| | NOVEMBER 201919en my arsenal as a finance profes-sional. I have learnt that managing risks and developing alternatives is critical for any business. It does not mean losing a business oppor-tunity; but rather taking calcu-lated risks and managing risks to acceptable levels.Tell us about one of the challenge that you have faced as a CFO. Also, explain your strate-gies to mitigate it?Proper management of working capital is essential to a company's fundamental financial health and operational success as a business. A hallmark of good business man-agement is the ability to utilize working capital management to maintain a solid balance between growth, profitability, and liquidi-ty. Many businesses fail due to the working capital mismanagement. Managing working capital to take out cash flow from the working capital and utilizing the same in the company's growth has been a challenge. At Cosmo, we focus on working capital rationalization in all possi-ble ways. For instance, we work on Receivables by handling channel fi-nance, non-recourse factoring, and reduction in credit days. We trim down the capital by improving in-ventory management, reducing inventory days from 40 to 20 days. Our Payables consists of large cred-it cycles from suppliers through modern banking products. All this has facilitated a low working capi-tal and higher funds to be used for the company's growth.In your professional journey so far, which are the milestones that bestowed you utmost satisfaction?I have facilitated the raising of $100 million debt fund about 10 years ago, and since then, raised sever-al projects and non-project funds from time to time. I have also fa-cilitated business restructuring for Rs.3000 crore businesses leading to its successful turnaround.What is your outlook on the packaging in-dustry for the upcom-ing years and what will be Cosmo Films' strategy to grow faster than the industry?The BOPP flexible packaging in-dustry is expected to grow close to double of the respective GDP growth rates globally as well as in India. The consumer industries will be looking more for product differentiation and value addition. Looking at this growing demand, Cosmo Films aims to work towards twin strategic objectives of the en-hanced focus on Specialty Films and lower production costs for BOPP Commodity Products, which shall always differentiate Cosmo Films from the competition.Tell us about your fam-ily's support in your career journey.My family has played a very important role, without which I wouldn't have accomplished what-ever I have today. Rupali, my wife has supported me unconditionally throughout the journey. Besides, I would like to give the credit to my elder brother, Kamal Kant Jain who has influenced the way I think both on the personal and professional front.Are you engaged in any sort of mentorship programs?I have been a mentor for some startups and social ventures. To keep myself updated with the in-dustry trends, I usually prefer & fol-low industry magazines, colleagues and competitor activities. Having worked for diverse organizations and served multiple roles, Neeraj currently leads the financial functions of Cosmo Films. Neeraj Jain, CFOHobbies: Travelling and watching movieFavourite cuisines: Traditional Indian and Chinese foodTravel Destination: Europe and Mauritius?!?!?!?!?!
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