Lot has been written about the necessity of marketing for any business. In fact, it is impossible to perceive that a business can grow without it. To grow without any promotion or marketing from a startup to be valued as a five million dollar company in just two years is unthinkable! But that is exactly what Vijay Narayanan founder UrbanFarmer has done.
Really, No Marketing?
Narayanan has been interested in growing his own vegetables since 2002. “I have been pottering around with hydroponics and microgreens for along time. Being a finance guru who oversaw mergers and acquisitions, farming as a profession seemed highly unlikely but in 2016 I realised that the finance industry was not for me. Everything was going right for me, however I had personally compelling reasons to get out of Dubai and come to India and start afresh,” said he.
Hydroponics was a constant factor in his life and so, he started studying the possibility of making a business out of it.
“Having been an investor, I had access to a lot of people who did market research, biotechnologists, manufacturers.” These were the people who eventually got involved in his new venture.
how did sales happen?
{{/usCountry}}how did sales happen?
{{/usCountry}}His personal belief dictated that he should not promote his goods, rather he should strive to do good for all in general. This meant that he not undertake any sales and marketing for his goods and service. So how did sales happen?
Says Vijay, “We had put up a website in 2017 when we launched Urban Farmer. This website was not meant to be promoted using SEOs and other such techniques. It was meant to be our digital brochure. I guess it was the way we projected ourselves, we were not focused on a sale, we simply stated that this is what we wanted to do. To be of help to a farmer.”
A large grape farmer from Nasik had a two acre farm that he wanted to convert to Aquaponics. He saw Narayanan’s website and approached Vijay.
“We told him honestly that we could not set up all two acres at one go since we had never done it before, but if he was interested we could help him with 2000 sq ft pilot to start with,” said Narayanan. Patil agreed.
Word spread. One sale led to another in a short span of less than a year Narayanan hit ₹ 50 lakh turnover.
To date ,Vijay does not get into any marketing activity. “We spend ₹7,500 per annum for our website hosting and emails. That’s it,” he said.
Getting People Onboard
Vijay at the moment does not have an HR policy but his team gets a bonus based on profitability.
Though he does not believe in Venture Capital funding, he understands the value of the advice they bring. “I have mentors who give me valuable advice. Durgesh Desai of Valens Arbor, a partner firm spearheads the agronomy and biotech services. One of my clients who is a medical doctor guides us on the nutritional science behind food,” he said.
The Future
Besides providing the requisites to hydroponic farmers, Narayanan plans to plug the gas in the industry. “There is no storage facility and so, all the produce, organic, hydroponic and microgreens are sold at the same rate. No one will give a premium because no one understand what you are doing. So we are trying to create awareness among institutional buyers in Mumbai to begin with. We explain to all large hotels how they can gain from hydroponic produce.
“We also aim to become an aggregator for all such produce. Durgesh Desai and I have started a new entity where we both have a 50 per cent stake. We want to help hydroponic farmers sell their produce, starting with Mumbai’s large hotels. We will sell them at a small commission. We will also start this service in Pune.”
From equipment, nutrients, grow lights to advisory to selling the produce, UrbanFarmer is growing. Success it seems is a by product for Narayanan.