The Entrepreneur
Soon after Aman Preet Singh completed his graduation he found himself placed in the Events industry. However, he always felt that something was missing inside him and he went on to explore the Food Processing industry. He says, “This was my voila moment. I figured my inner peace lay in growing food. I am greatly inspired by nature and love to be surrounded by it even when I work.” Aman has the spirit of an eco-warrior and practices it in daily life. This trait inspired him to choose this field of work. Aman has a BTech, Masters in Advanced Dairy Farming (NDRI), and has Farm-tech Automation training from Tel Aviv (Israel).
Aman is the founder of PEI Organic Foods – an organic dairy farm based in Kota, Rajasthan. The farm produces milk, ghee, honey, jaggery, wheat flour, cold pressed oil etc, and markets them under the brand name ‘Gau.’ They grow organic food for customers, and for their livestock. Aman says, “I knew I had stumbled upon the right idea when I began loving my work and the customers love the brand.” He adds, “Today people are becoming more and more aware about organic farming. I am looking to scale this business model with a community farming program among fellow farmers.”
The Enterprise
Gau primarily home delivers fresh products to its customers. The brand also retails through various offline and online stores. The products are manufactured using the Vedic process, and have a customer support system, elevating the entire experience and making the brand a cut above its competitors.
At the outset, “my vision has been to strive for quality rather than quantity,” reveals Aman. Gau reflects this ethos in the small batches of production that ensures the best possible quality in output. He shares, “The most distinguishing aspect of Gau is the self-sustaining facility. We are 100% self-sustained with all the required resources for any farming facility.” The set up makes the most of the ample sun that the geography enjoys with a solar pump system for water harvesting.
The farm is also equipped with an 80-KW Bio gas plant with 24×7 uninterrupted power supply & methane gas supply to fuel stoves at the facility for cooking purposes.
People and Leadership
Gau employs a team of 50+ employees. While hiring Aman says, “We generally go for freshers, who are later trained in their stream of work according to the overall work culture of the organization. We have an intense team spirit,” says the Marketing Director who developed his leadership abilities through his failures.
Aman believes, “Failures are funny, and always unprecedented.” But you’ve got to face them. “I face them every day, I learn from them, adapt to them and make sure I don’t face them again and again,” he confesses. But he also believes that failures are important too, and help you grow.
Approach to Marketing and Branding
“Gau doesn’t spend money on marketing campaigns,” Aman reveals, “We are in the farm-fresh organic FMCG products business, so we choose to provide a tasting of the same to our consumers.” He explains, “We spend a lot of time and effort educating our customers; the whole science and process about our products and thus its price.” For Gau, word of mouth has been a sure shot way to attract new customers.
Why Entrepreneurship?
For Aman, entrepreneurship is to follow a passion while having fun. He says, “It makes each day of his life exciting and full of new opportunities.” When quizzed though, about why he pursued entrepreneurship, the answer sounds clichéd and incredible at once. Aman declares, “I never wanted to be an entrepreneur!” But as soon as he figured what he wanted from life, everything around him seemed to point towards entrepreneurship in an area of work he really enjoys.”
Training and Mentoring
Getting his people to understand the business and gaining better command of running it from industry experts have both added immense value to Aman’s venture. Aman believes that mentoring and training in entrepreneurship has advantages for both parties: the mentee as well as the mentor.
Leisure
When not at work, Aman gives vent to his fitness freak side by going out for a run. In fact, he loves running so much that he turned to marathoning and ultra-running. He also enjoys biking out of town with music plugged in. He is passionate about good music. He insists that you must make time for the things you love, “Running and music help me focus better at work.”
He advises the young and aspiring entrepreneurs to not just dream about it but start doing something about it.
