Entrepreneurs throw light on challenges faced by family businesses

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Vijayawada Zone organised a public session on ‘Managing family business in crisis- Building resilience in business & family’ as part of its annual meeting here on February 21 (Wednesday). Participating in the event, Vanitha Datla, vice-chairperson and MD of Elico Limited, a leading provider of R&D and manufacturing services to global analytical instrument companies, said the generation gap in family businesses was a matter of concern as it was impeding growth. But it was not an insurmountable hurdle. 

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Vijayawada Zone organised a public session on ‘Managing family business in crisis- Building resilience in business & family’ as part of its annual meeting here on February 21 (Wednesday). 

Participating in the event, Vanitha Datla, vice-chairperson and MD of Elico Limited, a leading provider of R&D and manufacturing services to global analytical instrument companies, said the generation gap in family businesses was a matter of concern as it was impeding growth. But it was not an insurmountable hurdle. 

She insisted that merit and efficiency, rather than entitlement, should be the norm if family businesses were to thrive, while pointing out that family-owned companies were more resilient than professionally managed firms during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The first generation entrepreneurs might be on a sound footing but they ought to have proper succession plans to flourish in the long run. 

On the other hand, the young generation has to fight for their space instead of expecting things to be served on a platter, and be innovative and adept in warding off the multi-faceted challenges that come their way, Ms. Vanitha said. 

Efftronics Systems Private Limited MD D. Ramakrishna gave insights into his decades-long entrepreneurial journey and the challenges he faced in offering automated system, digital transformation, control network, printed circuit board design, cybersecurity and cloud computing solutions to clients in India and abroad.  

Pushpit Garg, director of Pushpit Steels Private Limited, said that proper onboarding of Gen-Z was critical to the sustenance of family businesses. The session was moderated by Better Castings CEO J.S.R.K. Prasad.