Importance of Family Business Management

Ready to be at the wheel?
March 10 and 11, 2018 gave aspiring and budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to connect and collaborate. As the best and brightest minds came together and brainstormed on on how to fuel their business growth. It is the most important aspect in any of the business. The conference at IIT Mumbai brought together the best breed of entrepreneurs, innovators, venture capitalists, business model creators, consultants, policy-makers, academicians, and business practitioners to present and discuss innovation and success under the aegis of entrepreneurship for Small and Medium Businesses.

Over the past decade or so, in the dilemma between joining family owned businesses and higher studies. The scales have been tipping towards entrepreneurship and joining family owned businesses.

Let us explore the genesis and the reason why:

The Genesis
Today, family-owned businesses account for two-thirds of the world’s businesses and generate most of the world’s economic output, employment and wealth. In many regions of the world, family companies dominate the economy. “Family-controlled firms now make up 19% of the companies in the Fortune Global 500,” states The Economist. In India alone, 67% businesses are family run. McKinsey forecasts, that by 2025,there will be more than 15,000 companies worldwide with at least $1 billion in annual revenues, of which 37% will be emerging-market family firms.

The need
There is a need for Family Business Management Programs whether you are in a successful family business or you are into a business facing challenges and trying to bring about a changeover.

Successful family business:

Successful family businesses are successful because families see important changes in their industry. Simply put, successful families are entrepreneurial. Also,families succeed because they invest in productive activities, emphasise growing assets, and consume relatively little of their wealth. These families maintain a culture that encourages family members to create things of lasting value. It’s not surprising that these families encourage entrepreneurs. Furthermore,successful families remain reasonably united, keeping supportive members loyal to one another and to the family’s mission. Over generations, as families become more diverse, it is likely that only a few relatives per generation will directly work in the business.

Outside-the-business members might still support family philanthropic efforts or social activities, and sometimes that level of involvement is enough to maintain family unity. But investing in family entrepreneurs can also keep talented members contributing to the broader family’s wealth and mission. Investing in family entrepreneurs has to be done objectively based on the feasibility of their business plans, and also fairly within the family. Even if some entrepreneurial projects don’t succeed, these investments will help you spot talent to keep your business growing. And you are sending an important message: this family is committed to creating value.

Family businesses – facing challenges
While family businesses on average are stronger performers than other types of enterprise, they face distinct challenges that need to be managed. This constraint often kills the family business.

This creates the need for a course of study in Family Business Management that helps students understand how to capitalize on the strengths, navigate the challenges, and guard against the weaknesses of the companies and the families that own them.

How is Family Business Management program different from an MBA in Entrepreneurship?
Both Family Business Management and an MBA in Entrepreneurship prepare you for setting up and gearing your own business. However, there is a subtle difference. Unlike MBA in Entrepreneurship which prepares students for a setting up a business, the Family Business Management programme is targeted at family business owners looking to sustain, scale and grow their businesses. The content and pedagogy includes concepts of entrepreneurship, business sustainability, market trends which thereby lead to portfolio expansion and business growth. The program would help you evaluate the state of your family businesses and gear you towards accelerating your business to the next level.

Colleges/Institutes for Entrepreneurial Management
Xavier School of Management (XLRI),Jamshedpur, offering a full-time six-month Post Graduate Programme for Certificate in Entrepreneurship Management (PGPCEM).

Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Gandhinagar,offering a two-year, full-time, residential Post Graduate Diploma in Management-Business Entrepreneurship (PGDM-BE).

SP Jain Institute of Management and Research – Mumbai,Start Your Business Certification Program (SYB), Grow Your Business Certification Program (GYB), The Entrepreneurial Manager (TEM).

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies,Mumbai,M.B.A in Social Entrepreneurship

Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship – Bangalore, offering one year Entrepreneurial Development Programme (EDP)

Nirma Institute of Management,Ahmedabad,offering regular two-year MBA specialising in Family Business & Entrepreneurship.

Amity Business School,Noida, offering two year M.B.A in Entrepreneurship

IIM, Bangalore, specialization in Entrepreneurs & Family Businesses.

IIM Udaipur, Management Development Program for Women Entrepreneurs.

National Institute for Entrepreneurship & Small Business Development (NIESBUD), Delhi
The NIESBUD is an apex institute in the area of entrepreneurship and small business development under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India. It oversees the activities of various institutions and agencies engaged in entrepreneurship development, particularly in the area of small industry and small business. It also provides numerous training and development courses for budding entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Making the right choice:
In the world of family business, the entrepreneurs we celebrate are usually founders of companies. If you wish to be a founder of a company, start your new venture and learn how to navigate, go in for a pure MBA in Entrepreneurship. However, if you wish to join your family business and are supposed to take care of and grow the founder’s creation, you are not expected to be entrepreneurs but to understand and carry forward the vision of the founder,an MBA in Entrepreneurship would be more helpful.

Therefore, it is imperative that you make the right and informed choice…

Are these mutually exclusive?
If this makes you think that family business management programs are incompatible to entrepreneurship. The reason is because they are for students who are in family businesses that are usually tradition-bound, multi- generational. Let me tell you, we need to blur the lines here. The family businesses need to be more entrepreneurial. They need to pass on the entrepreneurial mindset and capabilities. To create new streams of wealth across many generations- not just pass the business on from one generation to the next. We need to come up with the concept of ‘family entrepreneurship’. When a leadership transition occurs in a family business, the new generation of leadership should be careful to maintain and build on the networks and knowledge of the former leaders, while expanding their own networks. This will insure that the business can continue to be entrepreneurial into the future.

More Freedom With an Online Business

Wouldn’t you want to wake up when ever you want, spend more time with your children, hang out at home or go to the mall when ever you want? Wouldn’t you want to sleep in as much as you want or take a vacation if you want? Would you like to have more control over your life? Would you like to dictate when and how to work? If you answered yes to these questions, the solution is starting an online business. When you start an online business, you get a lot of business and flexibility and freedom. You pretty much own your time. You don’t have to worry about clocking in somewhere, working 9 to 5 or whatever the regular schedule is. You can pretty much do what you want. You can go offsite, hang out at Starbucks while working or work while enjoying the sun at the beach. The good news is that online business owners have done this ahead of you and they are doing it now. There is nothing stopping you from joining you. If you are still not convinced, here are the top 3 reasons why you should start an online business.1. Future-proof
It is easier to future-proof your online business than an offline one. With an offline business, your costs are fixed. Office rents, insurance and employee costs are fixed. The problem is when businesses go through up and down cycles, you might get crushed. In other words, you didn’t contingency-proof your business. With an online business, you have a lot more of flexibility with your costs so you can take more shocks. More importantly, you can adapt to these changes. So your business survives through the challenges.2. Your personal life
You can devote more time to your passions when you don’t have to stick to a schedule or report to a particular office. You can learn a new skill, go back to school, spend more time with your children, put in more time with your church or anything that is important to you when you have an online business. Your online business makes money while you are sleeping.3. Scalability and flexibility
Some online businesses are more scalable and flexible than others. Some allow you to work only once but make money many times over based on that one time you worked. For example, if you sell online books, you only worked once to write, but you make money many times over when people buy it. Do you see where I am going with this? So you have to figure out a way if you want greatest freedom and flexibility to scale up your business in such a way that you don’t have to work again to produce that income. There are many business models online that meet this need.

Online Business Systems – Having The Proper Mindset, A Critical Key To Success

When it comes to online business systems being the only reason for an individuals Internet marketing success I have discovered over many years as an Internet marketer that there are other critical keys to the overall success of your Internet business endeavor. One of the most important of these keys is having or developing the proper winning mindset.It is a fact that there are many different online business systems that have the potential to make an online marketer a lot of money. I feel that many marketers incorrectly place more reliance on the system itself than having or developing the right mindset critical to the success of their chosen Internet business model or system.If you are interested in finding out what winning qualities that you will need to have or develop be successful. I have listed 4 of the most important ones below for your examination.1. Have a burning desire to succeedFor your online business system to work as advertised you must have or develop the burning desire to succeed. No matter what inspires you to run a business online whether it is to earn a lot of money, change your job, work from home, to be independent or be your own boss Whatever your reason is, you have to be sure that you believe in it enough for it to motivate you The reason should be the fuel to your fire to be successful for the life of your business.2. Focus on your online business systemOne of the hardest things for individuals new to Internet marketing to do is to stay focused on the Internet business system of their choice.Because there are so many different ones from affiliate marketing to email marketing to video marketing and so many more the new marketer can easily find themselves jumping from one method to another. While it is important to choose an Internet business model that will work for you one that you feel comfortable using, you should not fall into the rut of trying every new marketing opportunity or new method that comes across your path.Keep in mind that there will always be many slick new sales pitches for the next big web business opportunity but you only have so many hours in a day to concentrate on your one online endeavor. Since you only need one successful method focus your efforts on what you set your sight on and give it your best. You will not regret it.3. Develop patienceDon’t believe the misconception that running an online business system will make you rich over night. This is a rare occurrence if it happens at all. All new Internet marketers should prepare themselves to pay their dues so to speak.All online marketers have go through a learning curve that is involved with the online marketing system they will choose. They will also need to learn how to apply what they learn. This will take some more time and effort when done correctly.So if you don’t have patience learn how to develop it as part of a wining mindset to your internet business success.4. Taking action and committing to itWhile the first 3 elements mentioned above are critical to a winning mindset and successful online business system, without action and commitment they are all pretty much useless. The Internet marketer must be ready and willing to take immediate and decisive action to implement what they learn. Knowledge is power only if you apply it correctly and in a timely manner. Once they begin to take action the Internet marketer must make a strong commitment to stick with it in a consistent manner.Once an online marketer learns to develop and use the positive qualities mentioned above along with their online business system they will have mastered another key to online business success.