Prospering Company: Venran Complete Solutions

For Viji Anandan, it has been the economic downturn that helped prove her company's considerable mettle.

With other businesses folding around her as the economic recession hit in 2008, the president of Venran Complete Solutions in Troy decided to take the cautiously optimistic route.

The hard times "gave us an opportunity to demonstrate our strong fundamentals," says Anandan via email. "When many of our competitors opted to move out of Michigan, we were cautious and optimistic to bet on Michigan, we decided to stay right here in Michigan and weather out this economic downturn."

And that optimism, according to Anandan, has paid off. Venran, an information technology enabled service company with a specialty in enterprise resource planning (ERP), began offering its consulting, technology and outsourcing services to businesses outside of Michigan without ever moving its headquarters from Michigan.

It wasn't easy. Soaring travel costs and working with thin budgets, most of Venran's small staff gave up personal lives to keep the company afloat. "But this opened up a whole new market for us," says Anandan. "Now we have a successful model to show that we can execute these out-of-state projects right here from Michigan. For our company these project volumes helped us to cope with some of the downturn."

Established in 1997, Venran Complete Solutions has gotten used to being tough, whether it was the recession or competing with bigger companies. Anandan says the key to her business's success has been a focus on both quality and the customer.

"Our sole vision … was to provide a blend of cutting-edge technologies with quality in the solutions we offer to our client," she says, adding that the company's staff makes certain that each service is customized for a company's need.

Now the uncertainty of the past year and a half seems to have given way to a brave new world of clientele and opportunity.

"With what we learned in 2008-09, we are more focused than ever," adds Anandan. "We are more aggressive in our strategies."

Part of that focus comes from having taken advantage of Oakland County's business resources, most notably, the Venture Forward program. A 10-week series of training sessions offered by the Oakland County Business Center, Venture Forward helps existing entrepreneurs grow their businesses by developing sound business and action plans. The weekly workshops often include guest speakers, and one-on-one coaching and long-term mentoring from area professionals.

"It helped us to address business in more systematic approach and forecast potential issues before they become an issue," Anandan says of the program. It "made us feel that we are not alone in the world of business but there is a huge support group to help us along the way."

Now, with the company poised to continue its success, Venran emerges from the economic recession as an example of how to survive the tough times.

"Remember your fundamentals and soul purpose," advises Anandan. "Remember your customers and your markets in every decision you make. And the most important thing: Never compromise quality for anything else."

Venran Complete Solutions is located in the Liberty Centre at 100 W. Big Beaver Road, Suite 200, in Troy. Call 248-524-0325 or visit the Web site at www.venran.net. For more information on the Venture Forward program, call Lola Are at (248) 858-2021.