World over, family business has been playing a vital role in job creation, contribution to GDP and wealth creation. 35 percent of Fortune 500 companies are controlled by families. In the last decade, the phenomenon of the family business has received increasing attention from academicians and management consultants. This work − Family Base Business: Roots to Routes, is a personal recount that the author has gained over the period of time while working with various Family Business organizations. The author, here, shares his own learning and cognitive notions for the betterment of family business; this will be a compendium for the entrepreneurs engaged in family business. It will help them to understand various challenges they may have to face ahead. Also, this work shall help families and organizations for effective succession planning and to convert their traditional business into competitive market driven and system driven business. Furthermore the book endeavors to bring forth the essence of harmonizing head and heart while taking decisions for business as well for family. The uniqueness of this work is elaboration of all these issues through theory as well as small cases. It has extensive and well researched content and has been developed with great number of constructive deliberations and debates with the individuals of target group. This initiative has covered the entire challenges specific to managing a family run business in past and in contemporary times. The drive of writing this book is to benefit all those who are directly or indirectly involved with family business, right from the entrepreneur, business leader, family leader, family members, outsiders who are working with family firm and management aspirants. It targets to make them aware and ready to face challenges for future growth. This book emphasizes on brand building of family businesses and adopting professional approach by placing appropriate external managers in the business. This has been illustrated through real life cases. The entire book is divided into three parts; the first part covers theory, the second part is the heart of the book covering cases related to strengths and challenges of family business and the third part covers success stories of Indian family corporates. Contents - Prologue Family Businesses − Global Economic Powerhouse Family Business: An Understanding The Family Business Web Various Stages of Development of a Family Business Family Business Models Foundation of Governance Family Meeting, Family Council, Business Council and Family Constitution Advantages of Family Business Challenges of Family Business Strengths and Weaknesses of Family Firms "WHW" − Elements of Family Based Business Family Business: Changing with the Time Women in Family Business Learning from Successful Family Business Family Business: Indian Success Stories Annexure I A List of Oldest Family Business in the World