Family Businesses in India: Success Secrets & Future Generations

Mumbai, Feb 21 (PTI) Family businesses in India have been able to survive for centuries as succeeding generations have been given the freedom to create their own ideas, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group Vice-Chairman Shashwat Goenka said on Friday.

Speaking at a session 'The Next Generation-making businesses better" on the opening day of the two-day ABP Network's Ideas of India 2025 summit, Goenka also said along with work-life balance it is also important to understand that there are times when one needs to work more.

Larsen & Toubro Chairman S N Subrahmanyan last month said that he wanted his employees to work on Sundays too, which led to widespread criticism on social media and debate about work-life balance.

"Whenever you look at family businesses and globally, there are case studies on this, they usually say the first generation starts to create, the second generation builds, and the third generation destroys. And I think the reason why we've been able to, and a lot of family businesses in India particularly, are able to do this (surviving business beyond the third generation) over centuries is because they give each generation the freedom to create along with growing what they have," Goenka said.

"I think for us, like when we started off, it's about growing the legacies that we have and creating new legacies for future generations. If you look at our group, each generation has, of course, grown what they've inherited and taken it into new areas," he said.

What they've also done is setting up their own start-ups and creating their own businesses as well, Goenka said and added, "So it's that way being, not just preserving and growing what you inherit, but also creating your own legacy, creating your own businesses and growing those businesses.".

The Kolkata-headquartered R P Sanjiv Goenka Group in its current form came into being in 2011 but it has foundations of the Goenka family's 200 years of history in Indian business.

The conglomerate has its presence across industries and sectors including power, chemicals, consumer and retail, media and entertainment, sports, education and infrastructure among others.

"It's also crucial to recognise that there are times when you need to put in extra work. Ultimately, it's not about the number of hours you work, but how productive you are during that time," he said.

The ABP Network's Ideas of India 2025, centred on the theme 'Humanity's Next Frontier' brings together a confluence of ideas by global thought leaders, intellectuals, and change-makers.