It is Not About Me, But About We

The Bharat Ram family has seen two splits: In 1989 and then in 1999. During the second split, Ashish and Kartik Bharat Ram decided there would be no splits on their watch. In a conversation with Ayaan Kartik and Neeraj Thakur, the two brothers talk about how they have kept the family together

- Ayaan Kartik and Neeraj Thakur

How have you managed to keep the family together over the past two decades?

Ashish: We were brought up knowing family is more important than the individual. For us it is not about 'I' but about 'us'. It is not about 'me' but about 'we'. In any family business, you must take singularity out. Everything must be plural. The day you start looking at everything from a 'we' and 'us' perspective, life is different. That is what has worked for us. It goes back to a mantra: Business is about capitalism; family is about socialism.

Kartik: The learning came from previous generations. First, my father and his brother split from their cousins in 1989. Then, my father and his brother split in 1999. Ashish and I would have been in our late 20s, early 30s then. We were very close as a family. We discussed at the time that we must try to figure out how we can stay together. We realised the company would lose value if there were constant splits.

Have you put together a document to manage the family?

Kartik: We put a [family] constitution together in about 6-8 months [in 2006]. We went through various iterations and even involved the spouses. There were strong guidelines on how the family should be run. The idea was if you run your family as well as your business, both will thrive. By 2006 we had our first constitution. Initially, the rules were very strict, but over time we liberalised.

Ashish: Any family business must have rules governing the family just as rules govern business. In our case, all of us knew that when you run a business, you will have policies for travel, immigration or anything else. Similarly, families need to have policies for dividend distribution, liquidity or the freedom to act on their own.

Why did you feel the need for a family constitution?