I would really like to begin my article this time by asking you all a question: ‘Who are the Indian entrepreneurs whose story inspires you the most?’ I cannot be a 100 per cent sure what will run through your mind on hearing this question, but I am quite confident that most of you will have at least any one of J.R.D. Tata or N.R. Narayana Murthy or Dhirubhai Ambani or Laxmi Mittal or Kishore Biyani or Kiran Mazumdar Shaw or Azim Premji or Sunil Mittal on your list, if not all! Have you ever thought of what is the one thing that is common to all of them? Apart from the fact that all of these are first generation entrepreneurs and built their businesses from scratch, they have all built businesses that will live forever — long after they themselves have gone. More than building businesses, they have actually built institutions, which will benefit not only their own families, but also a whole lot of other people. They are leaving an inheritance not only of money, but of values, aspirations and goals!
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| Anurag Batra |
But when I go to various entrepreneur forums today and see the buzz that the word, ‘entrepreneurship’, has created, I sometimes wonder if the entrepreneurs of today ever think of leaving behind an inheritance? In today’s time, when creating a business is as simple as building a website, does the idea of inheritance, legacy, values even cross the young generation’s mind? Do they ever think about building businesses that will last forever? I strongly feel that they do not!
With the idea of inheritance also comes a very basic, but pertinent, idea: ‘Will my children follow in my footsteps? Will they take care of what I am creating today?’ I still remember our times, when it was quite natural for a child to choose a profession similar to that of his/her father. Options were limited and, thus, it was an obvious choice to become an engineer if your father was an engineer, or a businessman if your dad ran his own business. But in this ever changing, fast moving world, when opinions are formed and choices are made as young as five years, is it easy for entrepreneurs to make their kids follow in their footsteps?
According to a research study detailed in the book, Entrepreneurship: Theory, Process and Practice, by Donald F. Kuratko, many privately held firms cease to exist after ten years, and only three out of ten survive into a second generation. More importantly, only 16 per cent of all privately held enterprises make it to a third generation!
But are we talking just about inheritance in terms of money here? No. I am also worried about the aspect of inheritance that involves the thought of ownership, of values, of a sense of belonging. This quote by Benjamin Disraeli sums up my idea about inheritance: "The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example."
Do entrepreneurs ever wonder whether the people who are running the business with them right now will run it with the same passion and dedication once they are gone? Do they own the business? Do they feel that they are a part of it? A successful entrepreneur, who is also a very good friend, once told me that hiring a professional manager is always a more sound business decision than hiring a family manager. That’s because you can’t fire a family manager even if they don’t have a sense of belonging to ‘your dream, your ideas!’
I remember when ‘I’ and ‘we’ started; ‘my’ and ‘our’ ideas of Exchange4media were different. The plan which ‘I’ and ‘we’ had was much ahead of time and space and, thus, it did not work out. But we were quite open to adapting our plans and Exchange4media today stands as a leader in its space. I accept that none of us ever thought about the idea of inheritance — probably, we were too busy creating and running the show! Today, when we have completed ten years in this ever growing and extremely competitive market, where we have seen competition rising every year, I feel we have contributed through our business and have created a unique space for ourselves, which people would like to own and run in the future. I am not sure if my son and daughter would though!
I think one should think about all these ideas to build businesses that are immortal and go beyond personal identities. Only then will our future generations remember the names of the entrepreneurs of today. Otherwise, only the legacy of the Tatas, Ambanis and Jindals will be recalled forever!
‘Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance.’
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Anurag Batra is real life, first-generation entrepreneur who is Much Below Average (MBA) from the prestigious Management Development Institute, MDI. When he is not busy writing such columns, he can be reached at anuragbatrayo@gmail.com. Anurag is the founder and editor-in-chief of exchange4media group which includes exchange4media.com.
To write to the author, please send an email to dare@cybermedia.co.in with the subject line 'Anurag Batra'.
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are that of the author and do not represent the magazine's.
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