About

Business Access India was founded in 1997 to assist small and medium sized companies from Finland to have a seamless access to the Indian market.

The founder – Mr. Gopal Somaskandan started his career in the finance domain with large corporations such as Lupin Laboratories, Godrej and then transitioned to business advisory services while working at ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India). He was part of the team providing advisory services and financial assistance to Nordic companies looking to enter the Indian market. During this time, he got an opportunity to visit Finland and Norway to meet with potential companies interested in the Indian market. During this visit, he realized that Finland being an export-oriented country, had many small and medium enterprises with high quality products that are suitable to the Indian market, however there was something limiting these SME’s from expanding their presence in Indian market. The limiting factors were:

• High entry costs,
• Limited information availability
• Challenge in navigating the bureaucratic barriers

Mr. Gopal was impressed with the Finnish culture and the outspoken nature of the Finns. He desired to assist Finnish companies navigate the complexities of the Indian business environment and help them to find success. This gave him immense learning and a deep satisfaction. Thus, Business Access India was born and started playing a crucial role in the success of the Finnish companies in their India business endeavor. Business Access being a small enterprise, could closely relate to the challenges faced and was able to develop customized solutions with a step-by-step approach. This helped companies succeed by overcoming the local cultural differences and the business complexities. The added advantage was the availability of an easy exit route in case thing did not go as per plan.

Business Access India started as a small liaison office with a team of 3 persons acting as a bridge between Finnish companies and their Indian customers. In 2001, it was established as a Private limited company offering services such as market research, due diligence, and support in India visit. Over the years, various tailor-made services such as partner search, feasibility study, supplier search, supplier development, entry strategy, recruitment, accounting services, admin services, company secretarial services, registration of company, Business due diligence, legal due diligence, acquisition, location study etc. helped companies to establish a strong foothold in the Indian market, propelling their success.

Business Access India became renowned for its unique service of providing a Country Manager on hire. This service enabled companies to have immediate presence in India to test the waters, without the need to have a physical presence. This dedicated resource was managed by Business Access, but working 100% for the Client. This service was most sought after by the clients and their references speak for themselves.

Currently, Business Access India employs 20 persons with a strong educational background and sound industry experience,  operating from our well-equipped office in Mumbai . Over the last 26 years, Business Access has assisted over 120 Nordic companies (70+ from Finland alone) across various sectors such as electronics, engineering, medical, metals and alloys, heavy engineering, automobile, environment, textiles and garments, wood & forest, telecom and energy, chemicals, interiors, plastics and packaging, construction, engineering services, IT, Construction etc.

The clientele includes prominent names like Normet, Teknos, Flowrox, Konecranes, Eltete TPM, Loval, Merivaara, Icare World, Stalatube and many more. This stands as a testament to the company’s commitment to fostering successful collaborations between Nordic and Indian businesses.

Looking ahead, our future goal is simple – to keep assisting more companies in their Internationalization efforts. Being an ISO 9001:2015 certified company, we are dedicated to providing high quality tailor-made services that resonates in every success story we help create.