Insights

Entrepreneurship

I build ventures across education, agriculture, media, retail and community from rural Rajasthan. Some have succeeded; others taught me costly lessons.

About this topic

Building outside the big cities

My first venture was RajasthanMart.com, an online directory for Rajasthan, in 2001. Very few people here were online then, so the idea did not take off, even though almost everyone uses platforms like it today. It taught me that a good idea is not enough: the people you are building for have to be ready for it.

A goat farm followed in 2007 and Dunes Academy in 2014. Since then I have added travel websites, a community heritage project and Ira House, a stationery shop. My days follow a simple order: the farm in the morning, then the school, then IT and online work.

Building from a small town is slower than chasing a big city or market. But it creates something that lasts: trust, jobs and opportunities for people who would otherwise have to leave.

Here I share what that involves, starting with lessons from building ventures in rural Rajasthan.

Entrepreneurship articles