Family Business: AN IN-DEPTH SURVEY of family businesses in India conducted recently has some

interesting insights into how such businesses plan to grow in future. The PwC

India Family Business Survey 2019 shows that nearly 60% of companies with a

turnover of more than $20 million were present in multiple countries in one

sector (35%) or multiple sectors (24%), reinforcing the belief that as companies

increase in size, a key facilitator of growth is expansion into new markets or

territories. The survey points out that this, perhaps, is why 78% of family

businesses in India currently export their goods or services and 89% plan to do

so over the next five years. “On an average, foreign sales account for 25% of the

turnover for companies in India (26% globally) and in five years, this is

expected to rise to 34% (33% globally),” it notes.

These findings assume particular significance when seen in the context of

Bajaj Auto—the world’s third-largest motorcycle company with a top line of

`30,000-crore—which is helmed by Rajiv Bajaj, the older son of group patriarch

Rahul Bajaj. Bajaj Auto currently exports as much as 40% of its products

and, consequently, likes to call itself “The World’s Favourite Indian”, a tagline

it chose after decades of using the iconic earlier one, “Hamara Bajaj”. The new

tagline reinforces the company’s strategy of exports being a key element of its

growth strategy. Rajiv Bajaj tells deputy editor Aveek Datta, who travelled to

Pune to piece together the cover story for this issue, that the origins of this

export-driven strategy lay in what Rahul Bajaj told him: “Do what you think

is best, but be the best in what you do.” In other words, Bajaj Auto should be

world class and that could happen when the company exports 20% of its products.

There are other interesting stories too. Happy Reading!