Santosh Nair, Director & CEO, Camson

Camson Biotechnologies is India's first wholly integrated Agriculture Biotechnology Company, based at Bangalore. The Company has a strong presence in the Indian market and has unique research and intellectual proprietary which gives the Company an edge over others. Equipped with a strong worldwide network of business associations, Santosh brings in 19 years experience in banking and finance industry.

The economic scenario that prevails in India is certainly a far cry from what prevailed half a century back. The business scene is no different. Be it the kind of products offered, the services rendered, the competition faced, the technology used, the market addressed, the field of play for business houses is vast, diverse and yes, infinitely complicated. Success now rests not just on the nature of products sold or services rendered but also in astute foresight and the ability to be in the forefront to strike first before others do.

Fierce competition and constant, continuous innovations and improvements in technology has made it imperative for business houses to be fully informed of market movements and leanings to be the first to make the change. However, remaining appraised of such minute movements and active changes in the industry as well as researching future movements can be quite trying for a business house while keeping focus on the production and distribution front.

That is where consultancy firms fill in very neatly, offering expert services to business houses, tracking market movements, predicting future trends, exploring innovative initiatives available and in general ensuring the information imparted is up to date to ensure the revenue floods is unhindered.

The new economy of India has opened up a huge market for consultancy firms to offer their expertise in multiple fields. There is enough in the pie to bite in for every new entrant as the field of play is humungous and simply waiting to be tapped. With the variety of products and services on offer constantly growing, this field is only expanding.

“Success now rests not just on the nature of products sold or services rendered but also in astute foresight and the ability to be in the forefront to strike first before others do”

The customer base in each segment too has become infinitely discerning and well informed. This makes the market tougher for business houses and increases the need for aid in making the right moves to keep afloat. Consultancy firms specialize in particular fields, indulging in exhaustive research into market conditions and future prospects. This makes their suggestions and predictions accurate and worthy of pursuit.

Of course, with the mushrooming consultancy firms, there are many who claim to offer expert advice and at times pitch way off the mark, ruining prospects of firms who sought to consult. Yet, these are fairly small in number compared to the reasonably accurate services offered by most consultancy firms. Yet, many business houses, just to play it safe, prefer to hire the top rung firms as they have too much at stake if the consultancy advice offered is erroneous.

A classic example of consultancy paving the way to move in the right direction is the success that a private sector bank met with in the recent years after taking the advice rendered. The private sector bank in this case, branched into retail based on the advice of its consultants, to reap in remarkable returns. Interestingly, in the past, top business houses functioned by gut feel, the management taking decisions based on their experience and perspective of market movements. Many large business houses did manage to table excellent results, the firms growing at steep rates. But that was in the past. Following such techniques may not only be risky but foolish too in present day market conditions.

A sharp difference that has also contributed to the stiff competition and turbulent market conditions in specific products, where the pace of innovation and growth is almost nerve-racking, is the expected annual rate of growth. In the past, business houses were satisfied with an average 10 per cent growth per annum, though many, depending on the nature of business, registered far more than this.

Current businesses view anything less than 20 per cent average growth per annum as low or woefully insufficient. This adds to the pressure of performance, increasing the need for expert consultancy to steer the firms in the right, desired direction. With markets getting more complicated by the day, the expertise required for offering such consultancy too is of course increasing in equal measure.

So where does this leave the consultancy industry? I would say, in a luscious green field that promises to grow denser. The continuously changing business models, the unquenchable race to the top has made consultancy industry a critical component of business today. Firms have to be in a constant ready-to-switch mode, to either switch gears or change direction and for the navigation, they certainly need the consultants. In short, consultancy is the way forward for business houses, if their goal is profit, which certainly is.