YOUR JOURNEY FROM POTENTIALS TO PROFITS
Exclusive Interview with Mr. S. Khugan, the founder and Group Managing Director, as well as Ms. Pael Ghosh, the Group Executive Director and Creative head of the SKB Group based at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by Onkareshwar Pandey
“In the post Covid-19 era, what people need to understand is the mind set of investors, especially in this market. Funding is NOT going to be easy. Investors have become ten times more cautious than they were before. Because now, it’s not only about the ROI, it’s also about how safe their investment is going to be. They need a complete assessment of the said company to be done, before they are even willing to consider funding. That is why a business today looking for any sort of funding has to ensure, that the approach they take to convince investors is the correct one,” says S. Khugan, a global investment consultant based at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“Each year, in the United States itself a minimum of 2 billion dollars are paid to management consultants for their services. A large amount of this is said to be paid for the collection of impractical data and poorly implemented recommendations. When it comes to the Asian market, especially the Asia Pacific, the term ‘Consultant’ has been prostituted to encompass every job designation. Thus, you end up buying your favourite perfume from the ‘Beauty Consultant, while, the 19 year-old boy who comes to fix your home PC in your ‘IT Consultant’. In spite of that, all serious companies worth its salt opt to appoint a reputable consulting firm to guide them through the twists and turns of the corporate world,” says Pael Ghosh, the Group Executive Director, SKB Group of companies founded by S. Khugan.
Onkareshwar Pandey had the opportunity of chat with both Mr. S. Khugan, the founder and the Group Managing Director, as well as Ms. Pael Ghosh, the Group Executive Director and the Creative head of the SKB Group a very stable and no-nonsense consulting and investment firm for the past almost two decades. Below are the excerpts of an interview conducted over zoom - the post covid world’s conference room.
Q. My first question would be to Ms. Pael.What does SKB do in a nutshell?
Pael: At SKB, we are primarily Corporate and Management consultants. But of course, keeping in mind that we work mostly within Asia, we work with a more hands on approach, rather than just advising clients. Apart from that, we also invest into promising companies and help them with corporate funding.
Q. How exactly does the mechanism of investment as well as consultancy work together? I mean, can you help the readers understand what the exact services that you provide to a client are.
Pael: Well…. ( Looking very thoughtful) it’s quite difficult to put the entire mechanism of our work into a very short interview. Especially now, that the world is going through such an upheaval due to the pandemic. But I will try to give a simple picture.
You see, when clients come to us, they come with all kinds of complications. It can range from shortage of working capital, operational mismanagement, no marketing and promotional direction, problems with negotiations, problem with loan repayments etc. And these are just the tip of the iceberg. Because every company, and every industry, has its own challenges and there is no ready-made template that we can use to solve their predicaments.We in fact had to change quite a bit of our modules and investment strategies to take into account the challenges that businesses are going through right now due to the pandemic.
Right now, the important thing is, to take stock of every business and their current operational strategies. To understand what does its future holds for that particular business and industry. We start by looking into everything that’s in place and more so what is not. Starting from operations to accounts to marketing. And only through an initial diligence we get to the root of the problems. In our experience, even when everything looks bleak and dark, our primary job is to always a solution.
Q. My next question is to you Sir. What are the steps SKB is taking to help companies in the Post Covid Era?
Khugan: You see as Pael has explained earlier, businesses right now have to think in ways that they have never had to earlier. With the pandemic, the world has simply been thrown off track completely. And it is not just about getting back on track, it is about constructing a new track. At SKB we understand that particular challenge. Many companies are now looking for funding. However, they are not going forward in arational manner, as desperation has overtaken their rational thought. And in their desperation, they are falling prey to a lot of brokers and con men out in the market promising quick and easy funding against a deposits or upfront exorbitant fees.
What people need to understand is the mind set of investors, especially in this market. Funding is NOT going to be easy. Investors have become ten times more cautious than they were before. Because now, it’s not only about the ROI. It’s also about how safe their investment is going to be. They need a complete assessment of the said company to be done, before they are even willing to consider funding.
That is why a business today looking for any sort of funding has to ensure, that the approach they take to convince investors is the correct one.