Your trusted business advisors dedicated to provide integrated business solutions that help you grow, manage wealth, fulfill your ambitions, plan succession and maintain your legacy.
As a private business, you play a pivotal role in economies worldwide. Behind the success of your family business is the indomitable entrepreneurial spirit, which spurs growth ambitions while being committed to the community. You are focussed on long-term strategic milestones - all of which are deeply rooted in your family’s values and that gives your business a unique competitive advantage. However, in today’s fast paced disruptive world, it can get challenging for your business.
That’s where PwC comes in. We are your trusted advisor who can help you to manage your ownership and growth at every stage, in a way that fits the needs of your business.
Our team of Entrepreneurial and Private Business (EPB) practitioners possess deep knowledge and experience in helping private businesses grow sustainably, enabling them to be future ready. We help you navigate the ever evolving business ecosystem and assist in achieving both business and personal ambitions.
We have witnessed a challenging year, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted lives and livelihoods to unprecedented levels. While the health and safety of their people remained top of mind, business leaders were forced to react with agility and re-prioritize, showcase character and resilience, and also reflect on their larger purpose in society. Family businesses, with their significant contribution to the global economy and employment generation, played a key role in this regard.
Our tenth Global Family Business Survey reinforces both this resilience and optimism on recovery. We reveal the current thinking—and future outlook—of family business leaders in India. Our findings show that it’s no longer enough to rely on values and legacy to propel the business forward. Tomorrow’s family business requires a new approach for lasting success—one based on accelerated digital transformation, prioritisation of sustainability goals and professional family governance.
Family businesses are most trusted and resilient. Strengthening digital capabilities, prioritizing the ESG agenda and enhancing overall family governance will be value accretive to such businesses, while further cementing their legacy for future generations.
N V Sivakumar
Leader
Entrepreneurial and Private Business
PwC India
The time to act is now if family businesses want to keep their legacy for future generations. Watch an overview of the key findings from the Global Family Business Survey 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been an extraordinary test of resilience for family businesses. Through a people-first approach that prioritised the well-being of their employees and communities, 85% enabled staff to work from home and 26% repurposed production to meet pandemic-related demand. Only one-third of family businesses had to cut dividends, and only 30% needed access to extra capital. Such resilience also extends into the outlook for the future, with 88% believing they will be back to pre-pandemic growth rates by 2022.
For more insights, as well as global peer recommendations and tips on how to get started on them, download the full report.
The pressure on all businesses to contribute to a cleaner environment and fairer society is increasing, so actions around a sustainability agenda - not just commitments - will take on a new urgency.
Family businesses have a head start to lead on sustainability. They are the most trusted form of business, are potentially more agile and are relatively free from short-term market pressures. This sets them apart as natural leaders on sustainability, a role that 68% of respondents to the survey say they are ready and willing to adopt. But there is a risk that established approaches and ways of thinking, particularly regarding what sustainability means and how family businesses are governed, could hold them back. For now, they are not prioritising ESG or sustainable practices, with only 42% currently having a developed and communicated sustainability strategy in place. This must change; as pressure increases for businesses to contribute to a better environment and society, family businesses must step forward, and take more active steps in investing in ESG and driving long-term sustainability practices.
For more insights, as well as peer recommendations and tips on how to get started on them, download the full report.
The pandemic demolished any lingering doubts about the benefits of digital transformation. Digitalised services became the norm overnight, and businesses with established digital capabilities fared better than those that had to scramble to keep up. This was true for family businesses, as well. Those with strong digital capabilities and access to good data performed better than others.
But these businesses are the minority. Although 87% say that initiatives related to digitalisation, innovation and technology are a top priority, progress in these areas has been slow. Only 15% say that their digital journey is complete, and 74% believe they have a long way to go. More worrisome, 27% recognize they don't have strong capabilities but admit that developing these capabilities is not high on their action agenda.
For more insights, as well as peer recommendations and tips on how to get started on them, download the full report.
Relationships are what make a family business strong—but when emotionally charged conflicts arise, they can also be a hindrance to success. Disagreements are to be expected. Only 67% say that all family members share similar views about the company’s direction. When sensitive topics like succession are on the table, a family business can benefit from approaching internal governance with the same professionalism that’s applied to business strategy and operations. But for many family businesses, there is still progress to be made. Only 55% have some form of governance policy or procedure in place, with only 11% having conflict resolutions mechanisms established.
For more insights, as well as peer recommendations and tips on how to get started on them, download the full report.
With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to evolve, we understand your need to shift focus to reviving your business and adjusting to the 'new normal'. We have identified key areas of focus to enable you to make that shift - from effectively mobilising resources during this time, to stabilising business operations in the new environment and strategising for what's next.
How can you prepare your organisation to respond?
Facing the challenges of the post-COVID-19 landscape
Assess the potential impact to your business and gauge your readiness to respond
Growing a business can be demanding, exhilarating and intensely personal. You need a trusted advisor who can help you to manage your ownership and growth at every stage, in a way that fits the needs of your business.
We can help you spot opportunities for growth, manage risk, save money and create value for your business.
As your business moves into future generations - whether that is transitioning from one generation to the next for the first time or for the fifth time, you face several unique challenges. At PwC, we understand the challenges and are constantly investing in innovative solutions to help maintain and further leverage your family business advantage.
Every unicorn company began as a start-up, scaling up to become the successful business that it is today. As a start-up or scale-up, you envision to become the world’s next big brand in a sustainable way. We, at PwC, understand your ambitions, help you achieve your full potential, support you in your growth journey and keep you ahead of the curve.
As a successful family business owner, you need a strategy to protect your personal wealth and further structure it for growth. This is particularly the case within a global ecosystem characterised by increasing complexity and often duplicative tax regimes. We as your advisors not only know all the rules—but also know how they will be applied to your unique situation.
Developing a strategy to help manage, protect and grow your family wealth, both for current and future generations, is essential. This is all the more pressing today amid the increasingly complex and often duplicative tax regimes.
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This encompasses governance both of your business and also of family matters. For your family business to flourish and grow sustainably, you need both to be right.
Questions to consider:
As a family business, your values and purpose are an inherent competitive edge. You have an opportunity to generate real gains from your values and purpose, by adopting an active approach that turns these intangible attributes into valuable assets.
Questions to consider:
You don’t just think in quarters but in generations. Achieving a smooth and well managed succession of your family business is critical. An effective business continuity/succession process should include aspects from leadership and ownership, to values and purpose, to wealth management and stewardship.
Questions to consider:
The digital transformation of family-owned companies – like any other transformational change – should be ingrained into the owner’s strategy and built around the family’s shared, long-term vision and values. No matter where your business is on its digital journey right now, we’ll be at your side with the insights and solutions you need to stay fit for growth and moving forward at the right pace.
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When it comes to managing and sustaining growth – whether organic or inorganic – family businesses face some distinctive challenges. While sustainable growth can be achieved in many ways, it is key to ensure that the chosen strategy is the right fit for your family business, in terms of long-term vision, control, values and readiness to embark on the growth journey.
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We understand the importance of profit to fuel future growth and innovation, to motivate your family in owning the business, but most importantly, to pursue the businesses’ long term purpose and ambitions.
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For more than 160 years, we've helped privately-held businesses navigate victories, challenges, and opportunities to stand out and amplify what makes each unique. A large part of that comes from attracting, retaining and developing high-quality talent that can take your business to the next level while remaining aligned with the owning family’s values and ambitions.
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Managing risk and complying with regulation in ways that mirror the underlying values of your family and business. When it comes to managing risk, the approach taken by family businesses is often deeply rooted in your values and purpose. This can give rise to complex scenarios due to the fact that the risks at hand often apply across both your business and family. Reconciling these sometimes conflicting agendas is challenging and requires a multifaceted and sophisticated approach.
How we can help:
Effective management of your family business's capital and finances is key for sustaining growth. However, whilst maintaining a robust financial base for your business is key, it is also important to consider opportunities to tap into new sources of capital to fuel further growth.
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Managing family ownership is one of the most unique and complex challenges which sets family businesses apart from any other type of business. It’s your life, your legacy, your future – not only for you, but for your next generation and the communities you operate in. We’re here to help you approach your ownership strategy with intellect and heart, focusing on four critical areas: wealth, governance, continuity and purpose and values.
Owners of family businesses have a wider outlook - balancing growth today while building a legacy for the future. We need to understand their vision and how they want their business to evolve. That’s why we’ve created the Owner’s Agenda, a framework and digital tool to harness PwC’s deep expertise to create the right approach for our clients’ goals, across both business and ownership issues.
Family-owned businesses are the heart and soul of the Indian economy and by nature, also more challenging than their corporate counterparts. With the next generation joining the leadership board, these businesses are exploring new territories, new sectors and are also considering inorganic growth. When actions are strategically planned, family businesses are destined to succeed for generations.
What is needed for you to earn your license to operate – and drive change? In our 2019 Global NextGen study, almost 1,000 NextGens in 69 territories across five continents and 11 industries helped us to understand how you see yourselves and what support you need to help you achieve individual success. Drawing on those findings, we are delighted to introduce you to PwC NextGen 2020, founded on our commitment to supporting your journey as an entrepreneur and successor in your family business – every step of the way.
Helping family businesses grow, prosper and professionalise to ensure continuity for future generations
Working with family offices to preserve and then grow the wealth for current and future generations
Supporting the next wave of entrepreneurs as they take their business to the next level
From starting out to becoming a unicorn, we can help you become the company you want to be
Connecting the leaders of tomorrow
N V Sivakumar
Partner & Leader - Private & Entrepreneurial Business, PwC India
Tel: +91 (80) 4079 7001 | +91 98 4503 0010
