From Family Lessons To Formal Learning: My Step Forward With ISB

Sometimes you grow up learning everything about business from the family and still wonder whether the company can ever function without you watching over every decision. That question stayed with me for years. I always knew how to run, scale and sustain a business, but I wanted to understand how an organisation becomes a true corporation, one that grows through systems, not dependence. 

That search for institutional thinking is what brought me to the PGP MFAB programme.

Building My Own Venture

I come from a family enterprise that spans tobacco products, real estate and flexible packaging. Three years ago, when COVID hit, I felt a strong urge to create something of my own. That is how VS Products Private Limited came into existence. What began as a very small venture is now on track to close a revenue of 100 crores this year.

Since my family business was already in flexible packaging, my company became a natural extension, broadening the target market rather than competing with it. We started with paper bags, eventually evolved into tamper-evident packaging solutions and now manufacture 100 percent compostable, biodegradable bags as well. We are among the companies certified by the Pollution Control Board of India to manufacture compostable bags. And while compostable material is still expensive and evolving, a major part of the business continues in plastics.

I had always believed our growth would be steady, but the evolution turned out to be much faster. Today, we have strong industrial relationships, a capable team and a growing market. Yet with that growth comes a more pressing challenge, the industrialisation of the business itself. Turning it into an institutional-grade industrial brand is my next milestone.

Learning the Systems Behind Scale

This is exactly why I chose the PGP MFAB programme. In traditional family businesses, you learn operations, survival and scale, but rarely strategy, governance, HR systems or financial structuring. You don’t learn how to make a company run on its own without your interference.

I strongly feel many Indian startups grow but lack corporatisation. That is the leap I want to make. We come from a bootstrap mindset, we don’t talk about raising funds, whether the company should seek investments or where profits should be deployed. We don’t even fully know when or if funding is necessary. But as everyone says, money makes money, and understanding how capital works is essential for future decisions.

These are the gaps I am here to fill. I want to know how to scale from here, how to make the business more independent, and how to transition from founder-driven growth to structured organisational growth. In my family business, I am a second generation. But with my own company, I am a first generation entrepreneur and that duality shapes the kind of learning I need.

The Power of A Diverse Cohort

Meeting the cohort reaffirmed I made the right choice. We come from extremely diverse fields, yet our problems somehow look similar. The conversations are energising and honest. The peer-to-peer learning is real and valuable. The discussions in class are sharp, practical and rooted in the realities of running businesses. Even when industries differ, the challenges of growth, systems, people and decision-making connect us instantly.

Together, we exchange ideas, talk through our struggles and learn from each other’s approaches. I know for a fact that I will carry this learning and these relationships long after the programme ends.

I came to ISB to take my business to the next stage, but what I am really learning is how to build a company that stands confidently on its own.

Synopsis

Anandini Bansal comes from a diversified family business spanning tobacco products, real estate and flexible packaging. She founded VS Products Private Limited three years ago and joined PGP MFAB to learn strategy, governance, HR and financial discipline so she can professionalise and industrialise her company into an institutional-grade brand.