Decoding Ahmedabad's next-gen family businesses
This fortnight's issue is the first in a series of family businesses from pockets of enterprise that have been built over decades, even centuries. We start with Gujarat, where Ahmedabad has emerged over time as a city of entrepreneurs, and scions from subsequent generations have picked up the baton
If only a fraction of family businesses does indeed survive till the third generation—as a few studies have claimed in the past—the Indian ones may well be bucking the trend. Over the past three to four decades, the Burmans, Godrejs, Birlas, Tatas and, more recently, the Ambanis, to name just a handful of large conglomerates, have demonstrated that legacy values and culture can indeed walk hand-in-hand with change and new opportunities.
Sure, there are examples of legacy businesses either struggling to adapt or running out of able successors, but if family businesses are estimated to contribute between 60 and 70 percent to annual GDP, it’s primarily because many of them have thrived beyond the third generation.
There are a bunch of traditional family businesses that have consolidated in the regions they took shape in. Today in the digital age of interconnectivity, being in the big cities matters less, and you could be running a business out of Vadodara in Gujarat or Kala Amb in Himachal that’s complemented by a sizeable international operation.
Then, there are brands that have become regional warriors—think Aava Water of Ahmedabad or Suguna Foods of Coimbatore—and are now creating a national footprint.
This fortnight’s issue is the first in a series of family businesses from pockets of enterprise that have been built over decades, even centuries. We start with Gujarat, where Ahmedabad has emerged over time as a city of entrepreneurs, and scions from subsequent generations have picked up the baton.
