{"id":16681,"date":"2015-04-16T19:25:19","date_gmt":"2015-04-16T23:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing.html"},"modified":"2015-04-16T19:25:19","modified_gmt":"2015-04-16T23:25:19","slug":"lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/","title":{"rendered":"Lotus Group Oversees Many Businesses In The Area And Will Continue Growing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\"lotusgroup\n<\/div>\n
Ash Anand is CEO of Lotus Group, which has varied business interests in the area\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

BY BARBARA PINCKNEY<\/p>\n

Business consulting, construction, property
\nmanagement, herbal supplements and auto
\nrepair. The Lotus Group, a six-year-old Warrensburg
\ncompany, does all of these things. And soon, it
\nwill be adding public transportation, childcare
\nand wood pellet manufacturing to the list.<\/p>\n

“The great thing about it is, everything we do
\nhas almost no connection to one another,” said
\nAsh Anand, the 37-year-old CEO of Lotus Group.
\n“That is by choice. And I can tell you one thing,
\nI am not stopping at this point.”<\/p>\n

Lotus employs about 20 people at its River
\nStreet headquarters, and about 300 more in an
\noffice in India. But Anand said that, with everything
\nhe has in the works, local employment
\ncould reach 100 by the end of 2015.
\nThe transit company, which he said is 90
\npercent ready to go, would provide daily bus
\nservice between downtown Glens Falls and
\nother Warren County communities, including
\nLake George and Chestertown.<\/p>\n

“We really think there is a need,” he said.
\n“There is no such transportation today. Glens
\nFalls transportation stops at a certain point and
\npeople who live in Warrensburg or some other
\ntown cannot access any public transport.”<\/p>\n

Lotus also is about a month away from opening
\na learning day care center, which Anand
\nbelieves would be the only one in Warrensburg.
\nThe company purchased a 5,000-square-foot
\nRiver Street building that had formerly been
\nused for adult day care, and will be able to accommodate
\nup to 90 children, he said.<\/p>\n

“I am on the board of education for
\nWarrensburg School District and we are lacking
\nin after school programs, literacy programs
\n[and] homework clubs,” Anand said. “Plus there
\nis nothing here for people who don’t know what
\nto do with the kids when they go to work. So that
\nis what we’ll be getting into.”<\/p>\n

Next to open, likely later this year, will be a
\nwood pellet manufacturing plant slated for a 30-acre spot in Thurman. Anand said the company
\nwould collect brush, felled trees and other
\nyard waste from towns, saw mills, landscapers,
\nand properties Lotus itself manages, and turn
\nit into biofuel.<\/p>\n

“Every single local town has a problem getting
\nrid of the brush,” he said. “And all the trees,
\nwhere do they go? Why not reuse them to create
\nsomething that will be a little more effective in
\nmanaging your heating costs?”<\/p>\n

Anand is a true entrepreneur who is always
\nthinking of gaps he can fill. He said the funny
\nthing is that while he is in many lines of business,
\nnone of them are exactly what he studied
\nin college–accounting and finance.<\/p>\n

He was working as a banker seven years ago
\nwhen he was hired as a consultant for a large
\ncompany. This opened his eyes to opportunity,
\nand in 2009 he started Lotus Analytics, which
\nin his words is “basically a ‘business doctor.’ ”<\/p>\n

“We work with a lot of businesses–small,
\nmedium, large,” he said. “It’s not just a matter
\nof telling them [what they are doing that is]
\ngood or bad, it is finding a solution to fix the
\nbad. Ultimately the whole idea is to make the
\nbusinesses that work with us profitable and
\nimprove their operational skills.”<\/p>\n

Lotus Analytics provides help with human resources,
\nlogistics, marketing, inventory, finance,
\nand just about every other aspect of running a
\nbusiness. Anand said it is the only company in
\nthe country that offers such a broad array of
\nservices to the restaurant and retail industry, its
\nlargest client category. Other industries served
\ninclude technology and health care.<\/p>\n

The company currently serves clients in 31
\nstates and Canada. Anand said all of the growth
\nhas been through word of mouth. He estimated
\nthat Lotus Analytics has spent less than $200
\non advertising in the past six years.<\/p>\n

As time went on, Anand realized that if he
\nwas successful in telling others how to run
\ntheir businesses, he could run businesses
\ntoo. He decided to start a firm, called Lotus
\nConstruction, to build new homes and restore historic properties. A side business, Lotus Support
\nServices, manages about 60 commercial
\nand residential properties, including hotels and
\nvacation homes.<\/p>\n

The next business Anand started was more
\npersonal. He is a diabetic, as are all the members
\nof his immediate family. When they could
\nnot find a product without chemicals or side
\neffects, Anand did his own research and created
\nan herbal supplement, giving birth to Lotus Nutraceuticals.<\/p>\n

The business now produces a full
\nline of dietary supplements, including formulas
\nfor people with arthritis and high cholesterol.
\n“Every product we make has a very minimal
\nnumber of ingredients, and they are highly
\nspecialized,” Anand said. “One ingredient in
\nour diabetes formula is so rare it is only found
\nin four places in the entire world.”<\/p>\n

Lotus Nutraceuticals did a soft launch in
\n2013, on the website Lotusforlife.com, and officially
\nopened last year. The products are also
\navailable on Amazon.com and other sites, and
\nAnand said the company is “in the process of
\ngetting together with some of major big box
\nretailers.”<\/p>\n

The final division of the Lotus Group, at this
\npoint, is Lotus Auto Xperts. The automotive
\nrepair shop, at 98 River St. in Warrensburg,
\nhad been a client of Lotus Analytics. When
\nthe owner decided to give up, Anand bought
\nthe shop.<\/p>\n

Each Lotus Group division has its own manager,
\nall of whom report to Anand. Support functions,
\nsuch as accounting and human resources,
\nare centralized to take advantage of economies
\nof scale. By keeping costs low “you have room
\nto experiment,” Anand said.<\/p>\n

He said he is not concerned about growing
\ntoo fast in too many directions. As he sees it,
\nthe keys to success are believing in yourself and
\nthe talents of the people around you, sticking to
\nyour plan and not being afraid to fail.<\/p>\n

“From an entrepreneurial standpoint look
\nat it this way–I can do 12 things, maybe four
\nwill fail,” he said. “But eight are successful so
\nyou can branch off of that. The best part is you
\nlearn as you go. I am not a transportation guy,
\nbut today I am having to learn everything about
\npublic transport. It makes us more knowledgeable
\nas each day goes by.”<\/p>\n

Photo Photo\/Todd Bissonette Photography<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ash Anand is CEO of Lotus Group, which has varied business interests in the area BY BARBARA PINCKNEY Business consulting, construction, property management, herbal supplements and auto repair. The Lotus Group, a six-year-old Warrensburg company, does all of these…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[66,136],"yoast_head":"\r\nLotus Group Oversees Many Businesses In The Area And Will Continue Growing - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lotus Group Oversees Many Businesses In The Area And Will Continue Growing - Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ash Anand is CEO of Lotus Group, which has varied business interests in the area BY BARBARA PINCKNEY Business consulting, construction, property management, herbal supplements and auto repair. The Lotus Group, a six-year-old Warrensburg company, does all of these...\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-16T23:25:19+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2015\/04\/lotusgroup20v20c.jpg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amanda Delyser\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amanda Delyser\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/\",\"name\":\"Lotus Group Oversees Many Businesses In The Area And Will Continue Growing - Glens Falls Business Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-16T23:25:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-16T23:25:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/9d7e187e0edba5e188b14052e66c4fc5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lotus Group Oversees Many Businesses In The Area And Will Continue Growing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/\",\"name\":\"Glens Falls Business Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/9d7e187e0edba5e188b14052e66c4fc5\",\"name\":\"Amanda Delyser\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4192a4b199506cdd7a2d2166c1a16dd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4192a4b199506cdd7a2d2166c1a16dd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Amanda Delyser\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/author\/amandadelyser\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lotus Group Oversees Many Businesses In The Area And Will Continue Growing - Glens Falls Business Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lotus Group Oversees Many Businesses In The Area And Will Continue Growing - Glens Falls Business Journal","og_description":"Ash Anand is CEO of Lotus Group, which has varied business interests in the area BY BARBARA PINCKNEY Business consulting, construction, property management, herbal supplements and auto repair. The Lotus Group, a six-year-old Warrensburg company, does all of these...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/","og_site_name":"Glens Falls Business Journal","article_published_time":"2015-04-16T23:25:19+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2015\/04\/lotusgroup20v20c.jpg"}],"author":"Amanda Delyser","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amanda Delyser","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/","url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/","name":"Lotus Group Oversees Many Businesses In The Area And Will Continue Growing - Glens Falls Business Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-04-16T23:25:19+00:00","dateModified":"2015-04-16T23:25:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/9d7e187e0edba5e188b14052e66c4fc5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2015\/04\/lotus-group-oversees-many-businesses-in-the-area-and-will-continue-growing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lotus Group Oversees Many Businesses In The Area And Will Continue Growing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/","name":"Glens Falls Business Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/9d7e187e0edba5e188b14052e66c4fc5","name":"Amanda Delyser","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4192a4b199506cdd7a2d2166c1a16dd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4192a4b199506cdd7a2d2166c1a16dd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Amanda Delyser"},"url":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/author\/amandadelyser\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16681"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16681\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}