97% Indian family-run biz don't have succession plan documents in place

New Delhi: India has a significant number of family-run businesses but 97 per cent of those do not have family constitutions or succession planning documents, according to BAF Consultants.

According to the company, which specialises in family business consultancy, India has 108 publicly-listed family-owned businesses, the third highest in the world.

China tops the tally with 167 such companies followed by the US with 121.

A trend which has emerged in India is the inclusion of daughters and spouses in family-owned businesses to take up leadership roles, which is more prevalent in South India, BAF Consultants said in a statement.

"Family businesses are dealing with complex situations at varied steps of their business life cycle... 97 per cent of Indian family businesses do not have family constitutions or succession planning document," it added,

Incidence of family business related feuds, business governance, office and business constitution creation within the family has highlighted the need for professional family business consultants, it added.

"Today there is a visible change in the way Indian family businesses are managing conflicts to stay together for a longer period of time," said BAF Consultants Founder Anil Sainani.

In a lot of cases, conflicts arise in family members due to lack of succession planning or when elders of the family are not willing to give up their positions for the younger generation to take on, he added.

In such a scenario, Sainani said "family business consultants have a crucial role to play in turning the wheels of Indian enterprise".

He further said a new trend which has emerged is the inclusion of daughters and spouses in family-owned businesses to take up leadership roles.

"The trend is more prevelant in South India," Sainani added.