Usually, children born in a huge family having its own business are moulded, brought up, exposed and educated in line with their joining the family business when they are ready. A marble trading family will not let a kid in their family go and learn software engineering and pursue a career in that field while their business is expected to do great for the next few generations and they could use an extra hand from within the family.

The Tatas are a world renowned business family and have been in real big money business for about 2 Centuries, fully successful and never getting themselves into any trouble. Ratan Tata is the current Chairman of the board, and he has been preceded by several others. The Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay was built by one of Ratan Tata’s Ancestors, the world’s first All Jet airline company happens to be Tata Airlines (Now Air India, undertaken by the Govt. of India), was founded by JRD Tata, Ratan’s Predecessor, and Ratan has now produced the cheapest car in the world, that costs about $2500, and he has taken over the Jaguar and Land Rover brands recently. His Steel Factory has taken over Corus, and that wing is now the 5th largest steel producer in the world.

Ratan would have been nowhere if he had started a business of his own. His integrity, his ability to workout such major deals, achieve great goals and moving ahead to the top of the world doesn’t come with just one generation’s expertise in business. The Tata Group owns several companies that include Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors and Tata Steel.

Family business does have its draw backs too. Politics can be very high between cousins and uncles. If there is a difference of opinion, it is far too difficult to handle, and the damages that it might cause to the company could be much higher than what it would be if you were working for some other business. And in family business, succession is always a problem. It always creates disputes. There would be certain people of the later generation who work very hard to prove themselves to the current head of the group so that they get a chance to go on the will of the head and become the successor. At times like this, the cousins that you played with when you were young might act against you just to gain the throne, while you might have been working hard to get to it, or by default you are eligible for it, and this could hurt you a lot. The feeling wont be something like what you get when a similar situation arises at some other workplace. It could devastate you mentally, since its family that is working against you now, and not someone else.

There are good and bad aspects to a Family Business. But it is all in the hands of the head of the business. If he can handle everyone in the family, guide them and direct them so that there are no differences between them till the end, and if he defines his successor, and make the others agree to it, everyone is happy, and the business will have nothing but growth.