's hard at the outset when you are not familiar with how business works in a foreign country and most of our Indian friends do not need to know the ins and outs of a foreigner setting up a company. I know when we get asked questions about immigration in New Zealand, I have no idea because I have never had to go through it.

Time to sit back again and wait for contact from the set up firm.

Floods in Bangalore, Karnataka

Floods have hit southern India with over 200 dead and they are thinking that up to about 750,000 and rising people have been displaced and left homeless.

After a a very dry monsoon season the rains have come powering in wreaking havoc throughout the south. The water levels are still 5 to 10ft in certain areas and the water is not draining away quickly. Obviously, disease and sickness is a real threat with this much stagnant water lingering.

Bangalore is the capital of the state of Karnataka in southern India and is where we are heading, we have people we know living there and our heart and prayers goes out to all those affected by the floods.

Don't want to think about goodbyes

I think I have a built in coping mechanism that has activated to enable me not to think about or feel the sadness of leaving people close to us. Sometimes I have wondered if I have been emotionless and almost hard hearted as my excitement to go to India has far out weighed the sadness of leaving New Zealand and people I love. I do believe God has helped me to do this and it is not that I will not miss people but the call of God is so strong that my passion for India and the people of India has taken a special place in my heart.

The truth of the matter is that if I let my mind stop and think about the inevitable leaving then the odd tear has been shed. I feel for my kids and their special friends that I know it will be heart wrenching for them to leave. I think of our parents and our siblings, grandparents,cousins and close friends and I know that there will come a time to say goodbye and it will be hard.

I have had times with two of my closest friends, Sonya and Erin, where we have touched on the subject of leaving and our catch phrase is that it is "forbidden to talk about." Sonya and I have had the odd teary moment already, not only is she my special friend but our kids are such good friends, this is the same with Erin. I also feel for Leigh who is Daya's best mate and I know her mum Tina is not looking forward to the departure time, Tina has also been a great friend to me. The great thing is that with technology like skype we can still keep in contact. We will always be friends and I know that these friends will be the ones I ring when the times are tough. They are the ones who have been such great supports to us already and who are helping us live our dream for India and who encourage us and support us.

My parents have already organised to come see us next year as they are going over seas anyway. My brother is also going with them and they plan to spend about a week with us. It will help to know we will see them in a few months when we say our farewells at the airport.

We are wondering about having a Bollywood farewell party. Could be fun.