MY MISTAKES AS AN ENTREPRENEUR

Avnish Pandya

Hello All

01:26 PM

Avnish Pandya

As a formal word of introduction I am Avnish Pandya

01:26 PM

visheshpillai

Hey Avnish! Vishesh a second year Marketing student from KJ SIMSR!

01:27 PM

Avnish Pandya

Hi

01:27 PM

Avnish Pandya

Hello Vishesh

01:27 PM

Avnish Pandya

BOHECO is India's first industrial hemp company, established by 7 of us co-founders in our mid 20s and working with Indian union and state governments to reform the agriculture industry and boost its role in the economy, uplift socio-economic standards of local farmers, identify and utilize the untapped value of natural geographic advantages by studying Indian agronomics, boost ecological balance and sustainable development. Through BOHECO's mission of Educate. Cultivate. Elevate we educate and advocate industrial hemp and its benefits to society, assist local farmers in cultivating the crop by providing optimum seeds, ideal and best practices in cultivation techniques and elevate the socio-economic conditions of the farmers and rural communities by poverty alleviation, sustainable rural development and employment and elevate the living standards of society by providing innovative agro-products. Over the course of the previous 3 years, Bombay Hemp Company has been playing an active role liaising & coordinating with all the relevant state departments and officials to enhance the multipurpose process of Industrial Hemp cultivation & application in the state of Uttarakhand as well as across the Northern handloom cluster.

01:27 PM

visheshpillai

Hey Avnish! Vishesh a second year Marketing student from KJ SIMSR!

01:27 PM

Avnish Pandya

Hi!

01:28 PM

Chetan Jadhav

How do you educate your prospective customers about your products?

01:31 PM

Chetan Jadhav

How do you educate your prospective customers about your products?

01:31 PM

Avnish Pandya

Hi Chetan, So we use a lot of influencer marketing as a tool to educate customers about our products, as we are working with various B2B and B2C segments, we have to take a multifold approach for the same.

01:33 PM

Deepanshu Jha

Hi Avnish,

01:34 PM

Deepanshu Jha

Hi Avnish,

01:34 PM

Avnish Pandya

Hello Deepanshu

01:34 PM

Deepanshu Jha

As you mentioned earlier, including you, there are 7 Co-founders. How do you guys come to a conclusion during a Brainstorming session within your organization?

01:35 PM

Miti Vaidya

Hi Avnish, thanks for your time on this chat. Since this one is about your mistakes as an entrepreneur :P could you share a couple of times when you guys messed up big-time? And what do you think any start-up could learn from that, of course.

01:35 PM

Deepanshu Jha

As you mentioned earlier, including you, there are 7 Co-founders. How do you guys come to a conclusion during a Brainstorming session within your organization?

01:35 PM

Avnish Pandya

Well it is a lot of us, more people means more perspective and also a lot of ideas, we always keep the objective at the centre of the conversation which keeps it clean and result oriented

01:36 PM

Nidhi Malkan

Hi Avnish What would you say was your biggest mistake as an entrepreneur while starting up?

01:37 PM

Miti Vaidya

Hi Avnish, thanks for your time on this chat. Since this one is about your mistakes as an entrepreneur :P could you share a couple of times when you guys messed up big-time? And what do you think any start-up could learn from that, of course.

01:35 PM

Avnish Pandya

Sure, I have made a fair few mistakes in the due course of this enterprise. One of the biggest mistakes was sending out an important piece of internal communication to an external stakeholder. The information was only for internal use but partly my negligence I shared it with someone else. Thanks to mail recall on outlook i could retrive the information asap

01:38 PM

Nidhi Malkan

Hi Avnish What would you say was your biggest mistake as an entrepreneur while starting up?

01:37 PM

Avnish Pandya

My biggest mistake was not having a detailed business plan on the first day of the company, though our nature of work was such that it had a lot of moving targets which means that we had to work different problems out before we set out to do business

01:40 PM

Miti Vaidya

Haha, that seems like a mistake even large organizations make! I'd love to know whether there were any strategic mis-steps that you'll took? you know, something that, when you look back, could have been avoided and you'll would have been more successful now?

01:40 PM

Miti Vaidya

my comment above was for the outlook goof-up, btw!

01:41 PM

Saneeya Agrawal

Hi, Avnish!

01:41 PM

visheshpillai

How do you overcome the stigma that is associated with Cannabis? Does that pose any hindrance to your business?

01:41 PM

Saneeya Agrawal

I'd love to know about any mistakes you made while figuring out a model to scale up. I work in a start-up and am curious to know what we should avoid.

01:41 PM

Nidhi Malkan

Also, is this entrepreneurship venture always been your passion? Or is it an opportunity you saw and decided it's something that you want to do?

01:41 PM

Miti Vaidya

Haha, that seems like a mistake even large organizations make! I'd love to know whether there were any strategic mis-steps that you'll took? you know, something that, when you look back, could have been avoided and you'll would have been more successful now?

01:40 PM

Avnish Pandya

Well, in hindsight I think we could have been more specific about the vision each one joins in with. Alignment of the vision and purpose if done correctly at the start would allow us to make decisions faster.

01:42 PM

Jewel Sheikh

Hi Avnish. Agriculture is not necessarily a sexy sector for the youth in metros or even mid-size cities. How has the journey been to finding good talent to work alongside you

01:43 PM

Nidhi Malkan

Also, is this entrepreneurship venture always been your passion? Or is it an opportunity you saw and decided it's something that you want to do?

01:41 PM

Avnish Pandya

Well , its a combination of two things, passion and willingness to do something and at the same time the opportunity in front of you. Timing is key and passion is essential with the key!

01:43 PM

Chetan Jadhav

Hello,

01:44 PM

Jewel Sheikh

Hi Avnish. Agriculture is not necessarily a sexy sector for the youth in metros or even mid-size cities. How has the journey been to finding good talent to work alongside you

01:43 PM

Avnish Pandya

Believe me there are enough people who want to want to work in this field, they just need a real opportunity to shine. BOHECO is a chance for such people to shine. We work with top scientists, policy makers, businesses as well as customers. We are the sexy in agriculture.

01:44 PM

sanika raul

hey

01:45 PM

sanika raul

Any mistakes around collaborating with the government that we can learn from?

01:45 PM

sanika raul

Any mistakes around collaborating with the government that we can learn from?

01:45 PM

Avnish Pandya

Its slow and time consuming, you have to be clear and objective of what you want from them. Engage the bureaucracy and keep the policiticians for later

01:47 PM

Prakhar Raj

Hello sir, prakhar this side.

01:47 PM

Prakhar Raj

Hello sir, prakhar this side.

01:47 PM

Avnish Pandya

Hi

01:48 PM

Prakhar Raj

How supportive has this govt been towards this sector?

01:48 PM

Nidhi Malkan

Did you ever face any kind of struggle educating people about your company? Given that Hemp, more commonly known as Cannibis, is usually frowned upon. Also, what kind of Marketing strategy do you employ?

01:48 PM

Chetan Jadhav

Hello, What point of time you decided that Hemp will be your product to start with business?

01:49 PM

Prakhar Raj

How supportive has this govt been towards this sector?

01:48 PM

Avnish Pandya

The government has been very supportive, they took time with the process and understanding the act as well as the policy, but offered the right support with time. One has to prove to the government of why you are worth their time and how there is a broader win for all rather than a few number of people.

01:50 PM

Prakhar Raj

We see a lot of untapped potential here but the execution has always been a pain point. How difficult is the degree of execution?

01:50 PM

Nidhi Malkan

Did you ever face any kind of struggle educating people about your company? Given that Hemp, more commonly known as Cannibis, is usually frowned upon. Also, what kind of Marketing strategy do you employ?

01:48 PM

Avnish Pandya

Well thats the interesting part, when we show people fabric made from cannabis, thats the oohooo and the aahhaaaa factor. It makes it clear that something so maligned could be so beautiful and useful as well. Our tagline stands fro educate cultivate elevate

01:51 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

Through which channels do you sell?

01:52 PM

Saneeya Agrawal

I'd love to know about any mistakes you made while figuring out a model to scale up. I work in a start-up and am curious to know what we should avoid.

01:41 PM

Avnish Pandya

Scale up is all about distribution and collaboration. Its very essential that we are partnering with the right ecosystem players. Always look for larger channels to distribute your product and service.

01:53 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

Through which channels do you sell?

01:52 PM

Avnish Pandya

Online, offline, retail, wholesale, trade shows, flea markets etc etc

01:54 PM

Nidhi Malkan

Oh that does sound cool. But now there are quite a few companies like The Body Shop and the likes, which use Hemp in their products. Do you view that as a competition? Or would you try to go for a collaboration to scale up?

01:55 PM

Prakhar Raj

We see a lot of untapped potential here but the execution has always been a pain point. How difficult is the degree of execution?

01:50 PM

Avnish Pandya

Yes, hence having a big enough team with specific roles is a key. Execution is the most important aspect of the supply chain. So most efforts are in making it happen in the right time and duration.

01:55 PM

visheshpillai

How do you overcome the stigma that is associated with Cannabis? Does that pose any hindrance to your business?

01:41 PM

Avnish Pandya

Cannabis has a great history, the first jeans, the first car, the first American flag all had hemp and cannabis in It. Its been a part of our culture for more than 10,000 years, our ethno botany with it is highly known and we also used it for food and medicine. Once such basic education takes place the stigma is gone with the wind.

01:57 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

This sector is highly cluttered and there are several huge players as well as several new & fresh niche players. Apart from the raw material used, what do you think should pull consumers towards BOHECO products instead of other brands/products?

01:58 PM

Nidhi Malkan

Oh that does sound cool. But now there are quite a few companies like The Body Shop and the likes, which use Hemp in their products. Do you view that as a competition? Or would you try to go for a collaboration to scale up?

01:55 PM

Avnish Pandya

Ofcourse collaboration is the only way forward. We are not cosmetic manufactureres, we are hemp company . More brands use hemp the more we win, they educate customers as well and there is serious market for such products.

01:58 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

How many revenue streams do you have in a business like this? And what is the major one among them?

01:59 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

This sector is highly cluttered and there are several huge players as well as several new & fresh niche players. Apart from the raw material used, what do you think should pull consumers towards BOHECO products instead of other brands/products?

01:58 PM

Avnish Pandya

Our real aim is to be a B2B player in all raw material segments. We want the bigger brands to adopt hemp as a raw material. As of now we have consumer products to educate the audience. Slowly we will be a B2b player only.

02:00 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

And why would companies opt for hemp as a raw material instead of cotton/poly/other blends they use currently? Is hemp more economical for them as a raw material?

02:01 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

How many revenue streams do you have in a business like this? And what is the major one among them?

01:59 PM

Avnish Pandya

Currently three. We sell fabrics, garments and fibres (yarns etc). We will launching a range of hemp based oils for cosmetics as well.Moving ahead we will also be selling Hemp based medicine for certain indications.

02:01 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

And why would companies opt for hemp as a raw material instead of cotton/poly/other blends they use currently? Is hemp more economical for them as a raw material?

02:01 PM

Avnish Pandya

Hemp is technically superior than all the fibres mentioned above. At this stage hemp is a little more expensive its truest competetitor is linen. Hemp is not cheap its better!

02:02 PM

Chetan Jadhav

Hello, What point of time you decided that Hemp will be your product to start with business? and Why hemp? Can you please answer my question.

02:04 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

So then you would be majorly targeting the premium textile brands/companies right? If hemp is more expensive but also superior to other fibres, don't you think only the brands which can afford to incorporate that extra mark-up in pricing or their own raw material cost, will probably consider it?

02:05 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

So then you would be majorly targeting the premium textile brands/companies right? If hemp is more expensive but also superior to other fibres, don't you think only the brands which can afford to incorporate that extra mark-up in pricing or their own raw material cost, will probably consider it?

02:05 PM

Avnish Pandya

True. Its a designer product as of now.

02:07 PM

Saneeya Agrawal

Can you tell us how BOHECO was started? How did you get this idea of getting into cannabis industry?

02:08 PM

Chetan Jadhav

Hello, What point of time you decided that Hemp will be your product to start with business? and Why hemp? Can you please answer my question.

02:04 PM

Avnish Pandya

We knew of hemp since our travels during college to Uttarakhand. We had seen villagers use hemp for ropes, hemp seed as food and seed oil as application on the skin. We knew it that this commodity has a good value to bring to the mainstream.

02:08 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

Aah! Makes sense.

02:09 PM

Avnish Pandya

BOHECO is India's first industrial hemp company, established by 7 of us co-founders in our mid 20s and working with Indian union and state governments to reform the agriculture industry and boost its role in the economy, uplift socio-economic standards of local farmers, identify and utilize the untapped value of natural geographic advantages by studying Indian agronomics, boost ecological balance and sustainable development. Through BOHECO's mission of Educate. Cultivate. Elevate we educate and advocate industrial hemp and its benefits to society, assist local farmers in cultivating the crop by providing optimum seeds, ideal and best practices in cultivation techniques and elevate the socio-economic conditions of the farmers and rural communities by poverty alleviation, sustainable rural development and employment and elevate the living standards of society by providing innovative agro-products. Over the course of the previous 3 years, Bombay Hemp Company has been playing an active role liaising & coordinating with all the relevant state departments and officials to enhance the multipurpose process of Industrial Hemp cultivation & application in the state of Uttarakhand as well as across the Northern handloom cluster. Over the past 3 years, BOHECO has actively been collaborating with the Special Secretary- Department of Revenue and Director of Narcotic Control for the strategic exploration of provisions of NDPS (Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances) Act focused on the industrial and medicinal applications of cannabis. Equally BOHECO has entered into a formal partnership with NBRI (National Botanical Research Institute) to create low and high THC varieties of industrial & medicinal grade cannabis, under an official research license to be granted by Department of Revenue/ Uttar Pradesh State Excise – The first such license to be granted in India’s modern day history. To enhance opportunities for the rural communities across the state of Uttarakhand, BOHECO has successfully entered into a partnership with the Nanda Devi Handloom & Heritage Centre of Excellence at Deena Pani in Almora district of Uttarakhand. The centre was inaugurated by Hon'ble Chief Minister of the state on 28th of November, 2015 with the main objective being to provide opportunities for women artisans & weavers through development of handloom and handicrafts products using indigenous natural fibres of the state including Industrial Hemp, Nettle & Bhimal. With an additional view to enhance the research & commercial application potential of Industrial Hemp fibres within the Textile ecosystem, Bombay Hemp Company has formalized a collaboration with IIT-Delhi and the Honorable Textile Commissioner of India to explore and establish the commercial potential of Hemp fibre in Textile industry through fundamental as well as applied research by creating a technology platform to provide sustainable technological solutions in apparel and technical textile sectors.

02:10 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

But do you think Hemp could ever become that differentiating factor? Although companies might adopt the fabric due to it's better quality, do you think they would sell that line of products whilst advertising/showcasing the USP as the fabric itself (hemp)? For eg: A lot of brands are now even attaching tags showing "Liva" fabric/ "Lycra" fabric. You think they will be able to advertise hemp the same way?

02:13 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

Considering the taboo around it and the massive educating required around the word "hemp"

02:14 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

But do you think Hemp could ever become that differentiating factor? Although companies might adopt the fabric due to it's better quality, do you think they would sell that line of products whilst advertising/showcasing the USP as the fabric itself (hemp)? For eg: A lot of brands are now even attaching tags showing "Liva" fabric/ "Lycra" fabric. You think they will be able to advertise hemp the same way?

02:13 PM

Avnish Pandya

Yes, thats the idea to have special blends for specific applications. BTW DYI the whole of the chinese army wears hemp clothing along with hemp bed linens, hemp socks , under wears etc

02:15 PM

Saneeya Agrawal

Do you face any external challenges in R&D?

02:15 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

Considering the taboo around it and the massive educating required around the word "hemp"

02:14 PM

Avnish Pandya

Any great idea needs education. In some cases its better for the cause.

02:16 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

fascinating... Say hi to Jahan for me...and good luck ahead

02:18 PM

Avnish Pandya

We had a lot of assistance for research

02:18 PM

AAKASH JHUNJHUNWALA

fascinating... Say hi to Jahan for me...and good luck ahead

02:18 PM

Avnish Pandya

Sure! Thank you. Good luck to you too!

02:18 PM

visheshpillai

Hey Avnish! Learnt quite a lot of things today, thanks to this insightful session! Would be more than glad to help you in any way that I can! (Looking forward to connecting with you on LinkedIn). Thanks again for this wonderful session!

02:21 PM

Saneeya Agrawal

What would be your one advice to people who want to start their own business?

02:25 PM

Upasna Doshi

Too many people, even more advice. How did you choose which ones to go with?

02:26 PM