What is the key to growing a family business? With the advent of globalisation and technology, what are the new models providing far more promising opportunities? Dr Parimal Merchant (Director – Global Family Managed Business, SP Jain School of Global Management) shares his insights in Hindustan Times, one of India’s leading publications.
The article, published on January 8, 2020, highlights the three distinct stages in the evolution of any business – ‘Doing’, ‘Managing’ and ‘Growth’. Explaining the process, Dr Parimal Merchant writes, “One starts a business with oneself doing all the tasks, right from getting orders to execution and recovering money. This is also ‘survival’ stage. As the business grows one tends to employ help to do some of the tasks. At that stage, the owner’s role is to ensure that people know what they are supposed to do and then they do what they are supposed to do. That is the stage of management. It is also ‘profit’ stage. Many of the family businesses get stuck at this stage. However, the next stage is the stage of growth. It is important that every family business learns how to get into this stage and navigate through, as at this stage the rules of the game change substantially.”