David Rockefeller once said that, If necessity is the mother of invention, discontent is the father of progress. And this is definitely true in the case of Hrushikesh, whose hard work took him from rags to riches. His discontentment with his job led him to figure out the path to build a 3 crore business in the field of aloe farming. And of course, luck favors the brave, the chance he took resulted to be fruitful and he now stands proud and content over the empire he has built.
The journey of Hrushikesh is a great example of resilience, hard work, and commitment to oneself. Had he not kept moving when things were difficult, he wouldn’t have reached where he is today.
A wake-up call
Hrushikesh belongs to a remote village in Satara district in Maharashtra. His family suffered to make the ends meet as he primarily belonged to a farming background. In order to be able to support his education he took up a job as a salesperson of chemical pesticides and fertilizers along with farming. Selling these chemical fertilizers door to door to farmers worked as a wake-up call for him, as he realized how harmful these products could be to the environment and our health. That is when he made the decision to stop selling any of these strong chemicals and do something else.
His journey
As his area was a water-scarce region, he started studying and researching crops that were easier to grow and required less amount of water. That is when he came to know about aloe vera farming and learned its benefits. Although at that time there was not much awareness about the positive effects of aloe vera, he believed that this market had the potential to grow in the future. So, by believing in himself he set up this business with an initial investment of around Rs. 3000, which he utilized in buying a few aloe vera plants.
His aim was to not only achieve financial stability in his business but to also provide employment opportunities to the people of his area.
The road to success
What started as a small business set-up, soon grew into something big, and now his yearly turnover is about 3 crore rupees. Even though he initially started with aloe vera farming, he soon expanded it to manufacturing certain by-products and supplying them to companies as well. He now supplies not only the aloe vera extract but an organic pesticide made by combining fish oil and aloe vera as well. He truly has a unique vision which is why he never stopped searching for new ways to expand his work.
Challenges and future plans
Success does not come with ease, and so, Hrushikesh also faced many hurdles on his way. Initially, it was difficult for him to maintain a good sale of organic pesticides as people were not very aware of the need and benefits associated with it, moreover, the cost of organic pesticides was comparatively higher than that of chemical ones which was why people were more apprehensive on buying it. Apart from this, another problem was the time period that that aloe vera plant required to gain maturity; one single aloe plant needs 2 years to completely mature and gain all the important properties associated with it. Which is why it requires a lot of wait and patience.
But overcoming these challenges was worth it for Hrushikesh as his hard work finally paid off. He is now looking forward to expanding and growing his business even further by focusing on increasing the export of his products.
