What a time to be alive. Yes, you can dissect the previous line in many different ways, but at the bottom of it, it just feels good to be alive and watch the reality of tiny drops of water forming an ocean! I like explorers. There’s the allure of promise, the unknown and adventure. On the same note, let’s give you a sneak peek into one of the fast growing Corporate Advisory firms in Chennai, what they do and how they broke the jinx. Chennai based SAS Partners Corporate Advisors is headed by three explorers who have been enthusiastically recommended by their clients for their “willingness to find an innovative solution to problems”.
To the untrained eyes of an outsider, Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu doesn’t give away that the city is one of the country’s most booming place. Or that it has a teeming start-up environment. But this team at SAS Partners has this well thought through. They’ve rolled up their sleeves to catch up to the changing landscape and the opportunities that are been thrown up.
Turning the time wheel behind
SAS Partners was incepted in 2008 from a one man’s brainchild- Soy Joseph. But, it was during a time when the emergence of corporate law firms in Chennai was still in its nascent stages. Back then, the practice of law was mainly confined to the corridors of Indian courts. Sony and Alex partnered with Soy to chalk out their dreams together. The trio recognized that economic reforms and liberalization would throw open several new opportunities within the Indian economy and this would in turn transform the landscape of Indian Corporate Law. The opening up of the Economy, saw a huge influx of MNCs to India. SAS Partners acknowledged that providing top quality legal support was indeed the need of the hour. They aimed to bridge the gap subsisting between the expectations & requirements of the clients and level of legal support then available in South India.
Today, with 30+ employees and having a presence in Bangalore, the firm takes the epithet of being called life cycle consultants as they offer services from starting a company till its closure and more.
What do they do?
On partnering with SAS Partners, Clients get access to customized solutions for their corporate legal, business, and finance matters. The services are designed to allow Clients to focus on the core activities of adding value to their customers.
SAS Partners works on two fronts with clients –support and advisory. The support services compass a range of activities from Formation of Companies & Compliance Management to Mergers & Acquisitions, Business Reorganization, Reconstruction, and Winding-up. These services indeed help clients navigate through the regulators and authorities.
The Advisory services, on the other side, play a larger role in creating long term value for clients. The Advisory team works on three lines of service – Law, Consulting, and India Entry. The Corporate Legal Advisory team works with companies in building long term structures, processes, and systems to not only ensure compliance with Indian laws but also to reap benefits from the systems. Intellectual Property (IP) – for instance – is one grey area for many Clients; folks here are experienced in advising many clients on IP protection and course of action.
The Company’s consulting team advises Indian companies on their growth strategy. At large, these niche services help companies and promoters, as they case may be, in realizing and capitalizing value. The Consulting team is dedicated to work with promoters on their vision by sharing their aspirations and narrating their strategies. These services include business strategy development, fundraising, M&A, and other allied offerings such as valuation, competition mapping, and growth hacking.
The India Entry Advisory helps foreign companies looking at India. These experts work along clients right from the stage of pre-market entry to starting of operations in India. SAS Partners is uniquely positioned to take up these assignments; thanks to the blend of technical and legal expertise.
Cutting through Competition
Cutting through competition is a palpable challenge. With time, SAS Partners diversified its areas of expertise with a seemingly unlimited treasure chest. There are other firms already elbowing one another in the market. Being in a highly competitive market poses certain challenges for growth. Of course, every business has its ups and downs, nevertheless this team stood tall and held to their values which helped to sustain client loyalty and fostered harmonious business relationships. They aim to be grounded with the intrinsic insights when offering client solutions.
Culture and Conversations
A room filled with the talent pool of today and the future of tomorrow. Life at SAS Partners balances works pressure and employee morale. SAS Partners believes in happy employees as, happiness means more productivity; when a business is more productive it can get a leg up on the competition. In conversation with a few of their employees, they tell me they feel at home to work at SAS Partners. At SAS Partners, it doesn’t matter who gets credit for what, because you accomplish everything together. They believe that- ‘you’re knit together, not separated’.
The Road Ahead
With an uncertain future, we cannot say, just because it doesn’t rain on the moon, the rovers and landers will not have to worry about it. The team here at SAS Partners are excited to travel down new avenues to unravel mysteries and to evolve into a one-stop solution for businesses in India. As they rightly say, innovation accelerates and compounds. It is a common saying that – ‘as long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big’. Against this backdrop, I feel, when one has a visionary approach towards accomplishing the ‘big’ picture, there always exists the paucity of time wherein we might tend to oversee the little things. Eventually, time helps you to discover that overseeing the little things can deepen your insight. Of course, I’m pretty much sure that about half of what separates successful people from the unsuccessful ones is pure perseverance. There is absolutely no finish line, so love the journey!
The Pillars : From left to right : Alex T Koshy, Soy Joseph, Sony George Mathew
