At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world to empower and motivate our growing community. As part of this endeavour, we invited Neeraj Pawar for an exclusive interview with us. He is an Entrepreneur, Leader and Founder & Managing Director of Bilvam Foods and Beverages Pvt Ltd. Let’s learn more about his incredible journey, background and advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Neeraj:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem; talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please.
I belong to the tribal area of the western part of District Dhule in Maharashtra, named as Pimpalner. My father was a professor at Pune, Maharashtra. But he had a passion for agriculture, so he left his job and came to our village and started farming in 1997. He is a hardworking person with a vision of social welfare, so along with many other features; this feature is also hereditary and transferred into my personality.
I did my Primary Schooling (1st to 4th) from Zillah Parishad (ZP) School in my village. Then my parents transferred me to the district place for further schooling, I studied 5th and 6th from Jaihind school, Dhule and came back to my village. Then from 7th to 10th, I studied in Late NSP Patil High School, Pimpalner.
Because of my visionary parents, I got the opportunity to study in Pune, a city of education. I got admission in Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC), I studied 11th, 12th and Bachelor of Commerce (Bcom) from the same college.
A small-town boy came to the metro city, what an experience it was! I got shattered by the education system which was very new to me. But eventually, I developed myself, my college has played important role in my life. I was actively involved in Cultural activities, Sports and other curricular activities.
I got the best and worst experiences in those years. Fortunately, I was surrounded by so many good people who guided me throughout. Eventually, I got stuck with various business ideas so I chose to do an MBA. I did MBA in Marketing and Operations from the Indsearch Institute of Management and Research, Pune. Where I get polished my skills and abilities.
In all these years I was away from my family doing my studies and gaining all experiences that developed me as a person and an entrepreneur. I developed my vision wide; I observed the surroundings and analyzed it.
Fortunately, I saw the opportunities for businesses and welfare of the society, and I took the action accordingly. Now I am a Founder and Managing Director of Bilvam Foods and Beverages Pvt. Ltd.
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
Entrepreneurship is a quality and not a career, which has the power to create a corporate, I believe everybody has this quality; every person is a born entrepreneur.
But the interesting thing is what can human do with this quality, whether they can be employers or employees, every aspect is playing an important role in our ecosystem, only difference is about getting that vision, opportunity and taking action accordingly. I always believed in getting an employer, Instead of getting placed in one company I chose to create a place for many people to get employed.
I always liked to travel and explore as many places and human behaviour as I can. When I was in college, I eagerly wanted to create my place in my circle, I wanted to start something for which I feel honoured, and I was searching for that opportunity. I always felt that I can add value in society.
In these years I, fortunately, met with some legendary people in their respective fields, I got mesmerized by their vision and ability to make an impact on society, and somehow I found my opportunity to create something from zero and gain the ability to grow that zero into something big.
‘Bilvam Foods and Beverages Pvt Ltd’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving?
Bilvam! Bilvam is a Sanskrit name of ‘Bel Patta’. Bel Patta has three leaves and we dedicate this bel patta to the Lord Shiva.
Creating employment in our tribal, rural area along with the cities; providing the authentic and traditional taste of our food products to the world; and create a positive impact over people. These three goals are my leaves of Bilvam which I am dedicating to society.
When the lockdown happened, after a long period I got time to spend it with my family. As you know my father is into agriculture and social work, I got an opportunity to understand his point of view for the society.
In those days of lockdown I explored my tribal region and understood that people have less awareness and knowledge about the values of available resources. People do manufacturing but have no idea about how to sell these products in the outside market.
Few businessmen take benefits of these situations by purchasing it in very less price. And on the other hand world is again started its journey towards the traditional habits but consumers finds difficulties in getting those authenticity in products. Even if there was a lockdown people didn’t stop to get food for them. People were buying one vegetable along with the snacks like chips and namkins.
I saw many problems here, and the answers to those are very simple. Creating awareness of available resources and their value in those people, providing knowledge to them and empowering them, and providing authentic products to the consumers.
But to create value of word, I needed to take action first. Here I got my opportunity; I started a firm with the vision of bringing authentic traditional food to society and creating awareness among the people.
Eventually, I got more opportunities and now that small firm is upgraded into Bilvam Foods and Beverages Pvt. Ltd. Our vision is not limited to traditional food but also some unique products which consumers can enjoy.
What is your Product? And what is your speciality in it?
We started with a very traditional food with some uniqueness. Crunchy Paatra, that’s what we called it. Let me give you some brief idea about our product.
Paatra is a typical Indian snack made from colocasia leaves (taro leaves) which are stuffed with gram flour and spices. Being immensely popular in Gujarat, Paatra has a significant resemblance with Maharashtrian ‘Aluwadi’ with a slight difference in its taste and texture.
We start off with our fresh colocasia leaves (taro leaves) of a specific size which are handpicked from the farm. Then we make a perfect balance of quality gram flour and spices. These leaves are then nicely layered with the spicy, tangy batter.
Further, they are rolled into a log and cut in oval shapes. The paatras are then deep-fried in premium quality edible oil to a specific temperature till they get their perfect texture and crunch. After cooling down the freshly fried paatras are packed and ready to be delivered to you.
We have developed our special upgraded recipe of making Paatra from which we can achieve 3 Months Selflife without any preservatives and gases. In short we have made a product that can be considered as ‘Naye India ka Naya Snack’.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
This company is not about me or my family, every person in our area is counting on our Bilvam Foods. People now believe me and our Bilvam. So their trust and hopes for getting change in their life is the biggest driver for me despite of facing many challenges.
I believed in myself so I took risk and without any background and resources I started the Bilvam. Now my family is with me, Family not only includes parents and relatives but also my employees, my distributors and my customers. Every single connection is encouraging me to grow more.
Started form zero till today I have gained some experience and I am will to grow more by taking my society with me. So whatever challenges that I am facing today or in past are not big enough to pressurize me cause I am not alone to deal with them.
I am a learner so every challenge teaches me a lot, I am only 24 Y/o so there is more to come and I am sure that I will easily clear all the challenges.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
The biggest source of motivation in my daily life is nothing but my aims and goals. As I said earlier, my society has hopes from me so my goals are not only limited with me but my people also.
I admire Lord Shiva and Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as a management and life guru. But every single person to whom I got connected with has inspired me in various aspects. These all people give me a great motivation all the time.
I am always telling myself that I have to grow more and impact positively on my people.
What are some of the strategies that you believe has helped you grow as a person?
> Independent approach towards life.
> Having own opinion system.
> Networking.
> Alertness and situation analysis.
> Decision making.
> Humble, Respectful and Polite approach towards living and non-living things.
These are some points that I believe which has helped me while growing as a person.
In your opinion what are the keys to success? And what advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
Success is a very subjective term, so the keys to success are different for each person. For me, success is a process and not the result.
(a) Consistency.
(b) Patience.
(c) Getting the Right resources at the Right time.
(d) Risk-taking.
(e) Decision making.
(f) Getting knowledge and sharing it with others.
(g) Trust building and respecting each individual.
These are some points which we can consider while walking on the path of success.
Last but not least, what are the three most important lessons you have learned in your life?
(1) In the ocean of achievements we cannot achieve everything but we can able to make people of doing that. We cannot be successful alone, we have to join people and share the success path with those people.
(2) No one can achieve anything over the night; it takes time to develop so having patience is important while doing anything.
(3) If you have to become a king then do not try to borrow, steal or take the throne. Develop your attitude right and you will become a king. But always remember if there is a king then there is a kingmaker too.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
