Our Services
Business Transformation
Outgrow’s “Business Transformation Services” focus upon recalibrating the following elements of the client’s business, to bring them in alignment with the company’s vision, mission, goals, and strategy.
- 1. Customer Service Standards and Framework
- 2. Market Growth & Penetration Strategy
- 3. Financial Health & Hygiene
- 4. Operational Processes & Procedures
- Procure to Pay cycle
- Order to Cash cycle
- Record to Reporting
- 5. ERP’s functionalities, real-time usage, and efficacy
- 6. Internal Controls Framework (how strong it is to pre-empt undesirable actions)
- 7. Corporate Governance Framework (Management’s Review Mechanism)
- 8. Culture being cultivated within the organisation (does it encourage the employees to stay on and consistently deliver their best?)
- 9. Company’s HR Policies
- 10. Workforce Performance Management Framework
- 11. Talent Adequacy
- 12. Employee Satisfaction, including the Rewards & Awards Framework
Strategy Consulting
Our Approach
Outgrow’s “Strategy Experts” spend extended hours with the core teams of their clients, working assiduously towards fine-tuning their Business Strategy for each critical aspect of the business.
The elaborate exercise in Strategy Formulation is primarily conducted around the business’ unique market differentiators, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks & challenges, besides collection & interpretation of real-time data relating to the key financial & operational metrics of the business across products, customers, and geographies.
Benefits of having a Business Strategy
Thought Clarity | Future Prospecting | Customer Delight |
Decisiveness | Direction & Focus | Employee Retention |
Self-Awareness | Market Expansion & Dominance | Better Economics |
A smart Business Strategy builds a clear thought process for each of the following aspects of the business.
Thought Clarity | Future Prospecting | Customer Delight |
Decisiveness | Direction & Focus | Employee Retention |
Self-Awareness | Market Expansion & Dominance | Better Economics |
End Objective
Strategy helps find answers for some compelling questions, like, but not limited to, the ones listed below.
- What do we stand for and what are we committed to?
- What unique value do we offer to the customers that we serve?
- Which specific pie of the market shall we serve because we obviously cannot serve everyone?
- Which specific needs of which customers should we seek to meet?
- Should we offer a very specific service across a wide variety of customer groups (variety-based positioning) or a broad range of needs of only a few customers (needs-based positioning)?
- What value could we offer better than our competitors?
- What kind of talent shall I onboard to achieve the vision of the business?
- To finance the growth of my business, what will I seek, funding or loans?
Operational & Financial Consulting
Planning & Goals Setting (operational & financial) will define the following.
- WHAT needs to be done
- HOW it will be done
- WHO will do it
- BY WHEN will it be done
End Results Delivered by Outgrow |
Company Level Goals |
Departmental Goals |
Individual Goals |
Resources Mobilization |
Employees working towards unified purpose |
Accountability & Ownership |
Time Sensitivity |
Merit Based Culture |
The financial statements of your business are expected to reflect the state of the business to anyone who cares to have a look. Inaccurate financial statements reflect an incorrect state of the business. It becomes an extremely risky affair when the management takes critical business decisions on the basis of reviewing false & inaccurate financial statements trusting them to be otherwise.
Outgrow’s “Finance Control Services” strive to deliver the following to you.
- Financial Statements that always provide a True & Accurate Reflection of the state of Business
- Annual Financial Planning exercise conducted at the start of the year, and revisited every quarter
- Monthly Closing of Books completed by Week-1 of the subsequent month
- Clear Segregation of Duties & Responsibilities between various team members through RACI Matrix, to avoid duplication and cross-overs
- Maker, Checker & Approver Concept introduced for validating the accuracy & completeness of data that goes into the system
- All activities designed to be performed Within the System itself
End Results Delivered by Outgrow |
Monthly Reporting of Financial Results |
Production of P&L, B/S and Cashflow Statement |
Financial Dashboard with detailed analysis |
Board and Investors empowered with critical information |
Allows Management-Reviews and Critical Decision-Making |
Areas of revenue leakage and cost optimization identified |
Better Cashflow Management |
Superior Regulatory Compliances |
Outgrow’s services strive to deliver the following to you.
- Standardised Processes for (i) Procure to Pay (ii) Order to Cash and (iii) Record to Reporting
- Use of an ERP with in-built processes that best serves the unique needs of the business
- Decentralisation of authority so that no single person or a coterie of people could make personal gains at the cost of the company
- Centralisation of authority for maintaining the master database within the ERP, including the Chart of Accounts
- ERP users trained to use the ERP optimally
End Results Delivered by Outgrow |
Shorter Transaction Lifecycle |
Enhanced speed of doing business |
Freeing up of Working Capital |
Enhanced Customer Satisfaction |
Superior Material Management and Production Planning |
Stronger Vendor Relations |
Total elimination of frauds and financial crimes |
Accurate recording & reporting of transactions |
A company’s management needs to:
- Get a Fair & Objective View of what’s working well within the business and what needs improvement
- Appraise the Performance of the business by products, customers, geographies etc.
- Provide Sanctions & Approvals necessary for smooth & effective functioning of the organisation
- Get aware of Latest Trends & Patterns emerging from the market
- Form an Informed Opinion of things to make critical decisions
This means:
- Relying upon Management Reports that are reliable and time-relevant, rather than spurious and distorted
- Receiving a Succinct View of things alongside a more Detailed View in case they wish to dig deeper into specific matters
End Results Delivered by Outgrow |
Quicker resolution of challenges |
Focus only on what matters |
Enhanced speed of doing business |
Staying market relevant |
Sharper decision-making |
Elimination of Surprises |
Cautious workforce |
Business Audits: Internal, Risk, Forensic
Every business has a set of inherent risks. The trick does not lay in striving to create a risk-free business. That’s nigh impossible.
Rather, the trick lays in (i) becoming fully aware of the nature of those risks (ii) assessing the damage they could potentially cause to the business in a worst-case scenario, and (iii) proactively mitigating them to the extent possible
Businesses are largely exposed to 5 kinds of standard risks
- 1. Financial
- 2. Operational
- 3. Reputational
- 4. Legal
- 5. Climatic
At Outgrow, we help in identification of loopholes within the company’s standard processes & procedures that provide a window of opportunity to those looking to commit willful acts of omission or commission, unauthorized or malicious actions for personal gains, which are directly or indirectly against the fundamental interests of the business.
We also help in identification of any perpetrated acts of fraud, embezzlement, financial crime, illegal activity, asset misappropriation, conflict of interest, ethical lapse, personal gain, and acts that either are or can be perceived against the spirit of integrity.
The scope of these audits could cover the elements listed below.
RISK AUDIT | FORENSIC AUDIT | INTERNAL AUDIT |
Financial Risk | Financial Crimes | Broken Processes |
Operational Risk | Assets Misappropriation | Lack of independent evidence |
Reputational Risk | Conflict of Interest | Maker, Checker, Approver Process |
Compliance Risk | Extraneous/ Early Payments to Vendor | Data entry into ERP |
Root Cause of Risks identified | Connivance/ Formation of Cohorts | Accuracy of Reporting |
Failure Mode Effect Analysis | Vendor Favoritism | Master Data in ERP |
Mitigation Plan | Over Invoicing from Vendor | User Access Privileges in ERP |
Under Invoicing to Customer | Nature of Reconciliations | |
Delayed Collections from Customer | Book Closing Process |
Board Related Services
The meetings of the Board of Directors invariably witness the most classic conflation of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Every time the Board members get together, they have a crucial role to play. A typical action-packed Board meeting aims to achieve the following agenda.
- 1. Get a fair & objective view of the financial & operational health of the organisation, including the various risks & challenges involved
- 2. Appraise the performance of the top management, especially the CEO
- 3. Chart out the future course for the organisation; the mission and the goals
- 4. Deliberate upon matters of organisational strategy
- 5. Provide necessary sanctions & approvals for smooth & effective functioning of the organisation
The following factors play a crucial role for conduction successful Board Meetings:
- Structure of the Board Meetings: This defines the amount of value the Chair is able to derive by promoting active participation from the members and tapping into each member’s unique expertise.
- Engagement Model: It is important for the Chair to engage the Board Members fruitfully through the course of the meeting such that every Director’s voice is heard, opinion is sought and is duly considered.
- Discuss Big Ideas: Board Members like to be involved in the Big Ideas; things that really matter in the long-term scheme of things, rather than short-term operational matters.
- Buildup: As the next Board Meeting becomes imminent, it is important to let the members know in advance what they could expect from the meeting, and what is expected from them. It is important to freeze upon the agenda and circulate the necessary updates and reports that require members’ attention well before the day of the meeting.
- Intervening Period: After the meeting has been consummated, it is important for the Chair to circulate the minutes of the meeting and articulate clearly upon the specific tasks that the members have committed themselves to accomplish.
- Data Quality: Members hate to review data that is of doubtful authenticity. It is important that the data shared with them is true, accurate & complete.
- CEO’s Performance: With the help of a Performance Scorecard, the members should be able to fairly evaluate the performance of the CEO and the other members of the core management team.
Outgrow Consulting helps organizations run successful Board Meetings.
The core idea of Outgrow’s Board Related Services is to:
- Derive maximum value out of the Board Meetings through promotion of maximum participation from the members and tapping into each member’s unique expertise.
- Engage the Board Members fruitfully through the course of the meeting such that every Director’s voice is duly heard, opinion is sought and is duly considered.
Important Factor to be Considered
Frequency of the Meetings
Format of the Meetings
List of Attendees and Special Invitees
Sequencies of
Events
Format of Capturing the Minutes
Format for Data
Presentation
Outgrow’s Board Related Services include the following:
- Defining the “Structure of the Board Meetings
- Defining the “Engagement Mode
- Activities Building-up to the Meeting
- Data Analysis & Presentation
- Ensuring Quality of Data Reported
- Providing the Management Scorecard
Investor Related Services
Without optimum traction, Investors are unlikely to feel confident about where the Investee may be headed. Traction minimises Investors’ risks. Investors want to grab every opportunity to know how their portfolio companies are performing and what they can achieve in the medium to long run.
Is my money safe? Is it being put to the right use? Are they sticking to the plan and achieving their goals? Are they hiring the right talent? Are there any risks or challenges coming up in the business that I must know of? What’s my ROI? What do the latest financials look like? What’s the latest valuation of my portfolio? Will it ultimately turn out to be a good investment? And so on, so forth. Investors need to fetch answers for all these questions. And that requires traction with the Promoters and their key personnel.
Coincidentally, the 2 worlds on the either side of a Funding Round have invariably been disjointed. Standing on one side, the promoter projects the other side to a potential investor as “The Treasure Trove” waiting to receive its rightful owner. Replete with promises of a surreal future, the promoter’s pitch is invariably over the top. However, the astute investor sees through the stunt well enough to measure the true potential of the business.
In the post funding world, the investor’s experience is rather coarse. The picture projected in the erstwhile world does not truly hold up. The grass looks not as green as it was made out to be. Most promises get broken. Money spends become divergent from the stated end-use. Simple information gets difficult to come by. Data that is received seems dubious & fragmented. Self-doubt begins to creep in. “Did I make an error of judgement” rings through the mind persistently.
That’s where Outgrow plays a significant role for the investors. Outgrow acts as the investors’ extended team to protect & safeguard their interest by:
- Being an Extended Team for the Investor, working in their interest with the Promoter’s team
- Undertaking Portfolio Analysis by gathering data on the leading indicators (Financial & Operational) and presenting it to the Investor through detailed Portfolio Reports.
- Reporting on the Challenges & Risks being faced in the business
- Conducting the Valuations Exercise on a regular basis
- Reviewing the Corporate Governance Framework and making suggestions for improvement
- Reviewing the Internal Controls, reporting on their strengths & weaknesses, and suggesting necessary changes
- Gathering Ground Intelligence by developing a relationship of trust
- Checking upon the actual end-use of the Investor’s Money
- Measuring & reporting the actual performance of the business (both financial & operational)
- Sharing periodic updates containing critical information about the new or recent events
- Analysing data to identify the emerging trends & patterns
- Implanting the right internal controls to prevent any events of financial crimes, frauds, or assets misappropriation
Transaction Advisory Services
Outgrow’s Transaction Advisory Services include the following:
- Financial Modelling
- Business Valuation
- Information Memorandum
- Teaser Document
- Pricing Negotiation
- Financial Due Diligence
- Legal Due Diligence
- Legal matters for consummating the transaction
Data Analytics
Surely you have heard of the terms FIFO (First In First Out) and LIFO (Last In First Out). These are commonly used acronyms in any typical business environment.
Have you also heard of the term GIGO? Coincidently, more than 80% of Indian companies are inflicted by it.
GIGO simply means Garbage In Garbage Out. The word “Garbage” here metaphorically refers to DATA. Put simply, the quality of data inputted into a system predominantly defines the quality of output coming from it.
Let’s accept it. Management teams or board members feel jittery if they do not completely trust the quality of data that they must depend upon for critical decision-making.
So, here’s the thing with high-quality data. For data to be reliable & useful, it has to tick 4 check-boxes.
- 1. It is “Accurate”
- 2. It is “Complete”
- 3. It is “Presented Timely”
- 4. It is “Detailed Enough”
Even if one of the boxes does not get the mandatory tick, the data renders itself worthless for any degree of reliance.
You may hire the best accountant and also implement the most advanced ERP. However, it may all go a waste if you don’t focus enough on generating data that can be trusted upon 100%. And that certainly won’t happen by default. It requires a concerted effort.
Outgrow helps business produce highest quality evidence backed data that can be presented to anyone with 100% confidence about its accuracy and completeness, in a way that it can be easily comprehended, along with a succinct view of things.
| End Results Delivered by Outgrow |
| Accurate, Complete, And High-Quality Data |
| Analysis of Data by a Data Expert |
| Zilch or minimalistic manual intervention |
| Key Management Reports & Presentations |
| Segmental Data Reporting |
| Reports Automation |
| Evidence Based Reporting |