In the past few years, we have seen so many businesses and corporations moving online, and there has been a growth in the startup industry as well. In the past few years, many people have come forward with their startups, from clothing to medicines to renting a home, everything is available online because of the startups. Some startups have taken the high road as they move away from everyday products and bring a whole new market of products.
Coming from a small town named Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur District, Bihar, Gaurav Choudhary has been surrounded by livestock his entire childhood and most of his early life. India is a country that is moving in the direction of development and technological advancements, but it is still attached to its roots of livestock and dependency on farmers. With over 20.5 million people from rural India depend on this livestock for their livelihood, this field of work employs about 8.8% of the population. However, the livestock market is highly unorganized and distributed in India, and to overcome this problem, Gaurav Choudhary introduced his startup, Pashushala, to the world to make it organized.
Farmers and livestock owners in India struggle to get the right value for their hard work and livestock, and they are forced to sell their belongings and livestock. These farmers sell these things for less than the market rate, despite the government schemes that support them. The livestock was increasing, and the demand for animal husbandry and dairy was growing as well, Pashushala emerged as a reliable platform that would bring these together to indulge them in a fair trade, which would help both the parties.
Small town lad going big
Born and brought up in a small town called Kahalgaon of Bhagalpur district of Bihar, Gaurav Choudhary completed his engineering in the field of Computers and then became an alumnus of IIM. Gaurav had an exposure of 8 years in the industry and has been working in the industry fields from Manufacturing to Infrastructure, Advanced Technologies to Social Sector, Multinationals to Startups.
In conversation with TimesNext, Gaurav mentions how his family and friends have been always there for him and supported him for the education he got and for exposure opportunities he received. They have aided him in the journey, and their support led to the beginning of the online livestock marketplace, Pashushala.
The idea behind the startup
During the conversation with TimesNext, Gaurav mentioned how the livestock system in India is distributed and disturbed because of the way the market was managed. Pashushala.com is an initiative by him to organize the marketplace a little as this platform provides a one-stop-shop for the buyers and sellers of livestock. Along with this, Pashushala also brings financing agencies, transporters, veterinary doctors, and insurance agencies together in a managed environment.
The main idea of the startup was to build an all-inclusive marketplace where every person involved in the livestock market can come together and make the most of the livestock. The company is operating on advanced technology, AI, and IoT solutions to make it convenient and user-friendly. The parent company of the startup is Gratize Venture Consulting Services Pvt. Ltd.
There has been a sudden boom in the livestock enterprise industry, and for a successful functioning, the enterprises need to have inputs on information about the market, technology, research, etc. Livestock can be used to aid the country’s economy, and it can be achieved with an ecosystem like Pashushala.com. The platform offers:
- solutions to strengthen and ensure the well-being of livestock
- the alternative source of reliable earning for farmers and livestock owners
- an ecosystem that brings livestock stakeholders together in a user-friendly manner
- connects trustworthy livestock sellers with genuine buyers
The challenges faced by the company
As Gaurav continues his conversation with TimesNext, he mentions how he was aware of the fact that Pashushala is not a comprehensive e-commerce platform where the services/products offered are standard. He was also mindful of the fact that the market they are entering is new to the use of technology, and it is highly unstructured.
He spent six months on the project, and every day was a new day with its perks and challenges, but he was happy about the fact that the journey was exciting all along. From issuing onboarding seller to giving a guarantee of the livestock, from guiding technology team to make the site user-friendly to reaching out to investors and exhilarate them about the new idea, every aspect was challenging but exciting.
The upcoming collaborations
As a young company, Pashushala.com is currently working in partnership with farmers and livestock owners that are willing to work with them. They are working with dairy farms, cooperatives, individual livestock owners, farmers with livestock, animal husbandry owners, and breeders.
The company is planning to team up with the transportation services that have experience in the field of animal transportation and are working in 100% compliance with the government norms by the first quarter of the year 2020. They are planning to target over 10,000 farmers/livestock owners to be a part of their company, along with 25 local/national level transport agencies. The market opportunities are vast, and Gaurav believes in the community economy and is willing to partner with those who bring value to the table.
A major milestone for the company
For a startup, there are several milestones that they have to go through, but the first milestone is always the most memorable one. Moving into the field of business was a decision made by Gaurav, but for the whole company to focus on this, it was a significant milestone for them. Along with this, getting NASSCOM incubation, hiring the first resource, getting a startup certificate, introducing a user-friendly technology, setting up operations, onboarding sellers and making sales, etc., are few of the milestones that they have achieved in the past few months.
The startup is still at an early stage, but the vision they have for the company is vast, and with a positive attitude, they are sure that they will surpass many milestones in the coming years.
The current growth and further plans
The platform is easily understood and used by the farmers, and daily, about 150 users visit the website, and this leads to 4-5 inquiries every day. Unlike other e-commerce websites, the ticket size per order on Pashushala can go from INR 50,000 and go as high as INR 25 lakhs. 4-5 inquiries every day means the potential of generating business worth INR 5 lakhs daily.
Pashushala.com is a greenfield idea that has the potential of impacting the lives of many, nationally and internationally. The vision is to build a platform that can be a one-stop destination for the needs of existing and prospective livestock owners. Gaurav wants the platform to be the largest and best marketplace for livestock, making it a genuinely Indian multinational, which is creating a positive impact on the lives of lakhs of people worldwide.
