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Opportunities and capital are unquestionably necessary for every business to grow and prosper. Every company needs a strategic direction in order to meet these needs. Here, business consulting plays a crucial role. Vineet Trakroo, CEO of Evolution Strategy Advisors LLP (ESA), is the best person to communicate the significance of developing a growth strategy for a business.
After working with major brands like Usha International, CavinKare, Pidilite, Beiersdorf, Voltas, and ABB for more than 23 years as the head sales and/or marketing, Vineet and his team noticed a gap in business delivery. Due to this gap, many Indian and Indian-based businesses were unable to compete with foreign corporations that were setting up shops in India. As the competition grew more international, local businesses were still not building up their deliveries and customer focus.
“Even 10 years after starting work, we still believe that Indian corporates have huge potential to grow both locally and globally. ESA started operation in 2013, 9 years ago. Our core product then was bringing in international brands to India, we signed up with Honeywell and a US brand licencing firm representing Westinghouse for licensing. Simultaneously, we started consulting mid-sized companies for transformation and slowly started adding leaders to our customer list,” says Vineet.
A Renowned Growth Consulting Company
Today, ESA is primarily a growth consulting service and has offerings that are categorized into four verticals:
● Business Transformation: Restructuring and transforming organizations to grow. Here Vineet and his team work along with the organization to offer exponential growth and restructuring of operations. The functions impacted include strategy, marketing, sales, HR, organization structure, supply chain, and digitization & analytics. They enable the clients’ team to deliver by providing their constant support and mentoring during the execution phase.
● Business Diagnostics: Identifying issues that are holding back the growth of a business or a division. Organizations face bottlenecks to growth in spite of having the right product and setup. Here, the seasoned leader and his team go deeper into each product category to unlock growth and drive the same with the client. Along with this, they also introduce new products.
● Executional Excellence: In Sales, marketing, brand management, and analytics. The ESA Team caters to organizations that are looking at new approaches to marketing or sales operations and GTM to grow. Vineet and his team rework on brands and their positioning, identify new markets or growth areas, as well as design sharper routes to markets with improved delivery and efficiency.
● Licensing & Alliances bringing international brands to India for JV & licensing with Indian companies. The ESA Team has been associated with many international brands like Coty, and Honeywell and has tie-up with leaders.
An Expert Team Delivering Solutions On-Time
At ESA, the staff is exceptionally experienced; each member has served as a CXO or CEO for more than 25 to 30 years and has firsthand knowledge of turning around co.’s or growing them. They are self-motivated, and what drives them most is a new challenge. It can be difficult to cross-pollinate ideas from one business to another because they work across industries. The task of implementation is tough as companies have different cultures, and this requires the maturity of the consultant. Because of the many ups and downs, they have experienced over the years, the expert team at ESA is unaffected by economic or COVID issues.
Furthermore, each of their projects has a timeline that is broken down into smaller activities. Vineet and his team monitor activities that are within their control every week based-on timelines. But when the project enters the execution phase and the client team and other parties are involved, they adhere to a rigid system of roles and responsibilities with timelines. Weekly and monthly reviews are typical, and the client, who is also invested in these projects, also conducts an internal review. Although everyone follows these procedures regularly, being actively involved in all projects and meeting the changing needs of their clients is what keeps the ESA team on track to meet their goals.
Addressing Business Challenges
According to Vineet, business is challenging, and that’s not going to change. The seasoned leader further adds, “We are a solutions and growth advisory, so exceptional growth is what we have signed up to deliver. We have growth and disruption as part of our DNA. Considering we have a mature team of consultants who have experienced many ups and downs, being positive comes out of our experience.“
In addition, their passion to excel at what they do which makes them deliver more than what their clients signed them for. Vineet and his team go above and beyond to ensure that their clients succeed. “This has resulted in more than 60% of our business being repeat and almost all clients coming back to us, even if it’s after 4-5 years. Its these results which drive us to remain motivated,” proudly asserts Vineet.
Hardest Decision As A Leader
In order to better serve their clients, Vineet and the ESA team have modified their business model several times. This required a significant shift in the way they operate, as well as the addition of new tools, processes, and resources. They have undergone some metamorphoses, much like any start-up. The most significant difference was transitioning from a strategy firm to a strategy and execution advisory.
This meant that they had to triple the amount of time the team spent on each client and redesign their delivery processes while also adjusting for cultural differences. Vineet states, “At one stage we had to exit certain industries where we were good as it wasn’t very remunerative and would not have served our future business well. As a leader, we have to always make choices and evaluate whether we are generally moving in the right direction as per our vision and have a sustainable business for the future.”
Key Milestone
ESA plans to grow by 2x in 2023 over 2022, primarily as the company has added more consultants and opened up new geographic areas and B2B industries to its portfolio. It perceives a greater desire to grow and reduce risks after COVID. Indian companies that had previously been content with their operational approach now want to change and increase both their business and portfolio.
The Most Important Values As A Leader
When asked to share what values are important to him as a leader, Vineet said, “Trust of our clients and our relationship with them. This is very important for us, as we are in the business of sustainable business solutions for growth. Both of these qualities must be earned over time through our dedication to their success. Our client’s trust our advice to invest in their businesses. A strong relationship helps in giving genuine advice and critique.”
Entrepreneur’s Best Asset
According to Vineet, “His ability to change as per the need of the market and continue with his long term vision with whatever are his road blocks. Whatever is the initial business model and delivery doesn’t remain the same. As one ventures into operational business there are a lot of changes which happen and new opportunities open up. Its important for an entrepreneur to watch out for such signals which will make his offerings better. The next most important asset is the team a reliable team which works along and compliments each others strength is a asset for any entrepreneur.”
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