• This forum contains old posts that have been closed. New threads and replies may not be made here. Please navigate to the relevant forum to create a new thread or post a reply.
  • Welcome to Tamil Brahmins forums.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our Free Brahmin Community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

The business success of Baniyas; What can we learn from the community's success?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Baniyas are the businessmen of Northern India...They are the most successful community pan India with their businesses spread in every nook and corner of India & abroad...They are as intelligent as the Tam Brahmin but are much better several notches in terms of being money savvy ...They occupy the seats of power, business & education with aplomb...Here is an analysis of the community

[FONT=&quot] The business success of Baniyas; What can we learn from the community’s resounding success [/FONT]



[FONT=&quot]What's with the Bansals?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Indian techie Jyoti Bansal made history by selling his start-up company to tech major Cisco for a whopping $3.7 billion. He is just 38 years old. While Baniyas—the community Bansal belongs to—have dominated traditional business in India, now the next-gen Baniyas are dominating e-commerce and start-up space.

Why are Baniyas always successful in business? [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Who are the baniyas?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The word 'Baniya' comes from the Sanskrit 'vanik' which is derived from 'vanijya' which means trade. Baniyas have several sub-groups such as Aggarwals, Marwaris and Maheshwaris. Baniyas are predominantly a merchant caste.

They can be found in both Hindu and Jain religions and in the whole north, central and west India. India's biggest businessman, Mukesh Ambani is a Baniya from 'modh' sub-group, and so are the Flipkart founders Rohit Bansal and Binny Bansal.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Biggest baniyas[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mahatma Gandhi, who emphasised the virtue of thift, was a Baniya—from the same caste as Mukesh Ambani. Indian business has been dominated by Baniyas. Most of the top businessmen and industrialists are Baniyas such as Lakshmi Mittal of Mittal Steel, Shashi and Ravi Ruia of Essar group, Gautam Adani, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sunil Mittal of Airtel, Naveen Jindal of Jindal Steel and Anil Agarwal of Vedanta.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Baniyas take over new-age economy[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Initially, it was believed that e-commerce and new-age economy will displace the traditional Baniya stronghold on business. But Baniyas have managed to dominate even the new economy. India's leading e-commerce companies such as Flipkart, Snapdeal, Ola, Naaptol, Yebhi and Myntra have been founded by Baniyas.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The secret of baniya success[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Baniyas were not able to beat western corporations because the baniya businesses emphasise personal ethics which work best in family-held firms or small enterprises. But when the global economy created space for small entrepreneurs and start-ups, the Baniya ethic won.

Baniyas focus on thrift and are very savvy accountants. They can keep a sharp eye on expenditure—even the small change—while not losing the big picture. Appetite for risk and a knack to deal with daily uncertainty are other traditional Baniya skills.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Tradition+education[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In pre-liberalisation India, the Baniya community had flooded the top engineering and medical colleges. The new Baniya entrepreneurs combine their modern tech education with family business culture they had imbibed effortlessly at home.

That's why they have come to dominate even the new-age economy. The success of Baniyas in the new-age economy testifies to the high adaptability of the community to new business environments.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Midas touch of the Baniyas[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]People from the Baniya community typically dominate the busines world. Whatever they touch turn into gold. Let's take a look at what makes them exceptionally good with money[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Baniya-nomics[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The baniyas can be largely categorised as the traditional entrepreneurial and trading classes of north and west India. In the list of Forbes billionaires, eight in the top 10 of India's richest, are baniyas.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Typical Indian billionaires[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The richest Indian in the world is a Baniya - Mukesh Ambani with a net worth of ($21.5 billion) followed by Lakshmi Mittal ($31.1 billion). Others are Shashi and Ravi Ruia, Savitri Jindal ($13.2 billion), Gautam Adani ($10 billion), Kumar Mangalam Birla ($9.2 billion), Anil Ambani ($8.8 billion), and Sunil Mittal ($8.3 billion). Even with all this, the Baniya community represents just 1% of India'a population.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It's all in the genes[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Flipkart.com, was started in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. In 2015, the largest online retailer in the country clocked a reveneu of Rs 102.4 billion. Founder of Snapdeal.com, Rohit Bansal was also born into a business family. His father was a grain merchant and uncles being traders.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]They are risk takers[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Baniyas imbibe risk-taking abilities from a very young age. Allahabad-born Manmohan Agarwal started out on his own when he was just 15. He was quoted as saying: "My father instilled in me the ability to take bold decisions, the courage to take risks and to give one's 100 per cent to anything one does." For next 8 years he did small businesses and eventually built an online empire called Yebhi.com.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Undisuputed accountants[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Baniya is derived from the Sanskrit word banijya, meaning commerce. Baniyas religiously keep their accounting books up-to-date on a daily basis. These books are called chopdis and it is a tradition in the baniya community to mark the start of the new year at Diwali by opening new account books.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]They smell money[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]These business-minded people never miss out on opportunities to make money. They involve themselves 24X7 with business. They have the nose for a profit-making venture and are single-mindedly focused on their business almost at the cost of not having a social life.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]They conquer any fields[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Other than business, they have the leadership skills to pursue any field. Two of India's top politicians, Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal, belong to the mercantile community of west and north India.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]What makes Marwaris so successful in business?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]

According to Thomas A Timberg's book, The Marwaris: From Jagath Seth to the Birlas, there are seven secrets of Marwari businessmen which are still valid "and perhaps will remain so".[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1) Watch the money[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There are two key functions performed by the Marwari business firms and business groups - strategic management of investment funds by moving them to where they are most productive in the long term and close financial monitoring of the enterprises in which they have a share.

It is perhaps the changes in Harsh Goenka and Kumar Mangalam Birla's business styles that point to a dilution of finance-centric strategies in present times.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2) Delegate but monitor[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Successful business have to learn how to delegate, otherwise the span of economic activity can engage in will be limited.

They also have to know when to intervene, fully aware that a decision to intervene is costly. Usually it is easier to replace an unsatisfactory executive rather than turn him around. Ineffectual executives and family members are gently moved out to cushy and uncritical positions.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3) Plan, but have a style and a system[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This is somewhat ambiguous as we clearly see a transition from an intuitive style to a more systematic one. However, this may be, as some suggest, a product of the transition from business founders to inheritors.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]4) Lead to expand and do not let the system inhibit growth[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A key characteristic of successful businessmen is a drive to expand. Many forms have expansion in their mission statements but few implement it.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]5) The right corporate culture[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The firm or group must have a style which befits its market and the times. Changes or adjustments constitute one of the most difficult tasks.

Corporate culture in a firm is critical in inspiring loyalty, especially of competent managers. Financial incentives can go only thus far, and are sometimes counterproductive.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]6) Don’t get blown away by fads[/FONT]



[FONT=&quot]The shelf life of half the management fads is six months. Professors, including those from business schools, devise striking and attractive theories which bear no responsibility for success.

A responsible manager has to be more tentative and experimental in his approach. As any school debater knows, there are usually at least two sides to any question, even multiple sides as in the Anekantavada of Jain logic. The problem is to decide which is right in a given situation.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]7) Do not miss new developments[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Some businesses describe themselves as 'knowledge businesses'. As a matter of fact, all are. The world's oldest family businesses have had some very successful ventures and a lot of failed ones because of missed opportunities.[/FONT]

Source: Economic Times
 
It is said the term 'Baniya' is derived from 'Banyan' tree. Normally, business was carried out under a Banyan tree earlier.

It is also said the name was coined by British.

Who is correct?

Regarding success, unity is paramount, which is terribly lacking in Tamil Smarthas, as we are not following any specific customs and conventions. Business houses belong to Smarthas is vanishing one after the another. We will continue to talk about others' success but remain same. We are mostly meant only for paper work.
 
It is said the term 'Baniya' is derived from 'Banyan' tree. Normally, business was carried out under a Banyan tree earlier.

It is also said the name was coined by British.

Who is correct?

Regarding success, unity is paramount, which is terribly lacking in Tamil Smarthas, as we are not following any specific customs and conventions. Business houses belong to Smarthas is vanishing one after the another. We will continue to talk about others' success but remain same. We are mostly meant only for paper work.

No way coined by British...The Baniyas belong to Vaishya varna which is part of Manu's coding of Hindu society

As shared in OP the word 'Baniya' comes from the Sanskrit 'vanik' which is derived from 'vanijya' which means trade.
 
We can only read about the baniyas and not emulate them.

They reduce all humans to money terms.

First they would evaluate what is your money worth before dealing with you.


Brahmin can only maintain the account books of baniyas as kanakku pillai or their modern version -accounts manager in baniya companies on fixed monthly salaryLOL
 
Why is it common in India to link success with caste or family. Why can we not give credit to the individual for their success.
Warren Buffett was not born in a Baniya family.
 
Why is it common in India to link success with caste or family. Why can we not give credit to the individual for their success.
Warren Buffett was not born in a Baniya family.

As as MSM is concerned, whether we like it or not, all successes are attributed to caste...Only in case of failure, it does not attribute it to caste...
 
As as MSM is concerned, whether we like it or not, all successes are attributed to caste...Only in case of failure, it does not attribute it to caste...

Success or failures should be attributed to Individual and not to community, caste, or state.


We somehow do not want to take individual responsibility. I guess we want to blame on circumstances, and not assign the responsibility.
[FONT=&quot]
The secret of success is commitment to the task on hand and keeping one's eyes on goals in life. Working hard for what is needed .. and being PERSONALLY Responsible for their own welfare.[/FONT]
 
Last edited:
Why marwaris are successful?

I think we are missing some relevant points here while discussing this matter. As usual the copy pasted article in the Economic Times has not only formed the basic substance for a discussion, but also has been leading us by nose. We are not going beyond what is said in the article to explore anything.

These facts besides generally known ones are important, in my opinion. And we have missed them:

1. Capital formation and retention is a hallmark of marwari community. The capital is never fritered away. Whatever capital is held in the community--and it is not small--is carefully retained and multiplied within the community and is repeatedly used to start new ventures. Many a time the capital is augmented by carefully chosen and planned marriages within the community. Dhirubhai ambani was a rare exception to this. Born as the son of a school master, emigrated to African continent to work as a tally clerk in an export firm there, came back to India to sell filament yarns to the whole salers in Mumbai wholesale markets, his rise was phenomenal. he was a phenominon indeed.

2. A marwari businessman is adept at handling his finances. Whatever elaborate accounting systems may be followed by his business and he may have very loyal and committed executives controlling everything carefully by employing well qualified CAs, the man at the helm of the affairs always keeps his personal tabs in a traditional and old single entry cash accounting system. Thus he knows every activity in the enterprise tanslated into cash and he has the info at his finger tips. When his executive comes and reports a problem to him he would have already anticipated it and would have thought out a solution to try for that problem. That is the ingenuity of tight personal informed control that a marwari keeps.

3. When he is in financial trouble (because of circumstances) and yet has a chance of survival and come back, the community helps him.

And now the question why to link success in India with a caste/community?

There is no escape from the genes. This is the simple answer.

Tambrahms suffer from dearth of capital to start new ventures. They are given too much into dhukrinjkarane and so are careful to a fault. We can say they lack the guts to wager everything and come out successful because of their intelligence. They are satisfied in life too soon. They can either give up everything or be really satisfied with what they have. They can not have the appetite for more. This is genetic. Some are there and they are exceptions to this general rule like we have exceptions for everything. Genes are subject to influence of environment over centuries of evolution. Among Tambrahms too we find the people from my district, Tirunelveli district, are much more enterprising than others from other districts. The Nadars from my district too are very enterprising. So the influence of genes by the environment shows itself in groups of humans living in or hailing from a geographical area.

and shorn of superimposed inferiority/superiority complexes, caste and community are nothing but expressions of genes. LOL.
 
Last edited:
Another fact is that the region (Marwar) in Rajasthan where they originated is arid..Irrigation is not developed...So agriculture cannot bring them prosperity...As traders they decided to move to other places...Buying and selling was their forte..When they seized an opportunity they called their unemployed folks from their native villages & induscted them in the business..Everything was close knit..Getting capital was never a problem as fellow Marwaris supported them..It is a close knit community who relied on trust..
 
Money attracts easily. I warn our people not to emulate them. One thing about them is they manage things within themselves and the community is well insulated. Everybody can become a business man or can have necessary acumen for it. The way they do business is horrible and our conscience will not accept that. Their ladies are hardworking and support the family without education and the community helps itself. When Morarji Desai was finance minister in the beginning, all import licences were given to Gujarati people who signed with LHTI. That shot enlarged them into what they are today. If India has not developed as others it is because the business is in the hands of banias. Even a polythene bag has to be imported and then made in India. Tell one Indian industry (business) which has made an original international product. One can write 1000 of pages. But the upcoming generation of this country will take care of things. The basic mentality is if he does we will praise him. There are good businessmen from Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Chettiyars. More enterprising people will be on the horizon all over the country. And the bania community knows this. Only some old people are wary of it. Let us support our people.
 
I think Vgane was pointing out the positives of the community, but I am afraid it is turning out to be bashing another "Indian" community which may not have any representation on this site. This is a dangerous development. Please stop it.
 
Last edited:
Why is it common in India to link success with caste or family. Why can we not give credit to the individual for their success.
Warren Buffett was not born in a Baniya family.

Is Warren Buffeett an Indian Hindu?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest ads

Back
Top