ET BureauCHENNAI: Times would have been a lot different in 1974 when Mithun Sacheti’s parents started niche jewellery store Jaipur Gems in Mumbai. But when the 37-year-old son decided to start his own online jewellery portal CaratLane in 2007 from Chennai, having a legacy did come to his aid. Having overseen the South India expansion of his family business, Sacheti had an advantage which a first generation entrepreneur might not get most times – a head start.
Starting up could be a rough journey initially, but for a bunch of founders, the legacy of having a family business has helped in making it smoother. To dodge many mistakes that were likely to be committed and to start off with sound business knowledge, they note the legacy has helped.
“Coming from the family business, the knowledge about merchandise we had was unparalleled compared to somebody who didn't have a background. It helps to avoid some of the most elementary mistakes in a business. Innovation becomes easier,” said Sacheti. One of the first companies to take jewellery online, CaratLane has seen a 75% CAGR over six years. Currently in the process of being acquired by Titan, the company had raised Rs 185 crore from Tiger Global in 2015.
“Taking a new challenge was exciting, but less risky for me possibly than a first generation entrepreneur. You don't have a family that would starve if it doesn’t take off,” Sacheti quips.
Steady and slow paced family businesses might not always strike a chord with the next generations who want to disrupt, but still could be a strong foundation to them. When Sakshi Vij wanted to introduce the concept of selfdrive in India, it was the learnings from her family business-Carzonrent-that helped. In 2013 she launched Myles, India’s first self-drive car rental company, which today has a presence in 250 locations across 21 cities with a fleet of over 1000 cars.
“The association with Carzonrent helped me to understand consumer psyche and how important it is to understand policies and regulations. Myles has been able to draw strength from the network of Carzonrent, a lot of learnings about the self-drive industry came from the brands it represented,” she said. Knowledge about growth, raising capital and attracting the right talent – Sakshi goes on with an elaborate list of take-aways.
A family that was into modular kitchens and wardrobes helped Gurgaon native Avijit Marwah not only with industry knowledge and networks, but also with an established manufacturing unit when he started his own online furniture company Modspace.in.
“Since we had an established manufacturing unit, we could control the quality as well as the cost. Our existing family business had already set up the manufacturing, the operation and the complete back end,” he noted.
What Aakash Chaudhry gained was an audience in hand to validate his location enabled social app Flynk. Chaudhry, son of J C Chaudhry who founded Aakash Educational Services, launched the app to help parents track their children after receiving several calls on the helpline numbers at the coaching institutes.
“The usual roadblock is to experiment and understand the efficacy of the new app. We had an audience to see if this is going to really benefit. We had complete ecosystem resources, industry knowledge, captive audience and of course financial capabilities to support the development of this application,” he said.
However experts note that startups with a legacy could come with a different set of challenges. According to Chandu Nair, startup advisor and charter member of TiE Chennai, the baggage of family business could overwhelm the aspirations of a startup.
“Startups require a lot of nimbleness, experimentation and agility which usually family businesses hesitate to have. To keep an arm’s length from the family business becomes a challenge for many startups. It can spill over to the personal domain as well. If a startup can balance domain experience, tech talent and external funding, without being joined at the hip of the family business, only then it’s right mix,” he said.
Starting up could be a rough journey initially, but for a bunch of founders, the legacy of having a family business has helped in making it smoother. To dodge many mistakes that were likely to be committed and to start off with sound business knowledge, they note the legacy has helped.
“Coming from the family business, the knowledge about merchandise we had was unparalleled compared to somebody who didn't have a background. It helps to avoid some of the most elementary mistakes in a business. Innovation becomes easier,” said Sacheti. One of the first companies to take jewellery online, CaratLane has seen a 75% CAGR over six years. Currently in the process of being acquired by Titan, the company had raised Rs 185 crore from Tiger Global in 2015.
“Taking a new challenge was exciting, but less risky for me possibly than a first generation entrepreneur. You don't have a family that would starve if it doesn’t take off,” Sacheti quips.
Steady and slow paced family businesses might not always strike a chord with the next generations who want to disrupt, but still could be a strong foundation to them. When Sakshi Vij wanted to introduce the concept of selfdrive in India, it was the learnings from her family business-Carzonrent-that helped. In 2013 she launched Myles, India’s first self-drive car rental company, which today has a presence in 250 locations across 21 cities with a fleet of over 1000 cars.
“The association with Carzonrent helped me to understand consumer psyche and how important it is to understand policies and regulations. Myles has been able to draw strength from the network of Carzonrent, a lot of learnings about the self-drive industry came from the brands it represented,” she said. Knowledge about growth, raising capital and attracting the right talent – Sakshi goes on with an elaborate list of take-aways.
A family that was into modular kitchens and wardrobes helped Gurgaon native Avijit Marwah not only with industry knowledge and networks, but also with an established manufacturing unit when he started his own online furniture company Modspace.in.
“Since we had an established manufacturing unit, we could control the quality as well as the cost. Our existing family business had already set up the manufacturing, the operation and the complete back end,” he noted.
What Aakash Chaudhry gained was an audience in hand to validate his location enabled social app Flynk. Chaudhry, son of J C Chaudhry who founded Aakash Educational Services, launched the app to help parents track their children after receiving several calls on the helpline numbers at the coaching institutes.
“The usual roadblock is to experiment and understand the efficacy of the new app. We had an audience to see if this is going to really benefit. We had complete ecosystem resources, industry knowledge, captive audience and of course financial capabilities to support the development of this application,” he said.
However experts note that startups with a legacy could come with a different set of challenges. According to Chandu Nair, startup advisor and charter member of TiE Chennai, the baggage of family business could overwhelm the aspirations of a startup.
“Startups require a lot of nimbleness, experimentation and agility which usually family businesses hesitate to have. To keep an arm’s length from the family business becomes a challenge for many startups. It can spill over to the personal domain as well. If a startup can balance domain experience, tech talent and external funding, without being joined at the hip of the family business, only then it’s right mix,” he said.
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