THE BHATIA COMMUNITY has been known to have bank-rolled everyone from the British East India Company to Middle Eastern Sheikhs, as also the Sultans of African nations. Their deft skills as money-lenders, traders and entrepreneurs, makes the community enterprising and its exploits in the world of business are renowned. We pride on our tryst with many firsts in the context of global business, right from one of the first organized business mergers in the country, to a determined foray into the logistics business on a global scale. It was pretty early that the community witnessed the birth of many great entrepreneurs and a progressive mindset has helped them sustain their businesses till date. Also, one cannot deny the fact that a sense of unity and brotherhood is prevalent amongst Bhatias when it comes to business and commerce and prominent entrepreneurial families have even paid their gratitude to the community by giving back in the form of opportunities.

Legacies are not built overnight and it is the challenging nature of business that makes their stories so interesting. The challenges of modern day businesses are varied and overwhelming. The ones that have evolved over the last 5 decades have paved a path full of inspiration for the new generation. Hence, there was a dire need to revel in those stories and learn from such enriching journeys. The Global Bhatia Foundation picked on this need and nurtured the idea of creating the first ever Bhatia Business Conference. The platform stands strong on the foundation of the very enterprising spirit of the Bhatia community to be a platform for entrepreneurs; whether established and legacy family business enterprises, emerging businesses or aspiring entrepreneurs. The first edition of this conference was held in India at the Taj Lands End Hotel, Mumbai on the 10th of December, 2017. The event witnessed attendance from over 100 participants including those from established family businesses, first generation entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs.

The day-long event hosted some of the biggest names and brightest minds of the community who took to stage and shared their views on subjects relevant to modern business markets. Being the first attempt, The GBF organizing team were a little cautious about many aspects. However, along the way, tremendous encouragement from the community was received from all over India and the globe. The curation of content, speaker line-up, scheduling and nitty-gritties were thoughtfully planned by the very able and farsighted team at GBF. The conference was supported by ASCENT Foundation as the Knowledge Partner, as the team at ASCENT saw purpose here that echoed their efforts towards encouraging entrepreneurship. Eminent business owners of the likes of Mr. Harsh Mariwala of Marico Ltd. and Mr. Jai Shroff of the UPL Group shared their mantras of success with the delegates. The ability to take risks and the need to innovate were strong takeaways from their stories.

 

SP Jain Institute of Management Research (SPJIMR) was instrumental in supporting the conference by orchestrating a healthy discussion between two generations of family managed business owners. SPJIMR also added their expertise as Academic Partners by conducting a jugalbandi on innovation & strategy which was moderated by Prof. JagdishRattanani and graced by Dr. Ranjan Banerjee, the Dean of SPJIMR & Mr. R Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director – Tata Sons and also an eminent management author. Bhatia entrepreneurs from all over the country represented their businesses at the conference, as they showed how it is done by moving beyond geographies. New-gen entrepreneurs also made their presence felt by sharing insights into how they converted challenges into opportunities for themselves and have successfully and almost single-handedly built their business. The most interesting part of the conference was the “elevator pitch” session where aspiring entrepreneurs presented their ideas to a captive audience with interests across varied businesses. A common consensus at the conference was that entrepreneurs must work together in building more opportunities to strengthen the socio-economic fabric of the community. Overall, the first ever Bhatia Business Conference served to be a great networking platform for every individual who chose to be a part of it.

 

The platform also had the support of a group of young Bhatia professionals; The Bha Collective, who were instrumental in packaging the overall experience. The visual identity has been inspired by our traditional ‘Bhatia Paagdi’, represented in an urbane and contemporary approach, is symbolic of how our values are timeless and will hold us in good stead even in changing times.

 

The day-long event hosted some of the biggest names and brightest minds of the community who took to stage and shared their views on subjects relevant to modern business markets. Being the first attempt, The GBF organizing team was cautious about many aspects. However, along the way, tremendous encouragement from the community was received from all over India and the globe. The curation of content, speaker line-up, scheduling and nitty-gritties were thoughtfully planned by the very able and farsighted team at GBF. The conference was supported by ASCENT Foundation as the Knowledge Partner, as the team at ASCENT saw purpose here that echoed their efforts towards encouraging entrepreneurship. Eminent business owners of the likes of Mr. Harsh Mariwala of Marico Ltd. and Mr. Jai Shroff of the UPL Group shared their mantras of success with the delegates. The ability to take risks and the need to innovate were strong takeaways from their stories.

SP Jain Institute of Management Research (SPJIMR) was instrumental in supporting the conference by orchestrating a healthy discussion between two generations of family managed business owners. SPJIMR also added their expertise as Academic Partners by conducting a jugalbandi on innovation & strategy which was moderated by Prof. JagdishRattanani and graced by Dr. Ranjan Banerjee, the Dean of SPJIMR & Mr. R Gopalakrishnan, Former Executive Director of Tata Sons and eminent management author and also an eminent management author. Bhatia entrepreneurs from all over the country represented their businesses at the conference, as they showed how it is done by moving beyond geographies. First-gen entrepreneurs also made their presence felt by sharing insights into how they converted challenges into opportunities and successfully and single-handedly built their businesses The most interesting part of the conference was the “elevator pitch” session where aspiring entrepreneurs presented their ideas to a captive audience with interests across varied businesses. A common consensus at the conference was that entrepreneurs must work together in building more opportunities to strengthen the socio-economic fabric of the community. Overall, the first ever Bhatia Business Conference served to be a great networking platform for every individual who chose to be a part of it.

 

The platform also had the support of a group of young Bhatia professionals; The Bha Collective, who were instrumental in packaging the overall experience. The visual identity has been inspired by our traditional ‘Bhatia Paagdi’, represented in an urbane and contemporary approach, and is symbolic of how our values are timeless and will hold us in good stead even in changing times.

I am happy to share that the Bhatia Business Conference was a successful first step in a long journey that has just begun. It was heart-warming to see people from the community come forward to learn, share experiences and collaborate. The feedback we received, the encouraging mails that we still get and the invitations to collaborate are testimony that the enterprising spirit of Bhatias is very much alive and kicking. GBF has plans to continue this momentum and urge you to stay connected with us on GBFentrep@gmail.com

Thank you to the speakers, co-organizers, partners, delegates and well-wishers who made this possible.

Yours truly

KaushalSampat

Chief Curator and Guardian Trustee, Bhatia Business Conference