BENGALURU: Sankash is started by three founders; namely Manu Pal, Akash Dahiya and Abhilasha Negi who are husband and wife. New-age start-upsare driven by innovation, being able to add value to the customers and providing agile solutions - making quite a few tenets that existed in a traditional business set-up, redundant. The adage, “keep family and business separate” is one of them!
In this fast-paced environment, being able to utilise the different skills of one’s well-known family members helps a start-up save the cost of initial hiring and helps in scaling up quickly. The business culture can quickly be shaped up for a startup due to the shared values, beliefs and psychologies that same family members share.
However, some of the things that should be kept in mind while staring a company with family members include: Role allocation on the basis of skill set, and not on emotions; having a clear set of expectations and clear communication between the family members with regard to their roles and equity can help avoid potential threats later.Agreeing on a set of rules in case of a disagreement helps keep the emotion out of the disagreement.
- Akash Dahiya, CEO, co-founder, Sankash
Afew things are necessary for starting a company with family members but need to set some boundaries. Mixing business and home life can be dangerous. It is better to create some boundaries and save the discussion for an appropriate time.
Clear communication and mutual respect can help to deal with a lot of issues when they arise. When you have someone who can guide and help you with your decisions and experience, it becomes easier for you to execute your strategy at ground level. This can be a key to survival, as family members can provide low-cost or no-cost labor or emergency loans.
Sometimes fresh and creative ideas get tangled in the family business. It is always good to seek guidance from outside advisors, in the way it can give a business reality check. Emotion comes into play when you are working with your family.
It is important to train your mind to be more logical when you are dealing with emotional situations, also to be sure to clearly explain your decision to your family members.
- Divya Jain, CEO, and founder, Safeducate
Working with your family members will present challenges, but the benefits of achieving success as a family outweigh these challenges by leaps and bounds. Storms will come as you grow any business, particularly if it is cultivated by a single family unit. However, these storms can be traversed successfully by understanding and the prominence of three things:
Family is first: Set of core values and adherence should be discussed in every family meeting. Be an ear to others: The family must learn to listen to each other fully and to be generous. This gives everyone the opportunity to express their opinion without interrupting and also gives us time to mentally prepare our own response. Doing this as a family helps us give up our prejudices. Last but not least, emotional intelligence: You can improve the attitudes and levels of motivation among family and non-family members. Developing emotional intelligence also leads to better performance, more productivity, and seamless cooperation and collaboration.
- Amol Arora, vice chairman, and managing director - Shemford Group of Futuristic Schools