From talking about how children need to be provided the right exposure for family businesses to growing them, entrepreneurs Sunil Kant Munjal, Ajay S Shriram and Venu Srinivasan reveal what they expect from Union Budget 2020. By Chahak Mittal
Once my uncles came around to the idea of manufacturing, a confident, Yeh bhi kar lenge (We can do this too), pledge resounded around the Munjal residence and workplace. It was, of course, easier said than done.’ The lines from Sunil Kant Munjal’s book The Making of HERO: Four Brothers, Two Wheels and a Revolution that Shaped India in more ways than one sum up the can-do attitude of the business family. Unveiled recently by former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, it traces the journey of how Munjal brothers created the business empire after losing everything amid the brutality of Partition.
The panel discussion organised by the publisher, Harper Collins, had the likes of Sanjiv Goenka, Venu Srinivasan, Ajay S Shriram along with the author and was moderated by Dr Prannoy Roy. They discussed how family businesses sustain, survive and grow over the passage of years and change in generations. Munjal, who is the youngest son of Hero group founder Brijmohan Lall Munjal, and chairman of Hero enterprise, said, “The way a family uses the given resources actually determines the future of its growth. If a child sees his elders doing certain things, it becomes an individual’s second nature, more than even a habit, especially when it concerns family businesses. Hence, the tradition continues. We have to appreciate every little thing that goes into the making and growth of family businesses. For instance, I observed how my father wouldn’t let anybody else pick up his office bag. He always did it himself since he felt that it was his work. So there are these little things that add up and become a big idea.”
Talking about how building family relationships boost businesses, Ajay S Shriram, chairman and director, DCM Shriram, said, “When it reaches the fifth generation, a lot of it has already changed. So trust and passing on the legacy the right way is very crucial for a family business to grow. There are certain families for whom money becomes god. And at that moment, the family needs to stop and think, look after itself and restructure its plans, otherwise it will get shattered into pieces. It’s not always possible that business profits also lead to personal gains.”
Venu Srinivasan, chairman of the TVS Group, added that passing on the right values to future generations is crucial in helping family businesses grow. “Maintaining families and grand businesses together isn’t as easy. There are also some families who send off their children abroad to get the right exposure before they completely get into the business. This not only helps them acquire the right skill set but they are also able to pitch modern and innovative business ideas which the seniors might not have thought of.”
Moving further, the panel also delved into the long-standing debate on merit versus inheritance. Munjal pointed out, “Inheritance is not just limited to businesses or politicians. It is there in every profession. Be it lawyers, doctors, actors, engineers, and even journalists, to some extent. And this is because the conversation about that particular profession or work goes on long after one has reached home. For instance, parents often come home and relate incidents from their workplace to their children. As I said, the youngsters learn what they see. Looking at their elders, the children tend to follow the same track. And many a times, there are cases when the child doesn’t want to follow the most common family profession or does something of his/her own. But there’s no hard and fast rule that a businessman’s son would be a businessman too or a doctor’s daughter would be a doctor too. The familial bond often determines the child’s preference but not always.”
The three business leaders shared personal anecdotes on how their fathers and uncles advised them to approach work. Shriram said, “I had a habit of going to my father’s factories since a very young age. For my father, work was worship. He always taught me that professional relationships are very crucial, be it between the dealer and the customer or the employer and the employee. You should always work in a way that you could create a win-win situation for both. Otherwise, it wouldn’t work.”
While Srinivasan pointed towards maintaining trust with employees, customers and family, Munjal said that one learning he paid the most attention to has been to never look at anybody as being senior or junior since one can never guess a person’s potential. “Good ideas can come from anywhere and at anytime. Just keep that in mind.”
Discussing about what the three expected from the Union Budget 2020, Shriram said, “There needs to be a special law for the development of the agricultural sector as it is suffering a lot. The policies are not moving in terms of governance or in terms of coordination with the states. A GST kind of system is needed to get all the agri ministers involved in its implementation.” Srinivasan said, “One of the most important issues that need attention is job creation. The most fundamental development drive will come from a good employment level.” On the other hand, Munjal said, “I would like to see a slippage in the fiscal deficit and that slippage moving towards the betterment of the infrastructure sector in India.”
Photo: Pankaj Kumar
