I'm a Master in India

"Mr. Smith?"

"Ron, it's good to hear your voice again."

"What a surprise, you're back in England?"

"Yes, I tried calling you before, but there seemed to be some problems. Later, I called Victoria Station directly, and luckily, they all knew your name as soon as I mentioned it."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Smith. I moved, I should have told you sooner."

"It's alright, Ron. I just wanted to ask if you still provide guiding services?"

"Of course, I've started my own company. A travel information company, it's my career now."

"That's great, I have a group of students preparing to go to India for a study tour, and Mumbai is the first stop. It's unofficial, you know, without the school's unified arrangements, I'm a little worried."

"Leave it to me! Mr. Smith, I will give them the best and safest Mumbai trip!"

This was really great news. Ron was planning to expand the company's business scope, such as receiving foreign tour groups.

This kind of business was much more profitable than individual customers at the train station, and he had complete control over the tour group's itinerary.

Unlike individual customers, who would ask Ron to take them to buy marijuana, or to find women.

The benefits of tour groups can be summarized in one sentence: more people, less trouble, and greater profits.

"By the way, Mr. Smith. Just out of curiosity, how many students do you have approximately?"

"Twenty-something people, maybe more. I will recommend you to them. How is the situation in Mumbai now?"

"Fantastic! The rainy season has just passed, and the temperature is just right. The next few months are the golden period for visiting Mumbai."

"Very good, give me your company's contact information, and a fax will be sent over later."

"No problem, I'm always here!"

Snap, hanging up the phone, Ron excitedly snapped his fingers.

Twenty-something students, this is a big deal.

No, he has to negotiate prices with hotels and restaurants in advance. Since he plans to do tour group business, all expenses can be paid directly to him.

Charge per person, collect the money, and then the Mumbai Travel Information Company will book hotels and restaurants.

The tourists will no longer participate in the entire process, they will all follow the tour, and Ron will provide all the itinerary arrangements.

It sounds similar to the previous process, but there is a fundamental difference.

The biggest difference is that Ron has the power to negotiate prices. He no longer takes commissions from hotels, but earns the price difference.

Commissions come from transactions between tourists and hotels, and the price difference is the profit generated between the money tourists give him and the money he pays to the hotels.

Undoubtedly, the latter has much more room for maneuver, after all, the initiative is in Ron's hands.

Yes, that's how it will be done in the future. Individual customers still get commissions, and tour groups earn the price difference.

"Nia, I'll be home later tonight, big business."

"Okay, Baba, be careful."

...

Just as Ron said before, Mumbai's rainy season has passed. Although the air is still a bit humid, it is undoubtedly much cooler.

At Victoria Station, foreign figures reappeared in a constant stream. More than before, and busier.

When Ron arrived at the platform, the company's reception hall was crowded with people.

Business was surprisingly good, and taking a closer look, unsurprisingly, everyone had a copy of "Lonely Planet" in their hands.

He squeezed past to greet Mary and the others, "When did this start happening?"

"All day long! Everyone is coming to find us, as if they had made an appointment."

"I said that you can't travel in India without 'Lonely Planet', look, they must have all read that guide."

"God, you need more manpower, Lena and I are running our legs off."

Mary took the time to complain to Ron while taking notes on customer requests.

As for Lena, she was serving coffee to those foreigners who looked like fat sheep.

"You already have three helpers, don't you?"

"Far from enough, I think we need at least three more."

Mary and the others were not the only ones busy receiving tourists. Ron had already hired three more young people a week ago.

They were all graduates from several universities in Mumbai. They didn't have much work experience, but they were fluent in English.

Although Ron's company was not big, and its popularity was negligible. But it was still very easy to recruit a few college students from chicken universities.

India has too many people, especially Mumbai. With more than 13 million people, the employment pressure can be imagined.

Unfortunately, due to economic policies, there were almost no foreign-funded enterprises in India. College students either took civil service exams or went to the pitifully few private enterprises.

Manufacturing could absorb a lot of labor, but India's manufacturing industry, the less said about it, the better.

Most of Mumbai's private enterprises are service-oriented companies, and the demand for labor is not strong.

In a situation where there were more wolves than meat, Ron easily recruited genuine college graduates with just a few formal contracts.

Those young people originally didn't have much expectation for Ron's company. It was purely a helpless choice under employment pressure.

But on their first day of work, they were amazed by the office environment at the Victoria Station reception area.

It was too clean and too high-end. The office they had imagined was nothing more than this.

Most importantly, their work involved dealing with foreigners, which was very respectable to say.

The chain of contempt exists everywhere, especially in India, with the added bonus of the caste system. Those who can graduate from college are mostly from the Vaishya caste or above. They look down on their own people, but fawn over foreigners.

Speaking English with foreigners is much more fulfilling than speaking Hindi with the local natives.

They were very satisfied with this job. The boss was of a high caste, they talked to foreigners, and the office environment was great. Even being a receptionist was not bad.

Seeing Ron inspecting here, the young people worked harder, fearing that the boss would not see their performance.

"I promise you, Mary, I will continue to recruit people."

"You better hurry, Lena and I can only stay for another week at most."

"So soon?"

"You're too greedy. We've never done this kind of work before, this is an exception."

"Okay, then you will lose a high-paying job opportunity of 10,000 rupees."

"Stop it," Mary rolled her eyes at him.

"Where are you planning to go?" Ron simply leaned on the front desk and chatted with her.

"Bollywood!"

Lena handed him a cup of coffee from who knows when.

"I thought you guys were joking before," Ron shrugged.

"I heard it's very interesting there, especially for foreigners, there are many opportunities."

"Tell me if you need anything."

"Actually, there is."

Lena approached with a smile.

"What is it?"

"Are you free tonight? Let's talk about big business."

"Oh, I think I'm free all day tomorrow."

"Great, this is considered part of our salary."

Ron was stunned, could this be a paid project?

Ron received the fax that Smith sent.

This study tour was organized by a student group. They were preparing to come to India to gather ideas, focusing on attractions such as temples and grottoes.

A teacher will lead the team. He has been to India once and has some experience.

Of course, because it is an unofficial event, the student group will pay the teacher a certain amount of compensation.

After reading the fax, Ron already had a good idea. Most of these students should come from good families, otherwise few ordinary people could afford this kind of self-funded study tour.

This was good, this was exactly the best kind of fat sheep in the eyes of travel companies. They would be landing at Mumbai Airport by plane, and Ron needed to make some preparations in advance.

Speaking of which, the renovation at the airport has already started, and he should go and take a look.

Currently saving drafts, will update explosively when it's released!