Company secretarial firms · Professional services
Be the secretarial firm a company thinks of when the board meeting is a week away.
A private limited company in Peenya has raised a round from an angel investor, and the investor's lawyer has sent a list: board resolutions, updated registers, share certificates, a shareholders' agreement to be reflected in the articles.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A company secretarial firm handles the board and shareholder side of a company: meetings, minutes, registers, annual filings with the Registrar of Companies and secretarial audit. Marketing for it puts your name in front of the promoters, CFOs and lawyers who appoint one. Sales turns a first call into a retainer. GullySales prepares the pages, the referrer notes and the enquiry record, within your Institute's rules.
The founder has not yet held a board meeting with minutes. The CA says this is a secretary's job, and that night the founder is searching for one.
Most secretarial practices grow by being the name a CA, lawyer or banker passes on. That works while those people remember you. It stops working when the company is looking at three websites that all say "ROC compliance, annual filings and secretarial audit" and nothing about the kind of company you actually look after.
Last updated 18 Oct 2026.
How buyers decide
How company secretarial firms are chosen.
For a small private company the promoter decides, after a CA, lawyer or investor names someone. The promoter wants proof that the person will turn up at the board meeting, draft minutes that match what was said and file forms before the due date without a reminder. A firm that has already handled a company with foreign shareholders or an investor round is trusted over one that has only done annual returns.
A listed company or a large group appoints through the board, on the recommendation of its Company Secretary or CFO, and asks for a secretarial auditor with a firm profile, peer review status and references. Rules on who may practise and how a practitioner may advertise sit with the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, so check its current guidance before anything is published.
The problem
What usually goes wrong for company secretarial firms.
What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.
“Companies find us only when a notice has already arrived”
The call comes after the ROC has sent a default notice, and by then the founder is worried and wants the cheapest fix, not a retainer.
“Our website lists forms and no kind of company”
It says we do incorporation, annual filings and audits, so a startup with an investor cannot tell whether we have handled a share allotment or a foreign director before.
“Annual retainers lapse quietly”
A company pays for one year, does not hear from us until the next due date and then asks whether it still needs a secretary at all.
“We depend on three CAs for most of our referrals”
When one of them takes the work in-house or moves city, the enquiries stop with no warning and we have no second source.
“Founders do not know what a secretary does”
They ask for "just the ROC work" and never learn about board minutes, registers or share transfers until the investor asks.
“Enquiries ask about price in the first message”
A founder writes to three firms for a fee for "annual compliance", and the one that answers with a clear question about the company's size wins the conversation.
What we do
What we do for company secretarial firms.
Everything included for company secretarial firms.
A page for each kind of company you look after
Separate pages for startups with investors, family companies, one person companies and companies with foreign shareholders, each naming the meetings, registers and filings that kind of company has.
A compliance calendar page owners can use
A plain page listing the recurring board meetings and annual filings a private company has, with a note that dates depend on the financial year and the company's own facts.
An introduction note for investors' lawyers
A one-page note on what you take over after an investment closes: minute books, registers, share records and filings.
A first call script
Questions to ask in the first conversation: number of directors, shareholders, any foreign money, last filings done and by whom.
A renewal record
A list of retainer clients with the next due filing, the person to call and when the engagement renews.
How the result is measured
- Enquiries by source and kind of company
- Enquiries converted to retainers
- Gap between a first enquiry and the first answer
- Retainers renewed against retainers due
- Referral sources and the work each sent
- Work done outside the retainer, such as allotments and secretarial audits
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
Every service, written for company secretarial firms
Each has its own page: what it involves for company secretarial firms, what you get, and what it is measured on.
- Lead generationFind the companies that need a secretary before a notice arrives.
- SEOAppear when a founder searches for board minutes, not only for a company secretary.
- Local SEOBe the firm a founder in your city finds when they search near them.
- Social media marketingUse LinkedIn to explain governance to the people who sign the board papers.
- Content marketingWrite the guides a founder reads before choosing who keeps the minutes.
- Buyer personasWrite down whether the founder, the CFO or the CA is the one choosing.
- CRMKeep every enquiry, quote and renewal date where a partner can see it.
- Follow-up systemsReply to the founder who asked for a fee, then call again when a quote goes quiet.
- WhatsAppTake the founder's first message on WhatsApp and answer it properly.
- Digital marketingPut your website, profile and referrers to work as one plan.
- WebsiteShow a founder which companies you serve and how to start.
Worth a page and a campaign of their own
Board and general meeting notices, agendas and minutes · Statutory registers and share certificates · Annual return and financial statement filing with the Registrar · Allotment and transfer of shares · Appointment and resignation of directors · Secretarial audit and annual compliance certificates · Foreign investment filings in general terms · Winding up and strike-off of dormant companies
Priority campaigns
Campaigns for what company secretarial firms most want to sell.
Each one planned around when your buyers decide, and measured against the baseline.
Post-investment clean-up campaign
A page and a note for founders who have just closed a round on the minute books and registers an investor will ask to see.
Notice received campaign
A calm page for companies that have received a ROC notice, explaining what to collect before calling and that outcomes depend on the facts.
New company handover campaign
A handover note kept ready for incorporation consultants and CAs who ask who can take over the board and registers work after a company is formed, within ICSI guidance.
Annual general meeting document note
A WhatsApp and email note for clients, drafted around the annual general meeting and filing, with the papers you need from them.
Dormant company campaign
A page for owners with a company that trades no more and still has to file, covering strike-off in general terms.
Beyond search
Where we reach buyers of company secretarial firms, beyond Google.
Search matters, but it is rarely the only way this industry's buyers find a supplier.
Chartered accountants and tax consultants
A note on what you take from them, so they can pass on the board and ROC side without losing the client, and a way of thanking them that your Institute allows.
Corporate lawyers and investor counsel
A list of lawyers who act in funding and shareholder deals in your city, each with the one-page investor note addressed to them.
Incorporation consultants and startup advisers
A firm that incorporates a company has little reason to run its minute books afterwards. A handover note tells it where to send the client.
Bankers and NBFC relationship managers
A borrower asked for a secretarial certificate or a charge filing turns to the relationship manager first. A short note tells the manager what you can supply.
Founders searching online
Search pages for annual compliance, board minutes and share allotment, in the places your clients are, such as Bengaluru, Pune or Coimbatore.
Who it is for
This is written for these company secretarial firms.
- Private limited companies with promoters and no in-house secretary
- Startups that have raised money from angels or venture funds
- Companies with foreign shareholders or directors
- Closely held public companies that must hold board and general meetings
- Listed small and medium companies needing a secretarial auditor
- One person companies and Section 8 companies
- Limited liability partnerships needing annual filing support
- Family business groups with several companies to keep in order
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- You want a guaranteed Google ranking or a guaranteed number of leads. Nobody honest can promise either.
- You need enquiries by next week and have nobody to answer them.
- You want posts and reach reported, not enquiries and orders.
How it works
How the work runs for company secretarial firms
The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.
- 1
Read your retainer list
Who your clients are, which came by referral, which lapsed, and which kind of company stays longest.
- 2
Pick the companies to pursue
Startups with investors, family groups or small listed companies, chosen from the work your partners like and do best.
- 3
Write the pages and the investor note
Your partners review each draft against your Institute's guidance before anything goes live.
- 4
Introductions and search pages
CAs, lawyers and incorporation firms get a note; founders typing "board minutes" or "share allotment" find a page.
- 5
Enquiry record through to renewal
Where the enquiry came from, what was quoted, who replied and the month the retainer renews.
Where this fits
Three pieces of sales work, in this order.
GullySales builds every engagement from three pieces of sales work. This page is not one of them, but the same three steps apply to the business behind it.
Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.
FAQ
Questions company secretarial firms ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Are company secretarial firms allowed to advertise?
Can marketing get us retainers rather than one-off filings?
We are a two-partner practice. Is this too big for us?
Do you handle the filings or the compliance work?
What do you need from us to begin?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Part of Professional services. See the other industries in the sector.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.