If your income is low, act now: Startup founder's 3-step survival plan

What should you do if your salary is low? Akshat Shrivastava, founder of Wisdom Hatch, says there are three clear actions that can help — rethink your weekends, reconsider expensive schooling, and start saving no matter how small the amount. 

In a post on Wednesday, Shrivastava shared his personal framework: "If my salary was low, here are 3 things I would start doing right away."

His first suggestion is to use weekends differently. "Spend my weekends more productively. Switch from being a consumer to a creator," he writes. He breaks it down further: "Don't just read, write. Don't just watch videos, create. Don't just endlessly scroll, build. Use your Saturdays for learning. And, Sundays for creating/building."

Second, he says expensive private schooling isn't necessary. "Send my kids to normal schools. There is no major upside to elite private education anymore," Shrivastava writes. "Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) are fine. Figuring our low frills schools is normal. And, sending your kids to shiny schools might not necessarily be good."

Third, he underlines the importance of building a financial cushion — no matter the size. "Build a nest egg. Some savings is better than none," he says. "You don't have to debate with people: how much to spend or save, are you living or not living etc. Save whatever you can. Savings = gives you iteration capital. It allows you to leave bad jobs, take time off. The benefits can't be truly captured in terms of money."

He wraps it up with a three-step logic: "Step 1: improves your earning potential. Step 2: helps you curb expenses. Step 3: helps you build savings."

Earlier this month, Shrivastava also shared five key lessons that helped him "escape the middle class." He wrote, "Making money in India is tough. You have an anchor tied to your legs (in the form of taxes). Earn, save, hustle — make money. Investing alone won't make you rich. So stop with the trading BS."

That doesn't mean investing isn't essential. "If you do NOT invest well, you are working your way to poverty," he warned. Pointing to low post-tax returns in fixed deposits versus higher inflation, he said, "Growing your wealth at 5% (let's say in FDs) post taxes, when inflation for you is 10%, is stupidity at scale."

His advice: challenge popular financial narratives. "Be contrarian. That's our only hope of winning. If people are doing SIPs and Mutual Funds all day — be rest assured that you are not becoming rich in the long-term via that. It might very well become the new ULIPs."

Shrivastava also criticised the dominance of intermediaries in India’s economy. "India is a broker economy. It starts from the top and percolates to the bottom. They eat into everything like parasites. And, make you hollow." He urges people to cut the middleman wherever possible — whether in property, stocks, or services.

And finally, he closed with a broader mindset takeaway: "Learn. Grow. And, be positive. Positive does not mean that you keep living in a la-la land. Being positive means that you see the problem. Figure out a solution (for you). And, work towards that."