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Book Review : The Inheritors by Sonu Bhasin

Why did Harsh Mariwala leave his family business? What made the entire Dabur management to quit one day?
How did Dhingra brothers turn a suffering business into India’s second largest paints company?
This is a fascinating behind the scenes look into what goes behind brands like Marico, Dabar, Keventers, Berger Paints, Select Group, Max Group and many others. The book focuses on the culture, family politics, business rivalries between and within families, ego battles and a lot more. Plus there are the inheritors themselves who sometimes take the business to great heights and during others, lead to its doom.

I agreed to review this book mainly for two reasons: 1. It talks about entrepreneurship and success 2. I am intrigued to learn/know anything related to business.
About The Book: 
The Inheritors by Sonu Bhasin is unlike any business book, it does not tell you ‘How to be successful?’ nor is it a guide to be an affluent businessman or woman, but it is a collection of stories which revolve around the doom and success of 9 big companies in India, from the likes of Dabur Group and Lite Bite Foods: Amit Burman, Marico: Harsh Mariwala, Berger Paints: Kuldip Singh Dhingra and Gurbachan Singh Dhingra, Motilal Oswal Group: Motilal Oswal and Raamdeo Agrawal, Keventers: Tara Singh Vanchi, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas: Rishab and Saloni Shroff, Luxor: Pooja Jain, to Arjun Sharma: Select Group
Like I have said, this book is purely based on the lives of the following aforementioned successors who have made their way to the ladder of triumph with hard work, sacrifices, enthusiasm and passion to become successful businessman and woman. The Inheritors gives an insight of how running a successful business and managing it is not as easy as it sounds. All of the great names cited here have something in common .i.e. they started off from scratch and built an empire through a great deal of effort. The book focused on the culture, family politics, business rivalries between and within families, ego battles and a lot more. It talks about how few failures at first and somewhere in between makes them even stronger to reach the place they are today. 
Also, mentioned in the chapter of Pooja Jain, the inheritor of Luxor, she stated a point to the author on why the book was called ‘The Inheritors,’ 'when people might assume the fact that it an easy task to inherit the family business, which she feels is not true at all.' Taking over a family business and managing to maintain the same level of success is no piece of cake. 
My Take on the Book: 
The author has very well recorded the conversation she had with the entrepreneurs and successors, and the story shared by them was surely a page turner for me. Incidentally, I enjoyed the book thoroughly, every chapter was motivating, every story inspiring. For some of the heirs, the synonym of rags to riches was highlighted in the book. It may sound easy, but in order to achieve something, one has to fight, work even hard to be at the point where they will be recognised, not for what is already built, but to take the name forward and retain the same successful status. The Inheritors will take you on a journey on how families who run businesses together tackle the problems and resolve the issue in order to keep the name running. Also, the author had emphasised on the fact on how daughters have equal rights to get involve and make the business run like it’s no big deal. 
What caught my attention was the author's style of considering real-life account and case studies to narrate the stories. In the words of Anand Mahindra, who noted the foreword of the book said“I am sure that The Inheritors will provide insight and inspiration not only to members of family businesses but also to anyone who aspires to be an entrepreneur. Learning from someone else’s story is a very powerful incentive to fashion your own.”
So, agreeing on the note, I would surely recommend this book to every business minded people who are/is working towards the goal of achieving something bigger in life. This book will fuel up your motivation with its strong corporate connection and real-life stories. 
Go, budding entrepreneurs, grab a copy today!
Book Details:
Title: The Inheritors
Author: Sonu Bhasin
Publisher:  Penguin Random House India
Pages: 304 pages
Language: English
Price:    224
ISBN-10: 0143428683
ISBN-13: 978-0143428688
My Rating: 4/5







Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All the opinions express are my own. 

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