The Power of Doing More with Less

Part of this article has been taken from the UTD Graduation Speech delivered by the CEO of Cazton

I took interest in my dad's business at an early age. He recognized my entrepreneurial abilities and he was confident that I would be materially successful. But he didn't just want me to be materially successful, he wanted me to be successful not only materially, but most importantly spiritually.

So, what did he do? He sent me on a trip. The trip was smartly planned. He wanted me to see the acute poverty of India and make sure that left an indelible mark on me. Days passed, weeks passed, months passed; but that trip never left my subconscious mind. Eventually, I promised myself that I would dedicate my life towards helping humanity, especially the ones in greatest need. In order to free up money to help with my charitable endeavors, I forced myself to live on less than $30 a month. It was hard in the beginning, but later it was a piece of cake - not that I could afford cake :). But I loved it and I turned into a big philanthropist and donated all my life's savings that I had amassed by age 24. After that, I was so cashless that when it came time to pay my tuition at UTDallas, I had to take a loan from my dad in order to pay the fee for the Master's Program.

I felt great about what I did, but once again I realized I needed to live below my means so I could pay my dad back. Once I got to UTD, I calculated that the bus would cost $2.50 per day. Riding it every day would cost me $75/month. For someone completely broke, $75 a month is a lot of money. So, for that reason, I decided that riding the bus was simply a luxury I could not afford. Believe it or not, I was able to keep my monthly expenses under $300. I made a lot of sacrifices to be able to do this. I still remember walking home from the nearest Walmart, with a backpack full of groceries and carrying gallons of milk while "enjoying" the scorching heat of the Texas sun. I guess that explains my tan. :) This taught me another important lesson: Adversity is your friend. Because of all the walking I did, I enjoyed the best health I've ever had. And If I had not trained myself to live on 30 dollars a month in India, I wouldn't have even been able to imagine living on 300 dollars a month here.

When we stop being wasteful, it's impressive how much more we can accomplish with so little. There's a reason that Cazton can beat off-shore and on-shore bids on software/app/mobile development, big data, AI and Cloud, and still provide way higher quality. Today, Cazton has clients all over the world and a phenomenal success track record. It's amazing what you can truly accomplish when you focus on removing the "waste" from business.