Fortune India Magazine - November 2019

In this issue

Family Business: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!