“History together” has its value

While I’m not one to make a fuss on my birthday, I broke with tradition for the first time the other day.

As is customary at Autogem Invicta Ltd , we treated everyone onsite for lunch but on this occasion of my 48th birthday, I did make a big song and dance – by paying homage to my brother!

It was 25 to the years to the day that my elder brother Adit Chopra (yes he is definitely older!) left the city as a qualified commercial lawyer and joined me in the glamour that was then referred to as Invicta Components Ltd.

I don’t mind saying that he has always been braver and more courageous than me, as I’ve always erred on the side of being risk averse. He is the lawyer to my financial background and the strategic thinker to my systems orientated mindset. Such a contrasting personality makes the perfect artistic yin to my scientific yang.

It is of course challenging working with family at times. Levels of motivation and ambition can ebb and flow and I salute my father’s wisdom to encourage us into clear, separate responsibilities within the business. There are areas that Adit completely leaves to me and vice versa. We consult each other when necessary or simply out of respect and I’m so proud to say that after 25 years we still eat out of the same pot.

A lot has happened since that first day when he no longer had a secretary to type his letters. Today we stand together with more than 60 of us, as our father continues to be a wonderfully stabilising force for our growing Autogem family. It is incredible to look back and think of all those boxes lifted, the pallets packed, the hours sacrificed, the miles travelled and of course the many, many, many thousands of kgs that our shoulders and backs have borne.

To say that our bond is founded on blood, sweat and tears would be true and while we have naturally had our highs and lows as all relationships suffer, we have overcome so many challenges through the respect and love we have for one-another. There is so much to say for having ‘history together,’ whether that be five, 10, 15, 20 - or in Adit’s case, 25 years - of working together.

There is such a benefit to being a family business and I mean it in the broader sense beyond those with Chopra as their surname. I love it when people ask our team how long they have been with us and we reflect on our long family history.

With the world so uncertain right now, an incredibly weak pound, record numbers of business for sale, a truly baffling budget and a winter of discontent looming large, times will become even more challenging for businesses and their people.

My advice to similar sized businesses right now is:

·????????Love and support your people and immerse them into the heart of your business, knowing they’ll provide support when you need them most

·????????Join trade associations, buying groups and similar organisations. Don’t go it alone, especially now

·????????Communication is key! While this is stating the obvious, it bears repeating. Being honest with your colleagues is vital – whatever the issue.

By surrounding ourselves with so many good people – and treating them as I would like to be treated myself – I know we have the steadiest hands on the tiller to navigate through the waters ahead, however choppy they might get.

Some people say that you should never work with your family…

…But after 25 years working side-by-side with Adit, my father and our extended Autogem family I can safely say they’re wrong.

Love you guys!!!!!

Photo: Adit has always been a huge Ayrton Senna fan. As some of you will know Adit is an incredible sportsman and certainly the most mentally tough competitor I have ever come across (I can see where his ruthless unrelenting competitive spirit came from). Adit has always been a hero to me in so many ways so why not present his hero to him? He was surprised that his busy younger brother had actually made the time for a change. Something to go in our history book!