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Insight

Marksheets vs. Mindsets:

Why India’s Next Gen Is Walking Away from Family Businesses

Hanif Lakdawala

In countless Indian households, dinner table conversations revolve around grades, exams, and career prospects. Parents, driven by love and societal expectations, push their children toward academic excellence. But in this relentless pursuit of marksheets, something deeper is being lost:

• Emotional connection

• Entrepreneurial legacy and

• The very essence of family.

As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, I’ve seen first-hand how this obsession with performance can distort relationships and derail generational continuity in business. The question is no longer just “What did you score?” but “Are we raising fulfilled individuals or just qualified professionals?

The Emotional Cost of Academic Obsession

Research from Indian psychology journals reveals a troubling pattern: when parents equate love and approval with academic success, children internalize pressure, often at the cost of mental health and self-worth. Symbolic punishment—like withdrawal of affection or comparison with peers—has been shown to negatively impact adolescent well-being.

“When marks become the measure of love, relationships lose their warmth.”

The Family Business Disconnect

India’s entrepreneurial landscape is built on family businesses. From textile traders in Surat to spice merchants in Kochi, to leather products in Dharavi, Mumbai, these enterprises have shaped local economies and national identity. Yet today, the next generation is increasingly reluctant to take the baton.

According to HSBC’s Global Entrepreneurial Wealth 2025 report:

• Only 7% of Indian heirs feel obligated to join their family business.

• 45% of entrepreneurs do not expect their children to take over.

• Despite this,79% still plan to pass their businesses to family members.

Why the disconnect?

The answer lies in perception. Formal education is seen as a passport to corporate careers, startups, or global opportunities. Family businesses, by contrast, are viewed as less glamorous, less structured, and less aligned with modern aspirations.

“My MBA taught me strategy, but my father’s shop taught me resilience. I just didn’t realize it until I walked away.”
— A second-generation entrepreneur in Mumbai

A Clash of Values

The roots of this problem lie not just in schools but in parenting culture. Parents, often under societal pressure, equate academic success with social mobility. The family business, though a source of income and stability, is rarely positioned as a “career of pride” to children. This sends mixed messages: work hard, get high marks, earn degrees—and then do something “better” than what your parents did.

Sociologists describe this as status dissonance. Children, armed with formal education, view themselves as part of a modern professional class, often at odds with the traditional, relationship-driven world of family businesses. It is not about money or stability alone. It’s about identity. The degree becomes a passport to a new class identity, which many feel is compromised by joining the family trade.”

Family businesses too are adapting, rebranding themselves as professionally managed organizations where successors can apply their education. A growing number of parents now send their children to pursue MBAs not for corporate jobs, but to bring modern management practices back into the family firm.

For example, the third-generation of the Parekh family has consciously blended professional education with entrepreneurial legacy, ensuring continuity without compromising prestige. Smaller businesses are also experimenting with digitalization, e-commerce, and branding—areas where educated successors can add significant value.

Other Internal Friction Points

Beyond the degree itself, formal education often instills an expectation of professional management and clear structure that is sometimes missing in a family business, leading to conflict:

• Lack of Autonomy: Heirs who have received a high-quality, formal education often struggle with a lack of decision-making power and having to constantly report to the first generation, which fuels their desire for an independent career path.

• Uncertainty of Structure: Lack of clarity on ownership structure, retirement timelines for the first generation, and compensation models also pushes the next generation away.

The Numbers Behind the Narrative

Rethinking Legacy and Success

This isn’t just a family issue—it’s an economic one. When legacy businesses lose continuity, communities lose stability. But the solution isn’t to reject education—it’s to integrate it with entrepreneurial exposure.

As mentors, we must:

• Encourage storytelling around family businesses.

• Create internship opportunities within family enterprises.

• Celebrate entrepreneurial success alongside academic achievement.

• Teach livelihood earnings and financial independence as core skills.

A Call to Reconnect

The future of Indian entrepreneurship depends not just on innovation, but on intergenerational trust. Parents must see beyond the marksheet, and children must see the value in legacy. Only then can we build businesses—and families—that thrive together.

“Legacy isn’t inherited. It’s understood, embraced, and evolved.”