Gaurav Choudhary: The Livestock Market in India Is Highly Unorganised and Distributed

Gaurav Choudhary of Pashushala.com (Gratize Venture Consulting Services Pvt. Ltd.).

Tell us about yourself?

I am the promoter and managing director of Pashushala.com.

I am an engineer & IIM Alumnus having 12+ years of experience in various organizations like Accenture, PBOPlus Consulting Services Pvt. Ltd., Trident, Jindal, Trip Thrill etc as consultant, advisor, Co-founder, Chief Strategy Officer, Business Leader, Growth Hacker and Startup mentor.

For the last 4 years, I am working to uplift the livestock economy and generate a trillion-dollar opportunity for youth and dairy farmers of India creating the next white revolution.

What lessons has being an entrepreneur taught you? 

1. There will be ups and downs but the journey has to be exciting.

2. Be persistent but ready to learn and adapt. Keep on improving your offerings.

If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

One piece of advice I may give myself is to focus more on selecting my core team as soon as possible.

When you are venturing into doing something new you need to assemble your team as early as possible. It will help you explore more, learn and respond faster.

A core team is very essential for the success of a startup in the Agtech domain, and soon you can find them better it is for the business. Start delegating the work than trying to do everything by yourself.

A lot of entrepreneurs find it difficult to balance their work and personal lives. How have you found that?

I have given my best to business while taking care of my personal responsibilities. I truly believe that work and life should not be seen separately.

I believe in the concept of being Karma Yogi – Always working to solve the problem at hand while not losing focus on the big picture.

Besides, If you are solving a real-life problem which you are passionate about, you will find ways to ensure that your family also become a part of it, and then managing work and life will be a bit easy.

Give us a bit of an insight into the influences behind the company?

Pashushala.com is working towards uplifting the livestock economy of the nation.

We are creating 24/7 market access for the farmers to trade livestock. The idea was influenced by the challenges I faced while trying to open a dairy farm.

Besides, I worked with the Gates foundation carrying out projects and outreach programs to positively impact the lives of many this resulted in creating a practical and viable solution for the right target segment.

What do you think is your magic sauce? What sets you apart from the competitors?

Getting down to the field and solving a real problem is the key. We are end to end service provider for the livestock trade.

We are not just any other aggregator or peer-to-peer solution like our competitors rather we are vertically integrated and horizontally spread to solve the problem industry. I believe our strength is our operational efficiency supported by robust technology.

Pashushala.com is an innovative solution in animal husbandry and dairy space that’s transforming the way livestock have been traded.

It is India’s latest fully integrated online cattle bazaar and is a pioneer in the difficult B2B segment.

Here, customers choose from a vast pool of curated livestock, compare prices in real-time, and make decisions based on factors such as produce, distance, price, and age of the animal.

As only referenced and background-checked sellers are allowed on the AI-enabled back-end system, it obviates the need for F2F negotiation and verification.

The only entity in the livestock trading space to offer door-to-door transport, insurance, and veterinary check-up, Pashushala is all set to disrupt the market with the game-changing offering.

From providing livelihood to marginal farmers, promoting animal husbandry and dairy across the country to the creation of womenpreneurs and micro-entrepreneur at scale, Pashushala.com, is going to create a reliable family-sustaining income source for millions.

How have you found sales so far? Do you have any lessons you could pass on to other founders in the same market as you just starting out?

There is an increasing demand for our solution across geographies. We have grown 50X in the last 2 years and expanded our offerings to 14 states.

For other founders, I would like to recommend that they should not venture into this domain if they are not enough passionate about the industry as its highly unstructured and disorganised.

What is the biggest challenge you have faced so far in your business, and how did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge was to establish ourselves as a trusted partner for the procurement of cattle. Pashushala.com is a new disruptive channel of sales in the already existing $128Bn Indian market.

The solution calls for habit change, this not only requires a solid solution solving real pain points but also an element of trust has to be there.

Over a period of time with our persistence, we added services that are convenient, quality-oriented and trustworthy.

What do you consider are the main strengths of operating your business in India and the specific state you are in over other states in India?

The livestock market in India is highly unorganised and distributed. Recently, the industry has observed a substantial upsurge in livestock enterprises.

These enterprises should have access to market, technology, research, and various stakeholders in the livestock economy to succeed.

India has got the world’s largest population of livestock and has got a huge gap in population: productivity mark, hence our solution is highly required.

Besides, there are a lot of centres and state schemes to promote Animal Husbandry and Dairying which are helping the industry.

We are operational in 14 states today and counting.

What (if any) are some weaknesses of operating your business within India and your state?

Animal Husbandry and Dairying is a state matter, every state has their set of policies, rules etc.

We as a pan India organisation have figured out the process that helps us navigate through state and centre policies and be 100% statutory compliant.

We are operational in 14 states today and counting.

If you could operate your business in another state in India rather than the State you are in, which state would it be and why?

We have our head office in Bangalore, Karnataka. The state offers is a strong infrastructure and access to mentors and investors. Besides, Karnataka house some of the biggest dairy in the country.

I believe we are in the best location given the nature of our business.

India has an incredibly diverse population. How has the affected your consumer base and business?

Livestock is an integral part of the Indian economic, cultural, and social setup.

About 20.5 million people depend upon it for their livelihood – close to two-thirds of rural India.

It employs about 8.8 % of the population.

Livestock has presented a strong avenue of income for many, Industry have seen recent increase in entrepreneurs entering into dairy and animal husbandry sector, we believe that diverse population has helped us in adding more breeds to our offering and becoming a true national player.

Infrastructure is really important to businesses. How have you seen India’s infrastructure improve recently? Do you see new opportunities opening up?

Pashushala.com is solving the infrastructure issue that exists in the Industry. We see a lot of initiatives taken up to ease and enhance the business opportunity in the domain.

What do you want to accomplish in the next 5 years with your business?

We want to be a unicorn that truly solves the Industry problem.

Customer Trust and Preference are the essence of the business, everything else will follow.

The day we become the 1st choice for all farmers, I would consider it a success.

Besides the day we start benefiting the farmers in the remotest location of the world, it will be a success. I next 5 years we will be midway to success.

And finally, if people want to get involved and learn more about your business, how should they do that?

There is a slight impact of high Tariffs on our business.

India is a cyclic economy, there is a ripple effect always. But I believe for the growth of the nation we need to be ready to imbibe such hikes.

This will not only help the nation grow but will enhance our contribution to its growth.

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