Founder and Chairman of the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) major Marico’s Harsh Mariwala on Friday said disruptions can be an opportunity to grow business.
Speaking at the Gatekeepers of Governance, a corporate summit on Friday, Mariwala discussed ideas for the growth of businesses.
“In today’s environment, there are a lot of opportunities with a lot of disruption. Coronavirus was a distribution combined with new technology and life is getting disrupted perpetually. Any disruption has a threat perception and opportunity. It is to be seen if one can take the threat perception as an opportunity,” said Mariwala.
Young entrepreneurs must prototype their business ideas, “One has to see what is the unique thing that you are bringing in as this is a highly competitive business environment. You have to offer something unique, experiment with the idea and move forward,” said Mariwala.
Importance of governance
During the discussion with M Damodaran, Director on Boards and Chairperson, Excellence Enablers, Mariwala pointed out the importance of governance from the beginning in an organisation. “Even in the smallest start-up, governance has to start immediately and building talent culture is important,” he pointed out.
Talking about Marico and developing a family-grown business, Mariwala said the organisational interest should be the priority, “The organisational interest comes first. You build the business and love it but we needed fresh blood so I stepped down. It was difficult to sell the decision to my wife and children. Looking back I think I was right. My son is a director now but he has started his own business,” added Mariwala.