Family Business Advisory
What your family built across generations deserves a future as strong as its past.
Your systems don’t break. They just don’t work well together.
Your systems don’t break. They just don’t work well together.
We help India's most accomplished families navigate succession, ownership, and the conversations that determine what comes next.
We help India's most accomplished families navigate succession, ownership, and the conversations that determine what comes next.
70%
of family businesses don't survive the first generation change
9%
make it to the third generation
70%
of family businesses don't survive the first generation change
9%
make it to the third generation
The cause is rarely strategy.
It is almost always what was never said.
The cause is rarely strategy.
It is almost always what was never said.
revenue generated by India's family businesses — 25% of the country's total GDP
revenue generated by India's family businesses — 25% of the country's total GDP
of listed Indian companies are family-owned — the largest concentration of any major economy
of listed Indian companies are family-owned — the largest concentration of any major economy
higher market capitalisation growth in businesses with planned succession vs. those without
higher market capitalisation growth in businesses with planned succession vs. those without
of Indian family businesses have no formal governance framework, will, or ownership structure in place
of Indian family businesses have no formal governance framework, will, or ownership structure in place
Reduction in manual workflow coordination across teams
higher market capitalisation growth in businesses with planned succession vs. those without
of listed Indian companies are family-owned — the largest concentration of any major economy
of Indian family businesses have no formal governance framework, will, or ownership structure in place
The successor who isn't ready
And nobody is saying it out loud. Readiness doesn't transfer in a handover meeting.
The successor who isn't ready
And nobody is saying it out loud. Readiness doesn't transfer in a handover meeting.
The issues that threaten family businesses are specific. They deserve to be named.
The issues that threaten family businesses are specific.
They deserve to be named.
Siblings with different visions
One wants to scale. One wants to protect. Both are right. Both are your children.
Siblings with different visions
One wants to scale. One wants to protect. Both are right. Both are your children.
Ownership vs. management
Two questions that have never been formally separated. As the family grows, this becomes the argument.
Ownership vs. management
Two questions that have never been formally separated. As the family grows, this becomes the argument.
The patriarch who can't let go
The succession plan exists on paper. It has for four years.
The patriarch who can't let go
The succession plan exists on paper. It has for four years.
The relationship under strain
That disagreement from three years ago is still present in how everyone speaks in meetings.
The relationship under strain
That disagreement from three years ago is still present in how everyone speaks in meetings.
What the Difference Looks Like
Some of India's most accomplished families have faced this crossroads. How they navigate it is instructive.
Your systems don’t break. They just don’t work well together.
Godrej Group · 127 Years
Two family branches with genuinely different ideas about the group's direction. Rather than allowing unresolved tension to accumulate over time, they committed to five to six years of structured planning before arriving at any decision.
The April 2024 announcement of an amicable, structured separation into two independent groups was not a crisis response. It was the outcome of deliberate, patient governance work — with clear succession, documented agreements, and no public fracture.
Two family branches with genuinely different ideas about the group's direction. Rather than allowing unresolved tension to accumulate over time, they committed to five to six years of structured planning before arriving at any decision.
The April 2024 announcement of an amicable, structured separation into two independent groups was not a crisis response. It was the outcome of deliberate, patient governance work — with clear succession, documented agreements, and no public fracture.
5–6 yrs
5–6 yrs
of structured planning before the public announcement
of structured planning before the public announcement
2
2
stronger, more focused independent groups
stronger, more focused independent groups
0
0
Public disputes, legal battles, or family fractures
Public disputes, legal battles, or family fractures
The difference was not love, intention, or the quality of the people. It was structure, timing, and the willingness to have the conversation before it became unavoidable.
The difference was not love, intention, or the quality of the people. It was structure, timing, and the willingness to have the conversation before it became unavoidable.
Our Approach
A structured process.
At every stage, a clear output.
A structured process.
At every stage, a clear output.
Assessment — Tbigfoot Intelligence™
The financial picture, honestly read.
The family's financial records, company documents, and historical data are analysed through our proprietary AI system — producing an objective picture of where the business stands today. No assumption. No filter. An audit, not an opinion. This is the diagnostic foundation every engagement is built on.
Output: Tbigfoot Clarity Map™ — the complete pre-engagement diagnostic.
1
Assessment — Tbigfoot Intelligence™
The financial picture, honestly read.
The family's financial records, company documents, and historical data are analysed through our proprietary AI system — producing an objective picture of where the business stands today. No assumption. No filter. An audit, not an opinion. This is the diagnostic foundation every engagement is built on.
Output: Tbigfoot Clarity Map™ — the complete pre-engagement diagnostic.
Strategy — Sivaram's Expertise
The questions the data cannot ask itself.
With the financial picture established, Sivaram applies four decades of human judgment. He maps the governance gaps, the succession vulnerabilities, and the decisions that have been postponed. The output is a clear strategic path forward — evidence-based, practically structured, and built for the specific realities of the family in question.
Output: A strategic advisory framework tailored to the family.
2
Strategy — Sivaram's Expertise
The questions the data cannot ask itself.
With the financial picture established, Sivaram applies four decades of human judgment. He maps the governance gaps, the succession vulnerabilities, and the decisions that have been postponed. The output is a clear strategic path forward — evidence-based, practically structured, and built for the specific realities of the family in question.
Output: A strategic advisory framework tailored to the family.
Implementation — Sivaram & Kshitij
What the business needs to become.
Sivaram and Kshitij work alongside the family on execution. Governance frameworks, succession documentation, family constitutions. And beyond structure — what does the business need in the next generation's hands? How does the brand evolve? Where does modern thinking meet old foundations? The path forward, built together.
Output: Governance structures, succession plan, and modernisation roadmap.
3
Implementation — Sivaram & Kshitij
What the business needs to become.
Sivaram and Kshitij work alongside the family on execution. Governance frameworks, succession documentation, family constitutions. And beyond structure — what does the business need in the next generation's hands? How does the brand evolve? Where does modern thinking meet old foundations? The path forward, built together.
Output: Governance structures, succession plan, and modernisation roadmap.
Monitoring & Support — Ongoing Advisory
Structures hold when someone is watching.
Family businesses do not transform overnight. We remain in the engagement — tracking governance adoption, supporting difficult conversations as they arise, and refining the strategy as the family and the business evolve. The relationship is the continuity.
Output: Ongoing advisory, accountability, and course-correction as needed.
4
Monitoring & Support — Ongoing Advisory
Structures hold when someone is watching.
Family businesses do not transform overnight. We remain in the engagement — tracking governance adoption, supporting difficult conversations as they arise, and refining the strategy as the family and the business evolve. The relationship is the continuity.
Output: Ongoing advisory, accountability, and course-correction as needed.
The People Behind the Work
Built by people who understand what you've built.
Built by people
who understand what you've built.
Kshitij
Co-Founder · Entrepreneur, Digital Artist & Architect of Tbigfoot Intelligence™
TEDx speaker. Digital artist. Founder & CEO of MMGA Agency. He built the analytical intelligence behind every Tbigfoot engagement — drawing on his experience building brands, scaling businesses, and understanding how the modern world makes decisions. His lens is the world these families are entering, not the one they're leaving.
TEDx Speaker
Founder & CEO · MMGA Agency
Digital Artist · 2D & 3D
Architect · Tbigfoot Intelligence™
Sivaramakrishnan
Founder · Strategic Advisor & Family Business Expert
40+ years at the centre of India's most consequential corporate decisions. He has been in the room when families make their hardest choices — and understands what holds under pressure. Not what sounds right in a boardroom. What works in a family.
Founding MD · IL&FS Trust Company
India's 1st Corporate Trust Co.
CFO · Cadbury India
CFO · Pfizer India
CFO · Tata Liebert
He knows the difference between advice that sounds right in a boardroom and guidance that holds up in a family.
Sivaramakrishnan
Founder · Strategic Advisor & Family Business Expert
40+ years at the centre of India's most consequential corporate decisions. He has been in the room when families make their hardest choices — and understands what holds under pressure. Not what sounds right in a boardroom. What works in a family.
Founding MD · IL&FS Trust Company
India's 1st Corporate Trust Co.
CFO · Cadbury India
CFO · Pfizer India
CFO · Tata Liebert
He knows the difference between advice that sounds right in a boardroom and guidance that holds up in a family.
Sivaramakrishnan
Founder · Strategic Advisor & Family Business Expert
40+ years at the centre of India's most consequential corporate decisions. He has been in the room when families make their hardest choices — and understands what holds under pressure. Not what sounds right in a boardroom. What works in a family.
Founding MD · IL&FS Trust Company
India's 1st Corporate Trust Co.
CFO · Cadbury India
CFO · Pfizer India
CFO · Tata Liebert
He knows the difference between advice that sounds right in a boardroom and guidance that holds up in a family.
Kshitij
Co-Founder · Entrepreneur, Digital Artist & Architect of Tbigfoot Intelligence™
TEDx speaker. Digital artist. Founder & CEO of MMGA Agency. He built the analytical intelligence behind every Tbigfoot engagement — drawing on his experience building brands, scaling businesses, and understanding how the modern world makes decisions. His lens is the world these families are entering, not the one they're leaving.
TEDx Speaker
Founder & CEO · MMGA Agency
Digital Artist · 2D & 3D
Architect · Tbigfoot Intelligence™
Insights
Perspectives on family business, governance, and what endures.
Perspectives on family business, governance, and what endures.
Our thinking on the questions that matter most to Indian family business owners — grounded in research, informed by experience.
Our thinking on the questions that matter most to Indian family business owners — grounded in research, informed by experience.
Succession Planning
What BCG's research on 200 successions actually tells Indian family businesses
Businesses with planned succession transitions outperformed their peers by 28% in market capitalisation growth. Here is what that data means in practice — and what Indian families specifically need to act on.
Read Article
Succession Planning
What BCG's research on 200 successions actually tells Indian family businesses
Businesses with planned succession transitions outperformed their peers by 28% in market capitalisation growth. Here is what that data means in practice — and what Indian families specifically need to act on.
Read Article
Governance
The Godrej restructuring: what five years of planning actually looked like
127 years old. Two branches. A decision that took half a decade to architect correctly. What India's most instructive family business story of 2024 reveals about the work that happens before the announcement.
Read Article
Governance
The Godrej restructuring: what five years of planning actually looked like
127 years old. Two branches. A decision that took half a decade to architect correctly. What India's most instructive family business story of 2024 reveals about the work that happens before the announcement.
Read Article
Family Dynamics
Why 41% of India's wealthiest family businesses have no formal governance structure
India's family businesses generate 25% of GDP. Yet nearly half have no constitution, no formal succession plan, and no ownership framework. The gap between scale and structure — and what closes it.
Read Article
Family Dynamics
Why 41% of India's wealthiest family businesses have no formal governance structure
India's family businesses generate 25% of GDP. Yet nearly half have no constitution, no formal succession plan, and no ownership framework. The gap between scale and structure — and what closes it.
Read Article
Succession Planning
What BCG's research on 200 successions actually tells Indian family businesses
Businesses with planned succession transitions outperformed their peers by 28% in market capitalisation growth. Here is what that data means in practice — and what Indian families specifically need to act on.
Read Article
Governance
The Godrej restructuring: what five years of planning actually looked like
Automate workflows, system triggers, and deployment processes across infrastructure. Outcome: More reliable operations with reduced manual intervention.
Read Article
Family Dynamics
Why 41% of India's wealthiest family businesses have no formal governance structure
India's family businesses generate 25% of GDP. Yet nearly half have no constitution, no formal succession plan, and no ownership framework. The gap between scale and structure — and what closes it.
Read Article
The First Step
This is not a decision you need to rush. It is one you shouldn't postpone.
The first conversation is simply that a conversation. No agenda. Just an honest look at where your family stands and what the path forward might look like.
Where your family currently stands — honestly assessed
What the highest-risk decisions are right now
Whether and how Tbigfoot can help
The First Step
This is not a decision you need to rush. It is one you shouldn't postpone.
The first conversation is simply that a conversation. No agenda. Just an honest look at where your family stands and what the path forward might look like.
Where your family currently stands — honestly assessed
What the highest-risk decisions are right now
Whether and how Tbigfoot can help
The First Step
This is not a decision you need to rush. It is one you shouldn't postpone.
The first conversation is simply that a conversation. No agenda. Just an honest look at where your family stands and what the path forward might look like.
Where your family currently stands — honestly assessed
What the highest-risk decisions are right now
Whether and how Tbigfoot can help