PROVIDING “SARAL SAMADHAN” FOR COMPLEX BUSINESS PROBLEM

PROVIDING "SARAL SAMADHAN" FOR COMPLEX BUSINESS PROBLEM

Over the years business consulting firms have mushroomed, but, SmartHead Consulting with its passion for excellence has emerged as one of the leading firms in the industry.

            The founder members of the organization, who do not come from proverbial consulting domain, believe in simplifying the solutions to various business issues, rather than complicating them. And, this approach has helped them to create a niche for themselves. SmartHead clients see lots of value in a partner who makes it easy for them to comprehend the solutions for their business woes and help them achieve the desired result.

But, as it is said 'Simplicity is the ultimate Sophistication'. Saral Samadhan is not easy to achieve. It needs lots of drilling down to understand the core of a problem and to differentiate between the symptoms and the disease.

 SmartHead Consulting partners' strong executive operations background and extensive hands-on experience of 'on-the-ground' implementation of business solutions allow them to decipher the real issues. They believe that mere intellectual play would mean nothing if it fails to deliver on the tough ground. Their 'walk the talk' approach helps in creating a bond of trust and faith between them and their clients.

In fact, some of the partners were once customers of various large & small global & local consulting companies, and are therefore aware of clients' pain points. While conceptualizing SmartHead, the partners made sure to offer a unique model, different from most in the consulting space. SmartHead assists companies to solve their complex problems using its model of "Diagnose", "Engage" & "Deliver".  Its propriety "Saral Samadhan" methodology has been used for turning around loss making companies, improving working capital management, supporting vendor management for improving the supply chain, handling change management to grow / multiply business top line, creating appropriate organizational structure, implementing effective performance management system, generating business intelligence Dash Board, etc.

Since its inception in 2011, the company's portfolio has been focused on providing thought leadership for Business Growth, Profitability, Market Development, Product / Service Portfolio, People Management, Working Capital Management, Supply Chain, Business Processes & Authorization Structures etc. in the industries such as Healthcare, Textiles, Education, Real Estate, Oil & Gas, Energy, Water Infrastructure, Telecom Equipment, Cables, Polyester Fiber, Pollution Control Equipment, Printing Inks & Packaging Films & Chemicals, Dairy etc.

SmartHead shares its best practices with its clients. The company believes that applying and enhancing best practices are more important than protecting them. SmartHead is happy to leave its best practices with its clients so that  they can continue to use them after the job of the company has been completed. In fact the organization offers flexible revenue model to its clients to suit their need. SmartHead's experience across many different industries translates into a differentiated value proposition and powerful solutions that meet present as well as future demands.

In a short span of five years of its existence, SmartHead Consulting has touched many celebratory milestones. Within first year of its existence, it managed to win a contract with a large Blue Chip company. In the year 2015 it set up its first international office in Dubai to serve its Middle East clients. It also had an opportunity to lead India-UK SME business summit in London and it successfully signed many cross border JV and technology licensing agreements for different Indian clients. SmartHead has also mentored many startups.

Talking about road ahead during a chat with The CEO Magazine, Mr Pramod Bapna, Managing Director and Head of Strategy and Operations Practice, said that the organization is now working on developing solutions around various GOI initiatives, including ZED, Smart Cities and addressing issues around the Women & Elderly people's safety due to increased exposure with e-services work force (Cab Drivers, Delivery Boys, Home service technicians etc.).

When asked about how he has approached change, Pramod said, "Change dawns on us gradually. It should be handled step by step with a cool and stable thought process. It has to be a thoroughly thought through and should be very well planned process involving clear communication with the stake holders and clear time lines and goals."

About his favorite aspects of being an entrepreneur and his three pieces of advice to youth, who want to become entrepreneurs, Pramod candidly said that youths must be aware that Entrepreneurship is not short term. It is for a long haul and it takes time to build up a business. He emphasized that there is no short cut. He also advised that one should be brutally honest, straight forward and humble to one's customers, employees, partners and other stake holders. He said one must be open to accept challenges, feedbacks, and criticism and make course corrections as they go ahead. He also said that one must learn to put down his ego, if one wants to succeed.

Pramod himself comes with an exceptional industry experience of over two decades in managing businesses, developing potential markets, drafting policy initiatives and accelerating profitable growth through strategic moves. In his last assignment, prior to SmartHead, he served as President & Managing Director at Degremont Ltd. (an EPC business of the Suez group     of France). Previously he held key positions of General Manager & CEO of Schlumberger RMS India and then Actaris which was a MBO from Schlumberger. He was also Managing Director at Cooper Industries.

SmartHead team has got very good mix of vibrancy and maturity and it brings lots of operational know how with it. SmartHead has got 17 permanent team members and the rest work as Network Consultants solely for SmartHead projects. SmartHead believes in gainfully engaging women with celebrated background having worked at key positions with well known organizations and had to step down for some personal reasons. Most of these women are looking for independent work schedules to achieve work- life balance and SmartHead is too happy to provide that. It believes that these women given chance can prove to be a better contributor than a permanent oversized workforce.

Under the aegis of such distinguished individuals, SmartHead Consulting is bound to grow and attain new heights. Nurtured by all right values such as passion, dedication, and ethics, SmartHead clients are in the right hands!

The other partners of SmartHead Consulting also come from exceptional backgrounds.

 Ms Reena Ahuja who is a partner and a key member of the firm's leadership team has over two decades of experience across a range of industries such as telecommunications, oil & gas, banking and education. Reena leads SmartHead's People Management Practice. She has been an advisor to organizations, chief executive officers, senior executives and boards on issues of executive leadership, team effectiveness, organization design, culture transformation, and large-scale people-related change implementation.

Prior to SmartHead, Reena was head of the human resources function at Hughes Communication India Ltd. She also served as Country Personnel Manager for all business lines of Schlumberger, the only HR manager across that company's global organization to have held this prestigious position. She also worked with Citibank Credit Services and NIIT.

 Mr Ashok Chordia, who heads Financial Services practice, has over 27 years of industry experience in corporate finance, including financial advisory services, IPOs, funding, treasury and taxation. Ashok has proven expertise in re-structuring and re-organizing the financial reporting and balance sheet— exercises that focus on leveraging and unlocking the latent potential through finance best practices, helping to overcome organizational challenges. His vast experience spans a range of industries and functional areas.

The CFO & Director Partner of SmartHead, Mr Sanjiv Nanda also has exhaustive industry experience of more than 27 years across a variety of Industries.  An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Sanjiv is also a Chartered Accountant.

His strengths lie in crafting impactful legal structures and developing efficient Business, Finance and Tax management practices. Tax Planning & Strategic Restructuring, Financial & Legal Due Diligence, Merger & Acquisition Advisory, Risk management and Legal & Corporate documentation are also a part of his forte.

 The Business Intelligence Reporting & Analytics Practice at SmartHead Consulting is headed by Mr Shubh Mangal. He is one of the leading Businesses Analytics Consultants in India.  He brings to the table strategic and creative flavour to technology consulting experience. Shubh has successfully implemented information technology solutions for global fortune 500 companies for over 15 years. Shubh is armed with a Masters in MIS from Case Western Reserve University, USA, and a Bachelor of Commerce from Delhi University. He nurtured his leadership skills at Kellogg School of Management.