In chapter 5 of Gita, Karma-Sanyas-Yog, Lord Shree Krishna said in verse 8,

યોગયુક્ત તત્વને જાણનારો મનુષ્ય જુએ, સાંભળે, સ્પર્શ કરે, સૂંઘે, ખાય, ચાલે, ઊંઘે, શ્વાસ લે, બોલે, મળત્યાગ કરે, ગ્રહણ કરે, નેત્ર ઉઘાડે તથા મીંચે તો પણ "ઇન્દ્રિયોના વિષયોમાં ઇન્દ્રિયો વર્તે છે" એમ સમજી "હું કાંઈ જ કરતો નથી" એમ મને છે.

The wise person knows, just like breathing, smelling, opening and closing eyelid, eating, sleep happens automatically, just like that He believes that everything is happening by itself. I’m just doing nothing.

Same in business, do not try to micro-manage things. Some things happen by themselves. And let them happen in their own way. If you will spend your time micro-managing those small things then you will never be able to focus on other important things.

The another important thing is,

જ્ઞાનીઓ વિદ્યાવિનયયુક્ત બ્રાહ્મણમાં, ગાયમાં, હાથીમાં, કૂતરામાં તથા ચાંડાલમાં પણ સમાન દ્રષ્ટિ રાખવાવાળા હોય છે.

Sometimes people only respect certain people. Like some people only give respect to rich and financially sound people but they don’t pay attention to middle or lower income group people. Such behavior is not proper. Same way in the office as well, we give attention to some people and we might not give attention to the office boy, pun, watchman, cleaner, etc., or Senior Developer vs Junior Developer. One must consider each and everyone with equality. Each and everyone should be respected. Just say Hi or Hello and see the Joy that you and they get.

You can also listen to the full podcast here.

Shreemad Bhagavad Gita has a lot to say about business management. In the last Post of Karma-Yoga, we have seen how our actions should be for the benefits of the others. Today, let's see Chapter 4.

In Chapter 4, Karma-Brahm-Arpan-Yoga (Jñāna Karm Sanyās Yog), verse 13th and 14th, Lord Krishna said,

चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागश: |

तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् || 13 ||

The four categories of occupations were created by me according to people’s qualities and activities. Although I am the creator of this system, know me to be the non-doer and eternal. (source: holy-bhagavad-gita.org)

પ્રકૃતિના ત્રણ ગુણો એન્ડ કર્મોના વિભાગ પ્રમાણે મેં બ્રાહ્મણ, ક્ષત્રિય, વૈશ્ય અને શુદ્ર એમ ચાર વર્ણોની રચના કરી છે. તેનો હું કર્તા હોવા છતાં પણ તું મને અકર્તા અને અવિકારી જાણ.

न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा |

इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते || 14 ||

Activities do not taint me, nor do I desire the fruits of action. One who knows me in this way is never bound by the karmic reactions of work.(source: holy-bhagavad-gita.org)

કોઈ કર્મો મને લેપતા નથી, કેમ કે કર્મોના ફળમાં મને લાલસા નથી. આ રીતે જે મનુષ્ય મને જાણે છે, તે પોતાના કર્મો વડે બંધાતો નથી.

Based on occupation & activities, God created the following 4 Varnas:

• Brahmins - predisposed toward teaching and worship (how to get the God or go to heaven)
• Kshatriyas - inclined toward administration and management of the kingdom
• Vaishyas - form the business and agricultural class (Businessmen)
• Shudras - working class (The actual person who works)

In the same way, we also need 4 Departments in our Business.

• Brahmins - Marketing - Do the marketing & they actually help us to meet our God (Our Customer).
• Kshatriya - HR - Form a Business, Hire Team, Appoint People, Make Policies, define Penalties, etc.
• Vaishyas - Operations - Administration & Management (or your Top Management Team).
• Shudra - Technical - Actual working people, our employees who actually do work

What God did is, created these 4 Varnas and given them their duties and activities that they need to perform and he simply became A-Karta (non-doer and eternal).

We as CEO, also need to do that same thing. Create these 4 Departments, assign them their duties and just become an external observer. Then all you need to do is, whenever they got stuck, help them, guide them or train them. That's it.

So just simply, Be a God of your Company.

You can also listen to the full podcast here.

Shreemad Bhagavad Gita has a lot to say about business management. In the last Post of Karma-Yoga, we have seen how our actions should be for the benefits of the others. Today, let's see Chapter 4.

In Chapter 4, Karma-Brahm-Arpan-Yoga (Jñāna Karm Sanyās Yog), verse 13th and 14th, Lord Krishna said,

चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागश: |

तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् || 13 ||

The four categories of occupations were created by me according to people’s qualities and activities. Although I am the creator of this system, know me to be the non-doer and eternal. (source: holy-bhagavad-gita.org)

પ્રકૃતિના ત્રણ ગુણો એન્ડ કર્મોના વિભાગ પ્રમાણે મેં બ્રાહ્મણ, ક્ષત્રિય, વૈશ્ય અને શુદ્ર એમ ચાર વર્ણોની રચના કરી છે. તેનો હું કર્તા હોવા છતાં પણ તું મને અકર્તા અને અવિકારી જાણ.

न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा |

इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते || 14 ||

Activities do not taint me, nor do I desire the fruits of action. One who knows me in this way is never bound by the karmic reactions of work.(source: holy-bhagavad-gita.org)

કોઈ કર્મો મને લેપતા નથી, કેમ કે કર્મોના ફળમાં મને લાલસા નથી. આ રીતે જે મનુષ્ય મને જાણે છે, તે પોતાના કર્મો વડે બંધાતો નથી.

Based on occupation & activities, God created the following 4 Varnas:

• Brahmins - predisposed toward teaching and worship (how to get the God or go to heaven)
• Kshatriyas - inclined toward administration and management of the kingdom
• Vaishyas - form the business and agricultural class (Businessmen)
• Shudras - working class (The actual person who works)

In the same way, we also need 4 Departments in our Business.

• Brahmins - Marketing - Do the marketing & they actually help us to meet our God (Our Customer).
• Kshatriya - HR - Form a Business, Hire Team, Appoint People, Make Policies, define Penalties, etc.
• Vaishyas - Operations - Administration & Management (or your Top Management Team).
• Shudra - Technical - Actual working people, our employees who actually do work

What God did is, created these 4 Varnas and given them their duties and activities that they need to perform and he simply became A-Karta (non-doer and eternal).

We as CEO, also need to do that same thing. Create these 4 Departments, assign them their duties and just become an external observer. Then all you need to do is, whenever they got stuck, help them, guide them or train them. That's it.

So just simply, Be a God of your Company.

You can also listen to the full podcast here.

2019 was a great year for us in terms of business as well as in my personal life. We had some major breakdowns which taught us lots of good lessons while we resolved them.

1. Do not get your company to rely on one major client

The major mistake we made was our 80% staff had been working for one client for years. And when that work got stopped the 80% company had no work with 50% staff was a senior and experienced developer with top salaries.

Of course, a long term relationship is important but always keep working with multiple clients/people. It will keep your business moving even if one of your work got stopped for whatsoever reason. Because even if you have top talent, getting really good clients is too tough in the market.

2. Everything starts with YOU

Before you transform your business, the first thing that needs to be transformed is yourself. Once you start transforming everything else into your business, your team will start transforming automatically.

Your team learns a lot from you, they are your main observers. Once they see you transforming, their life will also start getting transformed.

3. Wake up Early

All great leaders are early birds. Once you win your morning, you can win the rest of the day. 3 hours of early mornings are the main productive hours. That’s the time when you can complete things that you are not able to complete throughout your day or you are not getting time for.

Also waking up at a fixed early morning time will help you a lot in your health. Wake up at 5 am at least, do some exercise, read, and complete the most important thing in the morning only.

4. Power of Reading

“Not every Reader is a Leader but every Leader is a Reader.”. This sentence has a lot to say. Once you start reading it will transform your life a lot. The good book contains years of research by the author. So you can directly get those years of knowledge by reading that book in just a few days.

5. Increase your Networking

I will say you should meet lots of people. Meet them, talk with them, know them, learn from them even if you are not working with local people.

Plan to meet one good CEO or Coach every month. Invite them to lunch or dinner and try to learn as much as you can from them. Ask about their processes, structures, systems, technologies, etc.

6. Contribution to other’s lives

When you contribute to other people’s lives, that contribution will come directly back to you by double. When you transform their life, your life will automatically get transformed.

7. Get a Coach or Mentor

Always surround yourself with Coaches and Mentors at each stage of life. In Business and Personal life as well. Your coach can be anyone from Friends, Family, or some specialized Mentors and Coaches.

You always need someone who can push you, help you, guide you. Get someone who can give your honest and transparent advice and guidance.

8. Never stop Learning

Never stop learning. Always learn something every day or at least a week. Read Books or Watch Videos or Learn new technologies or Purchase some Courses. Even if you are super busy, put a dedicated time to watch 10 mins video or Read 10 mins every day.

In the long run, just 10 mins of every day will help you a lot.

9. Write Daily Journal

Writing your daily Journal helps a lot. List down your today’s achievements and your tomorrow’s goals. It will help you track your daily progress and plan your day off tomorrow.

When you write a Journal, you will have an exact idea on the next day, what are your priorities in the morning only. Once you plan your day a day, it has tremendous benefits.

10. Delegation

Delegation is really powerful. Before doing any task, just think if you can delegate it then delegate it. Your time is limited and precious, put it on the things where it’s needed rather than doing things that someone else can do from your team.

And if they are not able to do it right now, start training them and make them capable to take off your load.

11. Power of ToDo List

Start Maintaining To-Do list. It has huge power and will bring a great impact. Anything that you need to do, add to your ToDo list. Need to make a call to a friend? add it. Need to send an Email to the client? Add it.

Every small thing should be added to the ToDo list with a due date if possible. It will help you prioritize your tasks and motivate you at the end of the day when you check the list of complete things.

12.Write a Blog

Start writing your blog. It doesn’t need to be fancy or content-rich. Just write down anything that seems to be useful to at least one person in the world. Just write down about things that came to you across the day.

Your blog post doesn’t need to be long. Just write 2-3 small paragraphs and that’s it. But at least start writing something daily/weekly whatever is possible for you.

Hope you enjoyed it and see you next year with new learnings.

In the second chapter of Gita Lord Krishna said,

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |

मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||

that means, "You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions."

And this is where most of the people got confused. If I do not have any expectations then how will I get motivated to do something

For e.g., As a product owner, If I do not expect that my product should grow to whatever level, why would I put my efforts into that.

So Arjuna asks the same question to Lord Krishna, "If I should not keep any expectation about my kingdom then why do you urge me to jump into this war?"

What Karma-Yoga says is, Everyone must engage in some sort of activity in this material world. In short, do actions. You can not run away from your duties or actions. But those actions should be selfless actions that are performed for the benefits of others.

Because in chapter 3, verse 13, Lord Krishna said,

यज्ञशिष्टाशिन: सन्तो मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषै: |

भुञ्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचन्त्यात्मकारणात् || 13 ||

That means, The spiritually-minded, who eat food that is first offered in sacrifice, are released from all kinds of sin. Others, who cook food for their own enjoyment, verily eat only sin. (source: holy-bhagavad-gita.org)

In our business, every day we should be generous and gracious to the people we work with. Also, we should build a socially responsible business, which means being aware of the company’s impact on workers, consumers, and the environment around it. That means happier employees, who builds better products and ultimately happy customers.

A business can make lots of money, be successful, and grow for years but it should be still giving back to society, providing services, and improving the community around it.

Last month, I got consulting for one Laravel project where we have to perform some complex validations.

The scenario was while creating an order, either the customer can select the existing address from the dropdown or he may have an option to create a new address with all address fields.

And when a customer hits enter, the backend needs to validate, if address_id is sent into request then it needs to check if that address id exists and then use that address_id for that particular order. Otherwise, it needs to check if required fields (address1, city, zip, country) for the address are sent, then use them, create a new address and use that new address_id.

so far how validation was happening was manual, so in controller this all manual validation was happening. But I don't find that a proper way. The goal was to do validation from CreateOrderRequest only. so it goes back with proper laravel error messages from a request only and displays them on the page. so we actually do not need to make any manual efforts to make this happen.

That's where required_without validation rule helped us.

The UI was something like this,

In the above UI, customers can either type Address1, Address2, City and Zip or just go and select an existing address from the dropdown.

To do this validation from form request, we used the required_without rule as following, 'address_id' => 'required_without:address_1,city,zip|sometimes|nullable|exists:addresses,id',

Now let's try to understand what's happening here. To understand it better let's divide the rules

1. required_without:address_1,city,zip
2. sometimes
3. nullable
4. exist:addresses,id

1. required_without:address _1,city,zip

This rule validates that address_id field is required without the presence of address_1, city and zip fields

2. sometimes

This means, address_id fields will be passed only sometimes and not required all the time. We need this because when address_1, city and zip fields will be present then we do not need it at all.

3. nullable

This means, address_id fields can be null since it will be null when a customer does not select the address from the dropdown.

4. exist:addresses,id

The passed value in address_id fields, must exist in the addresses table.

So this is how we solved this complex validation in a very easy way by using multiple powerful laravel validation rules.

Hope this can help others as well.

Last week, we were working on one project where we were using LaravelCollective for generating our form. LaravelCollective is a really awesome package and reduces lots of efforts, specifically for automatically binding old inputs to our forms.

Problem

With LaravelColletive when we pass null as a second value, it tried to get old inputs if available and inject them. But for some reason, it was not working with datetimelocal.

datetimelocal need a date in Y-m-d\TH:i Format. When I went into the code of FormBuilder.php it’s already managing that and tries to convert date into that format if you have passed DateTime object.

So it was completely working fine while creating a record when you do not have any value.

But I have the same form which was used at both the time of Create and Update. And I was passing null into the value field at both of the time and LaravelCollective injects it automatically from model or old inputs if there is some error. Something like the following,

<div class="form-group col-sm-6">     
{!! Form::label('due_date', 'Due Date:') !!}     
{!! Form::datetimeLocal('due_date', null, ['class' => 'form-control']) !!} 
</div>

So, Due date will be automatically placed from the model. It’s working fine with all other fields except datetimelocal.

Solution

The reason behind that is, the value is retrieved from model due_date field, but it comes in Carbon instance and when it converts to a date string, it’s converted into default format which is Y-m-d h:i:s. So it will not work for datetimelocal input since it requires Y-m-d\TH:i format.

So as a solution, what change we did is, instead of passing null value, we first check, if the model is there then pass the value directly to the input. Something like,

<div class="form-group col-sm-6">     
{!! Form::label('due_date', 'Due Date:') !!}     
{!! Form::datetimeLocal('due_date', (isset($task)) ? $task->due_date : null, ['class' => 'form-control']) !!} 
</div>

So, I will check if I have passed the model $task to the view and then I will pass a due_date value to input. So FormBuilder will convert it to the proper format and it will get displayed into an input.

Now, when we save the form, it will also return the date into Y-m-d\TH:i format, so again we need to convert it to the proper format. For that, we created a mutate attribute for due_date in my Task Model.

public function setDueDateAttribute($value) 
{    
    $this->attributes['due_date'] = Carbon::parse($value); 
}

And that’s it. Our datetimelocal input gets working. I have seen lots of issues on stackoverflow for it. So hope it may help someone.

In the previous article, we learned How to create Laravel Facade and how it can help to simplify our code and make it more accessible and beautiful.

In this article, we will see how we can control our SMS Provider/Gateway via configuration without even touching the code and changing it from the environment directly.

Use Case

Imagine you have two SMS Providers called ABC and XYZ that you are using in our application. But you need to switch it over time. But the trick is, you do not want to change your code when you change to another SMS service provider. Just like when you change any driver in a Laravel App like Log, Cache, Queue, Database, etc.

So let's figure out how to do that.

Solution

Create SMS Service Contract

Create an SMS Service contract interface that contains the method to send the SMS.

Create a class app/Services/Contracts/SMSServiceContract.php with the following content,

<?php
namespace App\Services\Contracts;

interface SMSServiceContract
{
    public function sendSMS($phone, $message);
}

The purpose of this class is, every SMS Service should implement this interface and it should have at least one method sendSMS with the same parameters.

Create SMS Service Implementations

The second step is to create the real implementation of our SMS Services which will be responsible for sending the SMS.

So as we have two SMS services, we will create two classes,

ABC SMS Service

Create a class app/Services/ABCSMSService.php with the following content,

<?php
namespace App\Services;

class ABCSMSService implements SMSServiceContract
{
    public function sendSMS($phone, $message)
    {
        // Code here to call API of ABC SMS Provider to send SMS
    }
}

XYZ SMS Service

Create a class app/Services/XYZSMSService.php with the following content,

<?php
namespace App\Services;

class XYZSMSService implements SMSServiceContract
{
    public function sendSMS($phone, $message)
    {
        // Code here to call API of XYZ SMS Provider to send SMS
    }
}

Create Facade to Send SMS

The third step is to create a Facade to send an SMS. Create a facade class app/Facades/SMSGateway.php with the following content,

<?php
namespace App\Facades;

use App\Services\Contracts\SMSServiceContract;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Facade;

class SMSGateway extends Facade
{
    /**
      Get the registered name of the component.

      @return string
     /
    protected static function getFacadeAccessor()
    {
        return SMSServiceContract::class;
    }
}

Here, note that we are giving SMSServiceContract class name as a facade assessor. So we will need to use that same class name while binding it to the real implementation in our service provider.

Define SMS Driver in config

We need to define our SMS Driver into our config file. You can create a new config file or can use config/services.php. To keep it simple, we will define it in services.php. I will add the following content at the end of the file before the closing bracket. so it will look like something,

<?php
return [undefined]

Define your driver in .env file

Update your .env file and add SMS_SERVICE variable, something like

SMS_SERVICE=abc

Create/Modify Service Provider

The final step here is, we need to either create our own service provider and add it to config/app.php or we can use AppServiceProvider.php as well. To keep it simple let's add it to AppServiceProvider.

In app/Providers/AppServiceProvider.php we will add the following code under the register method,

$this->app->bind(SMSServiceContract::class, 
function ($app) 
  {     
     if (config('services.sms') == 'abc') 
     {         
          return new ABCSMSService();     
     } else {        
          return new XYZSMSService();     
     } 
});

Note: Do not forget to import all these classes at the top.

And that's it.

Usage

Now you can use your Facade to send the SMS.

\App\Facades\SMSGateway::sendSMS($phoneNumber, $message);

Or if you made an alias,

\SMSGateway::sendSMS($phoneNumber, $message);

Change service provider

Now if you want to change your service provider, all you need to do is, just go to the .env and change the provider to xyz and it will use the XYZSMSService class to send the SMS.

I hope this will help to understand Laravel Service Providers and Facade in a much better way.