Strength to Strength- A short recap

It’s been more than 3 years since my first taste of OfBusiness. Energy, hustle, integrity & passion were some qualities that stood out from the start! What’s amazing is how as the organization scaled up from 120 odd OfBians to over 650 now, these qualities haven’t just sustained but also grown and influenced every part of an OfBian’s life.

Such is the nature of the energy that, right from the leadership to executives, everyone lives & breathes this culture. This has manifested itself into more products, more locations, more categories & better risk management. Incredibly, many processes were set up & further defined & structured, while keeping the rocketship steady & safe.

The business landscape we operate in, has been in significant flux (especially for the NBFC/Infra sectors) for quite a while now (ever since ILFS/DHFL issues back in 2018), thus opening the doors for new opportunities continuously. The cost pressures for SMEs & mid market companies have significantly gone up allowing OfB to tap into our strength of pricing & operational capabilities and serving clients with utmost respect for their bottom line. On the capital side, although the money markets are flush with COVID led liquidity, the velocity of projects, manufacturing & consumption has been mixed. Thus our credit/capital layer continues to boost the toplines by infusing working capital & help SMEs complete projects/jobs on time & in full.

The COVID led lockdowns & other supply chain disruptions was a period of intense learning for everyone & the brief disruptions brought out new dimensions across OfBians. It was also a period to understand ourselves and execute better.

This allowed us to do 2 things effectively-

1. Double down on our core strength- material led credit
2. Identify & Iterate on allied opportunities with a similar core

The significant rise of our OfCommerce BU has seen volume & new category led growth across steel, cement, bitumen, polymer & non ferrous products. This led to a deeper understanding of the supply side of the market, thereby strengthening further the partnerships with producers. On the demand side, with growth across regions, categories & team strengths, the focus is sharpened to further explore specific segments with deeper expertise. Talismanic OfBians emerging as pure play material wizards has been a delight for all of us!

Filtering of allied opportunities were focused on utilizing the credit+ops core, and the team’s commitment to experiment, innovate & launch were exemplary & highly motivating. Given the vast expanse of a business ecosystem OfB operates in, some of the early new category winners have been textiles, chemicals & select finished goods.

The nature of SME/mid market businesses in India is heading towards a phase of better management techniques, cost controls & working capital utilization; which significantly increases our market fit & value proposition. The pride of working in cohesion with some of the best minds in a high energy environment is still something everyone cherishes day to day.

Exciting times ahead!

Read more interesting articles below:-
How AgriTech Start-ups Can Fix the Broken Agriculture Credit Marke
Covid-19 Tenders: New Opportunities For Indian Contractors