How to Avoid Conflicts In a Family Business ?

The family businesses in India are the backbone of Indian economy. According to a recent Credit Suisse report, India has 108 publicly-listed family-owned businesses, third highest in the world, while China tops the list with 167 such companies followed by the US which has 121, says. But working in a family has its own set of challenges. As a family business owner, one needs to make sure that the physical and emotional problems among the family members don't impact the day to day business operations. It's important to understand, where to draw a line between work and personal life. Conflicts and mistakes are unavoidable in family businesses, so the best option is to address the biggest hurdles directly.

Entrepreneur India spoke to family business leaders to know few tips for avoiding conflicts in a family business :

Understanding Roles and Responsibilities:

To make a family business successful, one should define clear leadership roles for each member.

According to Saurabh Kabra, Director of Truvison India, working in a family business starts with understanding own responsibilities viewing our skills. And, when those responsibilities and delegations are taken solely liable, there is no chance of conflicts in our particular sphere. Given that, the responsibilities are performed crystal clear.

Draw a Line Between Your Personal and Personal Life :

Balancing professional and personal life can often seem like an impossible task in family-owned business.

Kabra emphasized that maintaining a fine line between personal and professional life is another important step in avoiding conflicts.

"Moreover, the family should arrange business meetings not just to share the visions but also to mitigate the conflicts. The most crucial yet neglected part is communication of any issue which brings transparency. Maintaining a strong hold on communication sometimes is very extensive especially when it comes to details. But turns out, it is significant to avoid conflicts." he added.

Understand the New Generation:

The family business is an abundance of resources and underutilized opportunities.

Mitesh Lodha, Founder of Mitesh Lodha - Menswear label, feels the older generation should give the new generation entrepreneurs a chance to work and prove their skills adapting to the modern ways of working in alignment with their experiences.

Develop Mutual Understanding:

Arun Bajaj, CEO and Founder of Daiwa TV, shared few important steps to avoid conflicts within a family business.

"The first thing during initial stages to be done is, a delegation of activity assigned with respect to responsibilities and skills, and that should exclusively be communicated limpid. Since this is a family business, likeminded people are not always apparent in a family meeting; and while planning the strategies, it is certain to include arguments as it will have different opinions. Healthy arguments are a platform to share the visions for implementations, but to prevent the conflicts, establishing each person's title, job function and compensation is a must-have," said Bajaj adding that the most important thing is developing a mutual understanding, be it a family business or not.