The VUCA climate has brought forth new challenges in the business world. Businesses must ensure continued consumer stickiness, timely capital availability, comply with evolving and challenging government regulations, in addition to attempting to scale, both organically and inorganically. Because of this, businesses look out for consulting firms that can help them develop innovative strategies to grow and penetrate/entry into new markets. Furthermore, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) has emerged as a major focus and improvement area for businesses to try and achieve optimal market share in both domestic and international markets.
This is where M&A specialist firm, ANOVA, steps in to deal with the buying, selling, and combining of different companies that can aid, finance, or help a growing company to mature rapidly. The Founder, Chandrashekar Kupperi with his team is working with entrepreneurs and business owners for their requirements on the acquisition of businesses or brands, sale of businesses for strategic reasons, besides helping with fundraising.
Passion Turned Into Business
Chandrashekar became fascinated with mathematics and the numbers world during his secondary school education. So, for his higher education, he chose ‘accounting and finance’ to boost his capacity to evaluate and interpret data. Then with Chartered Accountancy and other qualifications linked to finance, his obsession with slicing and dicing data increased! Thus, he pursued an interest in Investment Banking, as data analysis and insightful information is the core activity of Investment Banking.
As an expert consultant, Chandrashekar observed that in the last decade there has been a surge in the number of start-ups, with tech start-ups leading the way. Numerous revolutionary concepts have emanated, various business companies have arisen, few of which have been purchased by major players, and countless innovations continue to take shape as business ventures. With the emerging start-ups, there was also a need for consulting firms that can add fluidity to processes by guiding them and the other small and medium-sized enterprises with strategic outlook, financial stability, the ability to raise funds for growth and related aspects. This led him to venture out into this segment, leading to the birth of ANOVA in 2013.
Delivering Value-Added Services
ANOVA is an investment banking and advisory business that provides value-added services to Corporates (including MSMEs and Starts-ups), both in India and Internationally. The company’s tagline ‘Revitalize your business’ reflects its motivation and dedication to aid businesses. As an investment banking firm, it provides Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Advisory and Fundraise services, besides Business Valuation, Financial and Commercial Due Diligence Services and Financial Modelling. It also offers Strategic CFO services on a selective basis, to empower Entrepreneurs and Business Owners with financial/commercial acumen and provide support in strategic areas.
Overcoming the Challenges
“To me, getting the Clients to accept that ‘things could be different, and that different can be better’ has been the toughest challenge!” says Chandrashekar. The bigger strength of ANOVA is to ‘structure’ effectively the client’s requirement. But then this calls for a different approach, as clients are not easily persuaded and willing to follow. So, the team expends much time and energy with the Founders and the Senior Management to handle this, working together without compromising their freedom and concentration on day-to-day operations. They simulate the end-result, often by referencing relevant examples, and are bold enough to decide on a large portion of their fees based on a positive outcome. This has resulted in an enlargement of trust in ANOVA, as well as building a strong association with clients.
Helping and Supporting Businesses to Thrive
ANOVA’s key motive has always been to recommend effective corrective steps, that are both timely and implementable. To achieve this, the company invests quality time with the client co-designing and implementing a plan for (1) building a consensus about what steps are required, and (2) setting the momentum to ensure that such steps are enforced. Chandrashekar proudly asserts, “To ANOVA, effective consulting means convincing a client to take ‘the’ action! We work with the clients, not only towards helping them act, but giving enough support so that the movement leads to achieving the set objectives.”
Using Diverse Approaches To Help Businesses
ANOVA deals mainly with mid-size corporates and early-stage companies. It believes that the consistency in growth for these businesses truly occurs only when it can successfully address and increase their confidence to handle changes, via periodical mentoring and being strict in not compromising on financial discipline. With this in mind, ANOVA allows its customers to make themselves unique, robust as well as support them to achieve:
- Assessment of the business position and prospects,
- Providing the right valuation opinion and expectation that bridges the gap between aspirations and practicality,
- Finding the right fit between investor, investee and creating a philosophy-value synergy by the right match,
- Structuring the deal to ensure the right execution and transition during the said change.
It is the achievement-oriented and customer-centered approach along with acting appropriately and adapting to the changing complexities of the market help ANOVA retain its consulting services at the highest level.
Preparing To Grow And Expand
In the next five years, ANOVA would be actively engaged in corporate advisory matters with larger corporates across the globe. It will be largely helping them mature in business process optimization and efficiency in financial information management. It also aims to involve itself in larger transactions and push towards making even more transactions cross-borders. In addition, ANOVA has been working towards its dream of employing and training incumbents, especially from non-ivy league institutions, to generate and contribute to jobs in the Corporate Finance/Investment Banking sector. It also plans to extend its corporate advisory services segment to support larger corporates including MNCs, and help them mature in business process optimization and efficiency in financial information management and utilization by mentoring them and helping them build a system.
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