Field notes on running a service firm.
Practical, India-first writing on client portals, document collection, attendance, hiring and getting your firm off spreadsheets and WhatsApp — from the team building HireMaze.
Five subscriptions, one firm: the hidden tax of running on separate tools
The monthly bills are the visible half. The invisible half — the hours lost switching between tools that do not talk — is bigger, and now there is research that measures it.
Read the article →The four Labour Codes and the 50% wage rule: what changed for small employers
The Labour Codes are in force since 21 Nov 2025. The definition-of-wages change (the "50% rule") re-bases gratuity, PF and bonus. What it means for a small Indian employer, sourced from the gazette and the Labour Ministry FAQs.
The compliance calendar for Indian service firms: GST, TDS, PF and ESI
A plain-English calendar of the GST, TDS, PF and ESI dates a small Indian service firm has to hit — monthly, quarterly and annually. Sourced from the official portals.
The DPDP Act, explained for firms that hold client data
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act applies to small firms too — there is no turnover threshold. What a service firm holding client and candidate data must do, and the mid-2027 clock, sourced from the Act and Rules.
Udyam, MSME status and the 45-day payment rule every small firm should use
Udyam registration is free and self-declared. It also unlocks the MSMED Act 45-day payment rule, 3x-bank-rate interest, and the tax rule (43B(h)) that pressures your buyers to pay on time. Sourced from the gazette and RBI.
GST for service firms: registration, invoices and e-invoicing without the jargon
The GST essentials for a service firm: the Rs 20 lakh registration threshold, what a valid tax invoice must contain, the 30-day service-invoice rule, and the e-invoicing threshold. Sourced from the official portals.
PF and ESI for small businesses: who is covered, what you pay, what you file
EPF at twenty employees, ESI at around ten. Who they cover, the contribution rates, the wage ceilings, and the 15th-of-the-month date that matters — for a small Indian firm.
Professional Tax, state by state: a small firm’s quick guide
Professional tax is a state tax, not a central one — different in every state that charges it, absent in the ones that do not. What a small firm needs to know, capped at Rs 2,500 a year.
Billable hours or fixed fee? What the utilisation benchmarks tell you
Hourly or fixed fee? The 2025 professional-services benchmarks (utilisation 68.9% against a 75% target, project overrun 11.3%) show where margin leaks. How to choose, and stop the leak either way.
Turning WhatsApp chaos into a shared board your team actually uses
WhatsApp is great for talking and terrible for tracking. The research on "work about work" (58% of the day) and interruption (every 2 minutes) explains why — and how to move work onto a board.
Attendance for small Indian teams: the records the law expects you to keep
Small teams do not need an enterprise HRMS, but the Shops & Establishments Act and the wage law do expect a muster roll, a wage register and a leave record. How to keep attendance the law recognises, without a spreadsheet.
How to collect documents from clients without chasing them
The file you need is always with the client, and the follow-up is always on you. A better way to request, track and review documents — and the data-protection duties that now attach once you hold them.
An onboarding checklist for a new hire at a small firm
Gallup finds only 12% of employees say their company onboards well — and those with a great start are far likelier to stay. A practical, no-HR-department onboarding checklist for a small Indian firm.
Your firm’s website and open roles: why the search happens before the call
India SME Forum finds 46% of MSMEs are still fully offline, while 6sense finds most B2B buying happens before a seller is contacted. Why a real web address and open roles matter, and how to get them live.
Getting your first ten clients as a new consultancy
The first ten clients are the hardest — you are selling on promise. How new consultancies win them: network, over-delivery, referrals, and looking like a real firm, since most buying happens before you are contacted.
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