The client, a Private Equity firm, asked the TresVista team to provide the necessary research assistance to help in taking the strategic courses of action to track the progress of their portfolio company.
To conduct market research for Pawn Broking business
The TresVista team followed the following process:
• The sources the team adopted for secondary research can be broken down into two as shown below:
◦ By Database – Data pertaining to the financial metrics, such as revenue EBITDA etc. was collected through Factset
◦ By Desktop Research – For various qualitative data, such as listing of IPOs, Case Studies on successful companies etc., we used desktop research
• For database research, the list was broken down by geography of pawnbroking companies in emerging countries, and developed countries
• For desktop research the team leveraged various sources such as company websites, news articles, third party websites, blogs, interviews etc.
• The data obtained through desktop research and database were collated and presented in the final deliverable
The major hurdles faced by the TresVista team were:
• Absence of data for one of the parameters requested (Change in regulations in the industry)
• Lack of data related to IPO releases as most of the companies in this industry were private and unorganized in the developing countries
• Identifying relevant case studies through direct desktop research
The team overcame these hurdles by conducting research, only to find no relevant sources to provide data with respect to changes in regulations in the industry. This was communicated to the client who then concluded that this was not truly relevant to the report and thus could be omitted. For the lack of IPO data, desktop research was conducted on every company that was listed from the initial FactSet pull. The prospectus for these, however, was an even bigger challenge which was also solved through desktop research. Identifying relevant case studies along with its success factor was obtained through unconventional sources such as YouTube and Reality TV Show reviews. Upon identifying a few leaders and their success stories, reports on these were accessed through desktop research.
The TresVista team created research material that was used for decision making on the course of action for one of their portfolio companies. The team was able to complete this heavy research request well in advance through efficient planning. The team was also able to provide creative insights to the client.
