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5 Challenges in Front of a Scion Here's how the modern youth is creating it's own identity with the family legacy inherited

By Nirvaan Birla

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As the world is becoming more business focused, the challenges for an entrepreneur are increasing simultaneously. To succeed in this ultra-competitive era, it's not only initiating the ideas but going beyond it and managing and executing it in the most productive way for establishing a business house. Entrepreneurship reflects the passion towards following your dream and there are certain hurdles that come in the path of attaining the goal. The challenges remain vulnerable to the family owned business as well. There are a unique set of hurdles faced by a scion to render survival for the coming times and incorporate the new ideas. In my opinion, these are some of the key challenges every scion will encounter:

  • Compartmentalized to follow the family lineage

There are no shortages of myths and conjectures about the family businesses. One of them is the preconceived notion about the scion joining an already existing business, which turns out to be a barrier in the path of starting an entrepreneurial career. The will of driving themselves independently is left unacknowledged. The more the stereotypes, the more difficult it becomes for a scion to start a career different from the family business.

  • Pressure of living up to the expectations

With the leverages that are inferred with the name of a scion of a business family, the set of expectations are placed parallel with it. The scion is expected to be the successful bearer of the family legacy and the generation is set to inherit the fruits of all this hard work and success– to live up to the expectations of their for bearers. Amidst the increased level of competency and aim of personal and professional growth, the expectation of becoming a next generation leader also add to the challenges for a scion.

  • Passing the robust succession plan

The successor of a family-owned business is presumed to build and fulfill on the expectation of the family to emerge as the leader and take the business to new heights. They tend to believe in grooming scions for the role perpetuated to them for their future. This belief has several dimensions as it has various implications depending upon the perspective of a child and the family. The task lies on assimilating the unconventional approach with the existing one and taking a step ahead from the already existing succession plan.

  • "The easy way out'

The major assumption that every young business scion, of a pre-established family business, faces is that inheriting or taking over their predecessor business or organization is the easy way out. It is considered a smooth and stable road,which is easy to drive on, and has no barriers. No doubt in stating that there are people who make use of and exploit this attribute, however, this is an assumption that imposes on the capabilities of the descendants. We do not get it easy. Yes, we do have an upper hand and certain advantages, but we still go through the same challenges as the other entrepreneurs in terms of target market, development of the organization, going through the routine business and many more.

  • Constant Scrutiny

With the name of a successful legacy weighted on the shoulders, the scions are always under the public eye, and always in the limelight. There are a lot of responsibilities that come along the path of carrying the family lineage and these do not have any margin for error .This acts as a constant duty for us to be strictly defined by boundaries and follow the decorum wherever we go.

Despite the continuation of legacies, many scions are out there creating an identity that has not been received through their lineage and have managed to bring about a change in the business sphere in the country, through the merit of their own sweat, guile and judgment. This is something that nobody can take away from them. It is a lesson that all young scions of business families should learn, and treat the wealth that they create, and mot inherit as their own.

Nirvaan Birla

Head of Business Development, Birla Edutech ltd

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