International Youth Day: these young entrepreneurs are raising the banner of their family businesses higher

Young age is a time of confusion and uncertainty. It entails chasing goals, fulfilling dreams, ticking off bucket lists while at the same time becoming an individual who will support the family and the society at a later age. 

However, being the son or the daughter of an entrepreneur or belonging to a business family is an equally demanding situation. A popular surname for an individual can be intimidating as expectations are high. The weight of responsibilities that accompany such a surname is heavy. However, one of the biggest attributes of a successful youth is that he or she overcomes any difficulty or challenge that is thrown in their way.

On International Youth Day, SMBStory brings you stories of five young entrepreneurs who are raising the banner of their family businesses high and taking the legacy to greater heights.

Siddhant Kamath- Naturals Ice Cream

Raghunandan Kamath, the founder of Naturals Ice Cream, hails from Mangaluru. The son of a fruit vendor, Raghunandan learnt to identify good fruits early on. Soon after, his eldest brother came to Mumbai to make it big.  

Raghunandan realised that ice cream was a rare and exotic dessert that caught the fancy of the working class and at the same time was a symbol of elitism.  In 1983, after getting married, he decided to start something of his own, and thus, Naturals Ice Cream came into existence in 1984. 

Today, Raghunandan’s sons, Srinivas Kamath and Siddhant Kamath (28), are helping him run the business across India. The brand specialises in ice creams that are made of fruits. 

Siddhant entered the family business in 2013 soon after completing his graduation in hotel management. Until then, his father was running the business. However, he says, he brought in professionalism within the organisation after he joined. “Today, the passion remains unchanged, but we are a lot more process-driven,” he adds. 

Siddhant credits himself with establishing a robust supply chain, introducing technologies like ERP systems, and bringing uniformity in operations and experience across all stores.  The company rebranded itself in 2015, which also became a turning point for the business. 

According to the director, the brand decided to change the look and feel of the business when it saw an increase in the number of millennial customers.

“We wanted to make it more millennial-friendly. So, we redecorated our ice cream parlours, changed the design of the chairs and tables to make them look very lively,” he adds.

Naturals has 129 outlets in all major cities of India, including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi, and clocks a turnover of Rs 165 crore annually.

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Jahan Tahiliani- Tahiliani Homes

Jahan Tahiliani (30) has built Tahiliani Homes with a passion that he shares with his father and celebrated designer Tarun Tahiliani.

When Jahan came back to India in 2012 from the United Kingdom, he was grappling with questions about his true calling in life.

Jahan worked in the capital markets team of CBRE, a real estate consulting giant, and felt he belonged to this profession.

He decided to take the plunge. Though Tarun had designed some homes previously, his business did not have a formal real estate division.  This is how Jahan launched the realty business called Ahilia Homes, whose name was later changed to Tahiliani Homes.

Experience at CBRE gave him deeper insights into the industry. Today, he is building the brand and scaling greater heights. While Jahan handles the operations, sales, and marketing, his father takes care of the design part completely.

The business that was started with a lot of complexities has clocked Rs 100 crore sales since its inception by building around 14 holiday homes, villas, and farmhouses across Goa, Hyderabad, and Delhi. The team consists of 20 people. 

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Siddharth Grover- Groversons Paris Beauty

One of the oldest companies in the women’s innerwear sector that has seen the world changing is Groversons Paris Beauty. It was started by Chaman Lal Grover in 1953, and in 1986, it was taken over by his son, Rakesh Grover. Rakesh is currently the Managing Director of the company. He runs the business with his son and third-generation heir Siddharth Grover (29).

Siddharth joined the business in 2014 after completing his post-graduation from S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research and interning with Mumbai-based apparel manufacturer Shahi Exports. Joining an established business did not mean he did not have any challenges.

He says, “My first 15 days were all about sitting in the warehouse to just understand the fabrics because there are so many varieties and variations.”

But the biggest challenge for Siddharth was to align his thinking with that of the channel partners who had been with the company for more than 40 years. He says, “They were all elderly people who had been in the company for a long time. We needed to be professional because this is business at the end of the day. Doing business with them hasn’t stopped me from treating and taking care of them like family. I have also learnt from the experiences of my father and grandfather.”

The Noida-headquartered company which has completed over six-and-a-half decades of manufacturing and selling lingerie is now aiming to touch Rs 500 crore in the next two to three years, Siddharth told SMBStory.

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Aayush Narang- Rowan Bioceuticals

India currently houses several well-known brands in the pharmaceutical and derma-cosmetic segments such as Sun Pharma, Abott, Adroit Biomed, etc.  Despite the competition, Delhi-based Rowan Bioceuticals Private Limited has managed to carve a niche for itself in the Indian and international market.

Founded in 2005 by Arun Narang, the pharmaceuticals company manufactures products that fall under the derma-cosmetics domain in the skincare and haircare category.

Today, his son Aayush Narang (29), helps Arun in running the business as the Business Development Head of the company. However, Aayush joining the family business is not as simple as it may sound. 

He had no interest in joining the company because he saw his father working extremely hard, always out on tours, doing everything by himself - from packaging to administration.

In addition, the capital for operating the business was limited in those years which made operations an extremely tedious. However, destiny had other plans for him.

Aayush says he did not relate to his father’s business in the early years, and planned to do something else. While pursuing his graduation, he stumbled upon an article on mystery auditors, where big brands kept an eye on their stores and operations using mystery visits. He saw this as a career option, which is popular in the USA and Europe. Aayush pursued mystery auditing for some years before realising that business was indeed his true calling.

After completing his studies, Aayush decided to join his father’s business. He shares that his father started the business with the intention of making it a household brand with a global reach and he wants to play his part in doing so. 

The company clocks a turnover of almost Rs 20 crore annually, and is currently exporting its products to countries like Turkey, Sri Lanka and the UAE. 

Tarang Khanna- ICON Solar-en Power Technologies

Tarang Khurana is not a regular 27-year-old who took over a family business because he had exhausted all other options. His move was timely and made sense to the business as it looked to phase out the old and conquer new frontiers. After a brief stint in advertising and sales promotion, Tarang returned to his hometown Raipur in Chhattisgarh, and started preparing for civil services. 

The family business in the automobile and mining sector was running successfully until they decided to enter the energy space six years ago which shaped Tarang's entrepreneurial journey.

A small supply order for a project came up at that time, which was seeing the solar energy space becoming more prominent. And what started as an initiative to diversify has become the core focus of the group today.  

A year into the transition, Tarang took over the reins of the company. The business became ICON Solar-en Power Technologies in 2014 to manufacture solar photovoltaic modules. In its sixth calendar year, the company is clocking a turnover of over Rs 100 crore.  It has a manufacturing unit in Raipur which is also the headquarters and many other units are spread across the country.