On the Tank
Agri Tourism’s founder Pandurang Taware leaves everyone in shock by asking, Have you ever noticed that the son of a doctor wants to become a doctor, similarly, the son of a politician wants to become a politician? Still, the son of a farmer doesn’t want to become a farmer. This is because of reasons like rainfall, drought, and lack of other required facilities.
Why started the business?
Pandurang stated that I wanted to change this industry as a farmer’s son. After 12 years as a marketing and sales manager at Club Mahindra Holidays in Pune, we returned to the village in 2003 and started “Agri Tourism.”.
The pitch continues through a video displaying their business model. in which people from towns come to their village and see village culture. Moreover, they live as farmers there for 2 days and do stuff like cow milking, farm work, etc.
Over 600 farmers are connected with us, and 7 lakh tourists from 23 different countries visited them in the year 2018-19. Hence, generating a revenue of 53 crores for them.
Also, received a national award for innovative tourism products from the president of India and is known as “the father of Agritourism in India.”
Shark Tank Recap
- As more and more people are shifting toward the cities, they are forgetting their roots. So, to connect our future generation with our roots Pandurang started Agri Tourism.
- Vision: The son of a farmer must say I also want to become a farmer.
- Ask: ₹50 lakhs for 5% of equity in the company, making the valuation stand at 10 crores.
- Deal: As such, no offers were made to them.
Shark Tank Live
Ask
₹50 lakhs for 5% of equity in the company, making the valuation stand at 10 crores.
Business Model of Agri Tourism
They had divided their business into two models, i.e., service-based and affiliate product-based.
Training program modules, capacity building, and maintaining quality standards are included in the service business and affiliates for handcrafted products
Sales and Revenue
On being asked, Pandurang stated that they had made around 79 lakhs last year. Around 30 lakhs (38%) come from farm visits, and the remaining 50 lakhs (62%) are from affiliate products sold.
Additionally, most of their tourists come from social media and word of mouth.
Feedbacks from the sharks
- Aman: Try to tie up with booking websites to grow. Also, anyone can copy this business model and do the same with their farms. So, I am out.
- Vineeta- You must focus on giving certifications to farms so that you can do business with less investment. And due to this, I am out.
- Anupam: You don’t need money. You are earning well, so join hands with someone and make this grow. As an investor investing 50 lakhs, must want to get 5 crores out of it. So, don’t bring investors on board.
- Namita: Investment and technology are buzzwords these days. So, instead of that, just focus on business.
- Ashneer- Instead of focusing on demand, you must focus on supply (which can be done by giving certifications to farms). So I am out.
Deal with Agri Tourism
As such, no offers were made to them.
Agri Tourism Beyond Tank tank updates
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