Nilesh Ganjwala isn’t a ‘fixer’ in a conventional sense. He doesn’t fix corporate deals, or cricket matches. And no, he doesn’t fix damaged water pipes or power lines either. His business card says he is CEO of Innergise Solutions, a business consulting company in the Worli sea face area of Mumbai. So, he fixes error-laden accounts books, tax problems, etc. Right? Wrong. Ganjwala, a chartered accountant, actually fixes falling SMEs (small and medium enterprises), and brings them back from the brink of extinction. “Large companies have a smooth pattern with their numbers, which are never a challenge,” he says. “It is wonderful to work with small companies.”
BSVL ran up losses of Rs 9 crore in 1994. Thanks to Ganjwala, it was soon back in the black. In 2005-06, it notched up a net profit of Rs 6.47 crore. Ganjwala starts off by scrutinising a company’s financial statements. Once he detects some leaks, he makes factory visits to pin down their exact nature. Then follows the first big milestone. He says, “The first step to victory is to get the conservative entrepreneur to agree that he has gone wrong.” That isn’t easy. Typically, owners of small companies get emotional about changes, and take a lot of convincing. But the soft-spoken and reticent Ganjwala, who is extremely popular on the SME circuit, can be quite a toughie. “He doesn’t bluff,” says BSVL’s Daftary. Once the owner is convinced, Ganjwala channels resources (cash, loans, people) in the right direction.
As a 16-year-old, though, Ganjwala wanted to be a “financial expert who helped large firms go global”. But with time, he realised that he was “drawn to entrepreneurs with interesting ideas”. While he’s a numbers whiz, Ganjwala has shown the ability to go beyond numbers as well, to the extent of even providing strategic inputs. In 1984, Zenith, which made tin sheets and cans, was hit by a crippling labour strike. Then, “the larger OEMs moved into plastic cans for products such as paints, chocolates, oils and medicines,” says Alihussain S. Barodawala, director, Zenith Tins, in Mumbai. Within a year, the company ran up losses of Rs 35 crore. Ganjwala reduced Zenith’s workforce from 2,700 to 500 through a voluntary retirement scheme. After 15 years, it now makes a steady profit of Rs 6 crore-7 crore. In a way, his first challenge probably was the toughest. “It took them 20 years to come back. But I am glad I was with them all through,” he says.
Of course, he also has a life beyond reviving dying SMEs. Every four months, he takes off for 10 days either to England or Goa with his wife Rupa and daughter Niti. Even today, large corporates offer him global positions, but he is not interested. “It is the best time to be in the SME segment. Large firms are not growing more than 30 per cent, but SMEs are,” he says.
