Brahmacharya quarter over, in theory

With the turbulent times at hand, I am not sure who all of us will or desire to live out a life of 100 years. Yet, the concept of life in our vedas talks of a being living through a century, split into four phases according to the prime roles and responsibilities. And by that structure, my friend, I have managed to wade my way through the first quarter as of today. And here I am filing my quarterly report.

Q1 was largely funded by equity investment from the holding company Mom-Dad Inc. Yes, the great part here is there is no debt - and if at all there is any, it definitely comes with the much used option to convert to equity at a later stage! In my case, the parent company had two older subsidiaries as well, which, fortunately, did well and turned cash generating sooner than expected and have now been hived off in JVs with other well-functioning conglomerates.

That sums up the holding structure and background.

Throughout Q1, our company has maintained a "lean" structure. We gained well in the initial years through able guidance from the parent company, coupled with their efforts to create brand recognition by word of mouth and by getting a healthy dose of first-stage certifications. As years passed, although the reliance on the parent company remained huge, there was a rising need to building strategic partnerships - at times cartels, mostly for mutual cooperation on the road to getting better performance. Our company is fortunate to have found these in the most unlikely of places - Cawnpore first, and then the sleepy metro of Kolkata. While helping improve the work environment of our company, these led us to a stage, more than a year back, when our company also turned cash generating.

Alongside, there were attempts to sign JV agreements with a few 'attractive' ventures, all of which never took off after the expression of interest stage, due to reasons ranging from "lack of cultural fit" to plain and simple 'meh'. Though that has protected cash outflows in the near term, management does not look upon this as very healthy for the initial years of Q2.

Here's most of what our stakeholders need to know from the quarter gone by. As we indulge in the bliss of a happy quarter, management maintains we will be happy with a flattish Q2 as well. Any improvement, which is hoped for, can lead to significant upside. Also, the rupee decline does not bother us as our sister concerns are now earning in foreign currency!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the parent concern, the sister JVs and the invaluable strategic partners for being there all along, as we raise a toast to the good times to come!