antimony

I have had my share of dealing with marwaris both on a professional and personal basis. I noted that their business philosophy, at its heart, is as simple as the "buy low, sell high" concept. They, regardless of which level of the corporate world they might be, do not usually have a head-in-the-cloud
"growth oriented business models" kind of attitude that the B-schools seem to nurture. They leave that for their B-school employees; they are willing to view presentations of complex models but would take business decisions based on that "buy low sell high" concept. Also, they need not have any emotional attachment to the business model that they may have, if it is not making money they will dispose of it. This is also why we see them more in old-school brick and mortar type businesses instead of new, higher risk areas.

Paradoxically, that attitude also makes investment decisions in long term product research difficult, since that is a risk that may not pay off in the short term, or may not pay off at all. It is much better to forego that risk and buy a ready, tested product with some premium. That, in my view, is one of the explanations why Indian business models developed as they have.

Also, their attitude in life is markedly different from how some other ethnic groups are brought up. In the marwari philosophy, failure to set up a business or get involved in the family business is a negative. You work for someone else only if you are not able to do your own thing. The emphasis is not so much in money, but in freedom to take charge of your own life. This is different from, say Bengalis, where doing your own business frequently means that you are not "educated" enough or "qualified" enough to get a job.

It is also interesting that the companies which focus on technology expertise and new product development are frequently set up by non-marwari (non-baniya class) promoters. Bose and many of the software companies are good examples