Practus is a young and dynamic global management consulting practice that operates in New York, Dubai, and India, catering to clients of all sizes and industries worldwide. The company has established itself as a successful implementation expert, delivering over $150 million worth of ROI to its diverse client base. Practus offers a range of services, including CFO Office, Performance Improvement, and Business Transformation, catering to funded startups, Fortune 500 companies, family-owned businesses, private equity/venture capital-backed firms, publicly-listed firms, MNCs, and social impact organizations. Below is a transcript from a recent interaction between team FYI9 and Mr. Deepak Narayanan, Founder & CEO, Practus:
Prateek: How was the year 2022 in terms of revenue for Practus?
Deepak Narayanan: Revenues for 2022 grew close to 40% as compared to 2021. Our revenues grew over 3 times at a CAGR of 58% between June 2020 and September 2022. The growth over the last 3 years has been driven through an unrelenting focus on (a) Quality of Earnings and improving the business model (b) Client delight and improving the experience through consistent ROI delivery (c) People wellbeing and capability enhancement (d) building a capable leadership team and (e) Embracing technology as part of everything that we do whether it is for our clients or for Practus.
Our revenues grew over 3 times at a CAGR of 58% between June 2020 and September 2022.
Prateek: What is the role of a CFO towards the company and stakeholders?
Deepak Narayanan: CFOs have a key role to play in shaping company strategy. Fundamentally, every CFO needs to solve the following trade-offs:
- Capital allocation between competing areas of spends/ investments
- Chase opportunities vs mitigate risks
- Stakeholder management
Of these, capital allocation is tricky while being the most critical one. Where you choose to invest today and how much you choose to invest in which area will shape how a company will grow in the future and at what pace.
Prateek: What are the industries Practus serves? And how does the company leverages its expertise?
Deepak Narayanan: Practus is sector agnostic. We solve business problems while delivering a tangible ROI (which is pre-agreed with our clients) with technology being a key enabler. Practus’ expertise lies in implementation and this is leveraged through a combination of people, processes, or tools that are proprietary in the way we deliver impact to clients and technology that enables our people to solve complex business problems.
Prateek: How does Practus unlock value for clients?
Deepak Narayanan: Let us understand why Practus exists. Our purpose is to disrupt the ‘consulting’ space & challenge the status quo. For the longest period, consultants have serviced clients using a Time and Material (T&M) or a fixed fee model without linkage to delivering tangible business outcomes. Practus is changing that paradigm by committing and delivering an ROI that is pre-agreed before we begin implementation. We are not a service provider; we are business partners in the truest sense.
Prateek: How can the tech stack be a crucial differentiator in an organization’s growth?
Deepak Narayanan: Let me tell you how we are using/planning to use tech (a) tech creates a differentiator and separates us from several other firms operating in the ecosystem (b) tech helps standardize elements of client delivery making it easier for our people to replicate best practices quicker across clients and for clients to get a superior experience (c) tech creates IP’s which can be monetized as part of revenues or in creating value in the enterprise in the long term just to name a few ways in which technology can be leveraged.
Prateek: What will be the company’s growth policy in 2023?
Deepak Narayanan: We are bullish on our prospects given the strong differentiation and in delivering a superior client experience (ROI delivery, implementation) a high-quality team, our focus on quality of earnings, and in building IP’s. Each of these focus on building value in the mid to longer term while we keep an eye on some of the immediate priorities.
For any opportunities like interviews/authored articles/press releases connect with us at prateek@fyi9.com.
