Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Suchita Bhandari, Founder of Urvara Krsi, located in Gurgaon, Haryana, India.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Urvara Krsi is a sustainability-focused startup that builds ecosystems for farmers to sell their end product directly to buyers, eliminating the middleman.

The company has three primary verticals:

  • Agroforestry encourages farmers to plant trees with crops.
  • Specific agriculture crops.
  • Agro-related consultancy services.

I am the founder and director of Urvara Krsi, and we have a core team of 30 passionate experts. We also employ hundreds of seasonal workers around the year, the most significant portion of whom are women from underprivileged and underserved rural communities.

Our clients are primarily businesses and organizations in the agriculture and agroforestry industry. They include AVT McCormick, BILT Graphic Pulp and Paper, Omniactive, Ayurvet, and State Govt. Forest Departments, Global Green Company, Reitzel, and other eminent agro-industries.

Tell us about yourself

I have a Doctorate in Agriculture science from Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana, India, and a Post-Doctorate in Plant Pathology and Botany from the University of Cambridge, UK. Organizations employed me to work on various agriculture and agroforestry projects in India and abroad.

In India, I’ve worked with farmers in many states on contract farming programs, building an understanding of the issues associated with agriculture, the current cultivation practices, and their effects on the farmer, as well as the consumer health and environment of the area. But I had never thought about starting a company of my own. Then came the era of startups, which focused more on addressing specific areas.

In the year 2019, I was motivated by my friends and employer at the time to start a company in the agricultural domain. And so Urvara Krsi (meaning "soil agriculture" in Sanskrit) was born and incorporated in December 2019.

I love what I do, which is working with farmers to educate and train them to grow safe crops with fewer chemicals and eventually to move towards organic agriculture. I am also working with industry buyers supporting our business goal of sustainable, profitable, eco-friendly, and carbon-positive agriculture benefitting rural India.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

We run an honest and fair business with a purpose that benefits society and holds the quality of human relationships—internal and external—as the guiding principle.

Today, Urvara Krsi's team of committed professionals works with farmers, primarily small, marginal, and tribal, in three states of India. The selected crops have good market potential and linkages with the Agro Industry. The industries are also supporting us with inputs on cultivation practices and post-harvest techniques while purchasing the product directly from the farmers, thereby cutting out the middleman and enabling better profitability for farmers and industry.

We are also creating jobs in rural India, especially for women. In our plant nurseries, 90% of the workforce are women, earning consistent incomes in a safe environment. The business is small but cash positive, with annual revenues exceeding USD 1 Million in FY 2021–22.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Making correct decisions during a crisis or an uncertain market.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

I would recommend budding entrepreneurs focus on three critical factors of a successful startup:

  1. PASSION
  2. COMMITMENT
  3. HARD WORK

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://urvarakrsi.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urvarakrsi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urvarakrsi/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/urvarakrsi
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/urvara-krsi/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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