Atlas Labs: Gearing for Growth

Abstract

The case is structured around the infancy problems being faced by the firm Atlas Labs. As a start-up initiated by technocrats with limited financial resources, the firm is struggling to find the financial resources necessary to create adequate facilities to meet quality standards demanded by a sophisticated customer segment. The professional background and expertise of the promoters are impeccable; their goodwill with domestic customers is also very good. They have managed the firm with meager resources, high dedication and great personal sacrifices. The firm has no debt but its volume of operations is constrained by facilities. If the firm fails to find a way out of this situation quickly, it would drift and would become unviable; or it would be grabbed by outsiders with the promoters not getting due return. The firm’s constitution is not ideally suited for the growth that is possible in the business sector. The challenge before the firm is about re-constitution, about finding the optimal financial structure to cater to long-term growth and about coming out of the current crisis. The firm needs to develop an action plan that builds in all these elements.