It was 2013.

Evening time. I was at the neighbourhood grocery store — just another ordinary day in a bachelor’s life.

Until this notification lit up my phone:
You’ve received $2,600 through PayPal.

I froze.
Could this be real?

This was back when phone apps weren’t really a thing, so I rushed home, opened my laptop, logged in to PayPal — and there it was.

$2,600. Credited.

That was the first major payment I’d ever received — a client had made a purchase directly through my website.

No middlemen. No partners. Just my work, valued and paid for.

It was enough to buy three iPhones then — so yeah, it felt huge.

Thankfully, I’d saved the screen-print.
Here it is:

Author’s PayPal account screen-print from 2013

How It All Started

Leeds Beckett University — Headingley Campus. The beginning of a new world for me.
Image credit: Author

What It Meant

Technically, my first payment came a few months earlier — $500 — via bank transfer.

That was my first authentic taste of earning through writing.

A Senior Manager from a leading logistics company in Indonesia had reached out. He needed a custom report on the Asia Pacific market landscape for an investor presentation in China.

This felt incredible.

But the $2,600 payment was different.
It was the first time a client purchased a research report directly through my company’s website.

I had now developed a more integrated website — where clients could download report brochures, purchase them online, and receive the report in their inbox.

It took months of work — designing every page, branding, optimising copy, testing payment systems…

So when that first sale came through, it wasn’t just money.
It was validation.

This client was a leading chemical manufacturer in the US, seeking in-depth global industry insights to help them review their global product and investment strategy.

A couple of weeks later came another sale — this time, from a Japanese manufacturer looking to understand the Indian market before entry.

To sum up, my key outcomes were:

• • Generated close to $10,000 in revenue within two years.
  • Largest project worth $3,000 — split with a publisher, taking home $1,500.
  • Collaborated with Tier 1 clients and partners across Asia, the Americas, and Europe, including — Leading tire and chemical manufacturers in the US seeking global market insights, A Japanese company exploring plant setup opportunities in India, A logistics firm in Indonesia preparing for an investor presentation in China.
  • Handled everything myself — publishing, client services, partnerships, marketing, finance…

Another sale by the Author — to a leading Japanese manufacturing company exploring plant setup opportunities in India

In 2025

Eventually, I switched to a 9–5 in 2015.

The business was demanding, and scaling meant building a large team — something I wasn’t ready for yet.

I didn’t have the resources for it, and compromising on quality was never an option.

But looking back now, I realise something:
The circle is turning again.

It’s 2025, and I’m starting something similar — writing.
On Medium and my personal blog, manmohanjoshi.com.

And this time, it carries a deeper personal purpose and draws from over a decade of entrepreneurial lessons, corporate experience, and everything I’ve learned along the way — and I’m still learning.

When I look back at that same $2,600, I can’t help but think — wouldn’t it be nice to turn that into a recurring monthly stream?

It might just buy me something priceless:
Creative freedom😉

PS. A sample of an industry report on the global tire market, published by my research venture, Tech Archival (now closed). A copy was purchased by a leading tire manufacturer headquartered in the US.