I’m Nirmal Depala, a very passionate individual with interest in entrepreneurship and helping others to achieve their purpose.
I was born in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and came to London in 1999, where I currently live. Completed my bachelors degree in Accounting and Finance at Middlesex University and have gained several years of work experience spread across different sectors. I also spent the best year of my life in New York from 2012 to 2013. Saying that life moves on and we should too!
Life is full of ups and down, it’s a struggle. Until your last breathe you will encounter obstacles. At times it’s difficult to cope with and even the best and strongest are beaten to their knees. We all have to keep faith and patience but even then it’s a big challenge to simply keep going. Eventually we’ll feel exhausted and want to quit.
I’ve had several setbacks and still facing big challenges. Can’t do much about it, but the only thing you can do is try to remain positive by praying, reading books and surrounding yourself with positive people. Another way to motivate ourselves is by looking at other people who have gone through worst times and how they have fought hard to overcome their situation.
If you are going through a rough period or had setbacks and struggles then count that as a blessing in disguise. You are the chosen one to set an example for others. These obstacles are only temporary and you will learn a lot about yourself. It’s a roller coaster journey but I’m sure it will be worth it.
Only a few work their passion and many don’t take a step towards their dream. For myself, I like to have a business on my laptop and be able to travel the world and work anywhere I like! Rather we control our life and time then someone else telling us what to do. I admit and agree that we all need to have a job to pay bills, rent and mortgage as the business will not give sufficient money straight away. Hence, having a full or part time job is important while you build your lifestyle on the side.
We all have so many ideas it could be a start-up, a franchise, online business and so on and so forth. If you have a dream for a start-up, go ahead execute it and see the outcome. Try it out and keep going until you succeed. Usually, several start-ups fail in their first year but that shouldn’t stop you from giving it a go.
Owning a franchise or a traditional business is sort of outdated. You have to invest a lot of capital in order to buy the business, stock, pay rent and employees. It will take a long time before you earn some profit. Majority of us believe that a business needs to have a physical presence for it to be known and many have closed down within a year as they can’t meet their requirements.
Even if the traditional business does produce a decent turnover you will still be tied up looking after it. Can you really have freedom if you 24/7 constantly think and worry about your business and it’s overhead expenditure. So, why can’t you create a business where you could eliminate bit of stress and live a peaceful life.
You must have heard of “less the better”. How many times do you feel you like to escape from the clutter around you and be on a relaxed mode? The clutter could simply be the things you don’t need at home that is causing panic and stress. We are used to “more the merrier” but this leads to pointless problems in business and personal life.
Escape from the rut and start following your heart and passion and live your dreams.
“A winner is a dreamer who never gives up” – Nelson Mandela
More about myself & the struggles
I graduated in June 2006 from Middlesex University and after a few months I got a job at Guy’s NHS Trust. Even though I did enjoy working there since it was my first real life experience it wasn’t the perfect role for me as I was looking for something in accountancy and finance. I simply couldn’t find anything suitable in my field, despite attending many interviews whilst working at the NHS I was unable to secure a place anywhere. I left that job and moved on and started applying for jobs expecting that I will find something of my choice.
“Do you have any experience in that area”, very common question asked by all agencies! Really frustrating and I’m sure all of us have gone through that. Hence, the only experience I had was in pension and payroll so I would only get those type of roles. Instead of staying broke and getting bored, I took the job at Chelwest NHS in payroll. After several years of working at the NHS in 2010, I was exhausted of payroll and quit Chelwest.
Joined my family business Europa Jewellers selling imported imitation jewellery and a whole range of fashion accessories to big retail outlets. My family bought this business in 2001 and it did well for few years until recession struck and it slowly lost several clients. It was during the credit crunch that I started working at Europa Jewellers and it wasn’t doing well, but I managed to generate sales through the website I created called Scarleader.com, which finally ended after we had to sell all the stock to an overseas buyer and dissolve the company. I spent 8 months at Europa and had to return back to work, guess where? Chelwest NHS again, I probably had some deep connection with this place as I kept going back every few years after leaving.
To avoid running out of money I continued working at Chelwest, until I came across an opportunity of lifetime to work in New York for a year with accommodation all included for a reasonable price. This was probably the best year of my life 2012, where I had a chance to work at UBS Investment Bank in the prime location Times Square. I made new friends from all over the world and was fortunate to travel across America. I really thank God for this fantastic opportunity and I still cherish those memories. I nearly forgot that I had to return back to London after a year I sincerely enjoyed my stay there. Eventually I came back to UK in March 2013.
After my return from New York, I had a serious life and career struggle for a very long time. I couldn’t secure a job at an Investment Bank, while, my other friends from New York got jobs in their respective fields without much effort. I kept trying but unfortunately no luck in finding a suitable position at a bank. This really knocked me down and had a proper hit on my confidence. Amidst my struggling period, I had to keep myself busy so I helped my father in his off licence corner shop and earned some pocket expenses. As you can imagine this wasn’t a nice feeling and it took a toll on my self esteem.
I did have a 3 month temporary role and later went back to Chelwest NHS as the manager needed someone to cover for few months since the payroll department was being outsourced. You can imagine how it feels to go back where you began but I had to build up some experience on my CV. From working at Chelwest, I had an opportunity to work at Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) and be part of the General Election Team 2015. It was a pleasure working for IPSA in the finance team for couple of months.
After IPSA, I joined my family with their new venture doing Postal Services and selling stationery items. I learned another business and picked up new skills was fun. Meanwhile, I also had the chance to explore the property market and help my uncle find few properties to invest for rental purposes.
One thing always surprised me is that I was unable to stay in a job for much longer, even though I liked to maintain longevity I simply couldn’t. At times contract ended and they didn’t require me or sometimes I was asked to leave due to the employers needing someone senior and more experienced.
So far life has challenged me at every step, luckily I have kept going and not given up.I feel my journey is slowly moving towards entrepreneurship, which I have always wanted to do.
Everything happens for a reason and when nothing goes your way we just have to keep patience and let things happen! BEST TO HANG ON!
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