How A Devotee Built A Multi-Million Dollar Business That Does More Than Make Money

For Bharat Mitra happiness didn’t come from accumulating material possessions. “I was very committed to finding the source of happiness within myself,” he says. “That led me to India and I was very blessed and lucky to meet my guru, Papaji.”

As you can see already, this is a different story from the hundreds of interviews I’ve done here with internet entrepreneurs. But, if you’ve been listening to Mixergy interviews, you know that there are many paths in business. I do this work to help you find your own path.

Papaji encouraged Bharat to start a company as a way of finding his role in life, his dharma. In this interview you’ll hear what happened next. But as a preview, I pulled this excerpt for you from the transcript.

In terms of sales 2009, the company is expected to end over with a turnover of 20 million US dollars. But much more importantly, the company right now supports the livelihood of thousands and thousands of farmers all across India and rural India and their communities. And the company has converted tens of thousands of acres from chemically abused agriculture into sustainable, holistic, organic, bio dynamic agriculture. So the measure of success for Organic India is not only the bottom line or the top line, it is also the impact that we have on the world.

 

Bharat Mitra

Bharat Mitra

ORGANIC INDIA

Bharat Mitra (Yoav Lev), Chairman and President of ORGANIC INDIA Pvt. Ltd. You can read about the company here.

 

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Full Interview Transcript

Andrew:

Hey everyone, it’s Andrew Warner, founder of Mixergy.com, home of the ambitious upstart. And you know the philosophy that I’ve got here at Mixergy – which is that business is about more than just being another corporate drone. It’s about having a passion that you’re expressing through your work. It’s about leaving a mark the world; about changing the world. But, how do you do that? Well, as part of my series of interviews with entrepreneurs who do it, I invited Bharat Mitra on Mixergy. And, by the way, he is the co-founder of Organic India. Bharat, is this your tea? You guys man- you guys make this?

Bharat:
This is one of them, yes.

Andrew:
One of your products, this is, I’m holding up for people who are listening to us by audio, Tulsi Tea, which is all over Whole Foods here in Southern California and imagining all over the place. So, this is one of the products of your company, Organic India. What is Organic India?

Bharat:
What is Organic India? Organic India is a company. Organic India is a vision. Organic India is a family. And, Organic India is a transformation. It’s a paradigm shift in the way that we’re approaching business, and the transformation that we badly need if we wish to co-exist in this planet.

Andrew:
All right, now I’m going to be asking you throughout this interview about how the business and the vision, how they tie in together. But at its most basic level, at what’s on the shelf – it’s a company that manufactures tea like the one I’m holding up here in front of me. There are, I saw brand products, right? It’s, it’s different organic products that you sell. That you manufacture and are sold at retail. Am I getting that right or am I missing it?

Bharat:
I could not hear you for a second.

Andrew:
Ok.

Bharat:
Skype connection was falling out. So if you would please re-configure it

Andrew:
Oh, absolutely. And, for people who are listening to us – we’re going to get into his travels. He’s right now in Australia. I’m amazed that we’ve got such a good connection, but we’ll have a little bit of issues I’m sure as we go through. What I’m saying was at its basic level, Organic India manufactures products; creates products likes this Tulsi Tea that I’m holding up in front of me, which is organic tea. Like the brand products that I saw on your website right? Or, did I lose you by audio again?

Bharat:
It’s ok, I can get a drift.

Andrew:
Ok. I apologize. So, so at its basic, what is it manufacturing? What can people touch, taste, and go into the store and look at?

Bharat:
Well, Organic India produced branded products. And we have a line of Tulsi Tea which is based on the herb Tulsi, which is one of the pillars of Ayurveda which is the Indian healing system. After living so many years in India we came to understand the tremendous benefit that this herb had and decided to base the whole line and to introduce this herb to the West. Part of what we wanted to do is really to bring the best of India and share it with the rest of the world. And Tulsi was the absolute perfect choice for that. We also have a line of herbal medicine and according to me, and to many people who are using it, it’s truly the highest quality of herbal medicine that we have on the planet. And, I will after all explain why. It’s not only the quality of the herbs and the absolute commitment for quality and for innovation – it’s also the whole modality that Organic India builds which allow for a very special manufacturing process which includes the farmers and and the workers the, and ultimately the consumers. And…

Andrew:
Can we give people a sense of how big the company is, either by size of sales or the amount of product or the number of products sold?

Bharat:
Well, the company’s really, really expanding and we, many years we’re really focused on creating the right infrastructures both in terms of agricultural and manufacturing and then distribution. It was very important for us to not to deviate from our commitment to and create a really unique business modality which harm none; which really benefit all and I will get into it a bit later, I believe.

And so right now in terms of sales 2009, the company expected to end over with a turnover of 20 million US dollars. But much more importantly, the company right now supports the livelihood of thousands and thousands of farmers all across India and rural India and their communities. And the company has converted tens of thousands of acres from chemically abused agriculture into sustainable, holistic, organic, bio dynamic agriculture. So the measure of success for Organic India is not only the bottom line or the top line, it is also the impact that we have on the world. And converting tens of thousands of acres into organic, supporting the livelihood of like tens of thousands of farmers across India and providing consumer worldwide with product which are truly made with love, which are of the highest quality, which are meant to generally support the well being and their health: those are very important measures for us. Not only like the bottom line or the turnover.

Andrew: All right. Well, I…my wife now, Olivia and I just got married about a week ago, she calls it ’cause capitalism’. The bridging together of capitalism and the bottom line in profits with the ability to cause change in the world. And having worked in non-profits, you said that they just didn’t have enough power to leave their mark on the world. Because they didn’t have enough money. They kept spending time looking for more money. And capitalism often doesn’t have enough of passion to get people ñ well, it does for me. But it doesn’t always do enough. When you bring them together as you have you can have a lot more impact on the world. But let’s go back into how it all started. Before you started this company, what were you doing?

Bharat: I was…maybe you see behind me. I’m not so sure if you can see. There is a photo of my guru, Papaji. And I lived in Lakna for many years serving my guru and really had not much interest in, if you want, in worldly matters. I never care about career, I never care about money, I never care about getting a bigger house. From a very young age I somehow have it within me the understanding that happiness and fulfillment does not come from circumstances and accumulating materialistic things. And I was very committed to find the source of happiness within myself. That led me to India and I was very blessed and lucky to meet my guru, Papaji. And the most beautiful gift and the most beautiful thing about living with him was that Papaji did not have any separation between spirituality and day-to-day living.

He wasn’t in any way kind of a spiritual guru which had some messages or preaching. He did not encourage anybody to change their lifestyle. He did not have what to do, what not to do, what is right, what is wrong. Was just really about knowing yourself and acting in the world out of this consciousness, of being who you are. And for each person it will manifest differently. There were doctors there and lawyers and hippies and it didn’t really matter. It wasn’t about what you do. It was about the quality of where you are doing it from. And so after living many years in India and really falling in love with the country, with its wisdom, with its really rich culture and my wife then got pregnant and encouraged by Papaji I really realized that I’m not going to have any kind of spiritual lifestyle that my, if you want, dharma or my role in this life is actually to be like what he was which was a householder. And I have to take off my family and really encouraged by him I started this company.

Andrew:
I’m sorry. To be a what? Encouraged by him to be a…Did you say ‘house soldier’?

Bharat: Householder.

Andrew: Householder. I see.

Bharat:
I’m not a guru, I’m not a swami, I’m not like some holy man. I’m a simple householder. There is no contradiction between being conscious and being free and whichever lifestyle it is that you are living. And Papaji was a householder.

Andrew:
Let me understand this before we go on further with the story. I’m just really curious. You said ten years of serving Papaji, I think you said, right? What did that mean? For those ten years what were you doing? Were you just studying? Were you working and studying? Were you doing something else?

Bharat: I was really living with Papaji and at the time I was the one who managed the housework, all the public meetings. There were like literally thousands of people coming from all over the world to meet with him. Many of them came from European countries or from America. People would come for a short time, they just heard about him and had a pull to come and meet with him. Never been to India.

Andrew: I see. So you were just organizing all these people and you were making sure that they got…that the right people got to see him at the right time?

Bharat: Yeah. There was like the XXXX Hall where people will come every day to meet with him. And there were some guesthouses that we ran and a restaurant so people can eat food which is hygiene. And basically like organizing the…all that and more.

Andrew: Okay. So then one day Papaji says to you, ‘You need to go and do something different.’ How specific was he?

Bharat: Oh, he was incredibly specific. What happened was that one of my friends, which was an Israeli pilot in the air force, got an offer from an Israeli company to represent them in India. They knew that he’s permanently in India and they were interested in him representing them, which means he will get some salary and every once in a while they will send him to certain meetings to check out some things for them. What is important to understand is it was around ’92, ’93, ’94. Those were the years that India opened up economically and economical forms started to take place. And there was a very big flood of multi-nationals and foreign companies that wanted to approach the Indian market. And we were aware that people like us, who already lived in India for so many years, might have a value. We didn’t know exactly which kind of value and how it will express itself, but we knew that it’s of a value, our understanding of the culture and connections that we have. And knowing how things work in a very different environment than what we know in the West. My friend got an offer and he wrote a letter to Papaji asking him if this is something that he should accept or reject. Because primarily what is really important to understand that our real focus was to be there with Papaji and to really be total in the…fulfilling the purpose.

Andrew: Would you say devotees?

Bharat: Oh, definitely.

Andrew: Devotees.

Bharat: You can say devotees. Though Papaji never said he never had any devotees. But devotee mean to have like devotion for the purpose that you came for. And definitely, as I said, there was no other interest than really being as total and as truthful and as present with the opportunity that was presented by being with him. And so my friend, when he wrote to Papaji, was just like wanted to make sure that by accepting this there is no XXXX. Where in fact, Papaji was delighted as he always was because I think a very essential part of his teaching was that living a normal life is a great opportunity. Like there is no need. Freedom is unconditional. There is no need…

The all business firm deferent. and all business dues like is privet limited in working in India. the all production in the Indian environment.that the speaking the this persons.and Indian worked pvt limited are very likable and so enjoyable that is celled this speech.and the Indian environment is arriving all company and very supported in India. The worlds all peoples are likable in India living and started a business building everything and so we wanted to do something that will be like a bridge between India and the West…and to bring good things into India and to take the good things out of India into…into the West.

Andrew:
Okay, so what was, what was that first product?

Bharat:
The first product, we started with trading. We, we and we sold out of India anything like carpet and granite and handicrafts and textiles and clothes and…name it – we did it.

Andrew:
And who did you sell it too?

Bharat:
Different…different buyers that we got in touch with that were interested in coming to India and buy different containers of various things.

Andrew:
How would you find these people even? I mean if you’re starting out as an amateur in business to even find these people is tough.

Bharat:
Yeah, you know I went to…It was a lot of coincidence and if you wonder was a lot of luck. The Indian…the Israeli Ambassador to India came to Laknar for a visit and he came to know that there is a person who are living there for ten years, an Israeli person, and he wanted to meet me, so I was happily going to meet him..and I told him my story and he said, I need to introduce you to the consular you might be helpful. I said it would be a pleasure to be helpful. And I will also introduce you to the financial consular. I said I would love to meet him as well. So, I the Israeli consular at the embassy at the time and after half an hour meeting with me was convinced that I one of the biggest business people. That’s doing a lot of business in India and all Israeli inquiries of difference…you know and different people…he happily just…like and…referred to me.

Andrew:
But you were just…you were just starting at the time he said that because he didn’t know that you were just getting started.

Bharat:
He didn’t know that I was just getting started and I had…

Andrew:
He assumed you were bigger than you were.

Bharat:
It’s who I aspire to…just to be big…

Andrew:
That’s fire

Bharat:
Just too…I had no fear. You know, I definitely had no fear. It was like the world…the whole world was like a playground. I had no inhibitions and I had no…I had no fear about our capabilities. So, for an example, there was a delegation of…Israeli business people that came through the embassy, some of them were like the biggest business people in Israel and the guy basically referred them to us as if we had plenty of connection all over India and we can arrange whatever they want. There was like ten days to prepare for their meeting. We had nothing. We literally had nothing. And in ten days, you know, we managed to secure exclusive. We went to some of the biggest companies in India, managed to convince them that we’re representing the biggest business community in Israel. If they give us exclusivity we will bring these people to them. In ten days we go to that exclusive agreement with, I don’t know about like twelve, fourteen really impressive companies in India. So when the Israeli people came, they had to go through us, and whatever they bought we will make some commission. And it was just a way to start the company. It was…

Andrew:
And the Indian companies that you got, was it all cold calling in? I see now how you got the Israeli companies. How’d you get the Indian companies?

Bharat:
Because I would go to them and it was really the time the trade just started having a white meet was very helpful.

Andrew:
I see.

Bharat:
And we came as a representative of, like, big Israeli companies and European companies and we would be willing to facilitate a lot of business but we will do so only if we will get exclusivity to their product and good prices. And we negotiated some really good deals and got the company…got the company starting.

Andrew:
And you said earlier, the connection was a little bad, but you said earlier being white, not being Indian, was a help because they wanted to make connections with the outside world. You looked like a member of the outside world. They were willing to listen. Okay, so now we saw how you tried a bunch of different products trying to find your way here. What was the first big hit?

Bharat:
I would…think the first big hit was…the start itself was great. Every container that went and just left too…just to really get my……into the water of the business world and actually to recognize that…that were some qualities that worked. We felt that people wanted to work with us because of who we are. We were definitely not conventional. We definitely did not even speak the business of the business world. There were very basic terms that we missed; we just didn’t know about. I didn’t know what is ‘LC’. I would sit with somebody and said, ‘Payment XXX. What?’ I didn’t even know what the option were. It was so basic. I didn’t know what LC was. I didn’t know what transfer was. I didn’t know some of these things but we were real with people. I said, ‘You know what, excuse me but I’m not so sure that I know what you’re talking about. Can you explain to me?’

And they would look but somehow I think that what I realized is that business is being made by people and actually a lot of the business that happen or don’t happen is not always just the product and the price. We’re much more complex beings than that and there is something very deep that maybe we’re not conscious of. But you always see the person in front of you and you think, ‘Do I want to do business with this guy or not?’ And I think the truthfulness that we brought was refreshing. People were really like drawn to us. So just having a start was great. I think the first break was I made a trip to Israel and a company there gave us a retainership which at the time looks big. It was about $7,000 a month which for us in India was enough to operate the office and was enough to have some…at the time, looks like a lot of money. And on top of it we had a certain percentage from the profit of different things that we will sell and they will finance everything. So all of a sudden there was some stability for the company that allow us to stop a lot of the trading activity that was which was mainly noise and not so profitable. And this was also the time that we realize we wish to focus on what was really close to our hearts. And it was like the me
dicinal herbs, to develop them farther and to find markets for that. And initially the intention was to like buy off the shelves ayurvedic product and sell to the West because we knew that they worked so well. But what we didn’t know was that they worked very well as long as you have the general right herbs and you prepare them in a way that maintained the potency and the quality of the herbs. But all product, without exceptions, in the Indian marketplace were absolutely sub-standard. We went to visit some of the companies, some of the factories ñ totally big mess. No hygiene. The herbs were just like rotten. There was not any commitment for any good manufacturing practice. No.

And very, very soon we came to understand that we will need to produce our own product ourselves. And we knew that it’s a long journey, starting with growing the herbs and then manufacturing and getting like everything together. But it was something that we felt inspired and committed to and we felt that on the long run it can also be a really special company with a unique product that will…that can do very, very well commercially as well.

Andrew:
I see. So that was the first big hit. And you took that, I’m assuming, first to Israel because you had a ready market there and then you were able to grow outside of there?

Bharat:
Actually, we did not take first to Israel. We had some better connection in America. And also the American market was much more open and already interested in different alternative medicine and alternative healing.

Andrew:
Yeah. Especially here in southern California.

Bharat:
Definitely. And my partner, one of my partner that started this venture with me, left India and started to live there so we started to create connection…
Bharat:
…and the American market was way more interesting both in terms of openness and in terms of styles. It took us some time to be in a place that we actually, really had our own product. As I said, our commitment to quality was uncompromising. One thing that was very, very clear was that if we can produce on a commercial level the same quality; the qualities that we were producing in the home environment, then we will go ahead with this. Otherwise, for commercial reasons, we were not willing to compromise the quality for what we had to offer. It was a very clear commitment that we all shared.

Andrew:
I don’t know if you know Honest Tea. It’s a company that makes iced tea and other drinks. They decided to go for quality because they realized that the price difference between quality tea and regular tea is very small. So, if you could just add a couple more pennies; I don’t even know if it is a couple more pennies it may not even be as much as that, the quality shoots right up. Did you have a similar discovery?

Bharat:
Oh, very much so. We had to discover…we did not have this discovery because, for us, it was never even an option not to produce quality. For us, all we dealt with was with quality. We were pretty amazed
because initially we thought of having our own branded product as well as sending bulk herbs to companies. We felt that part of our mission was also to provide other companies with high-quality herbs. It took us about two years of intense research. I have to say that at this time we brought an investor in to the company that provided the company with a lot of money.

Andrew:
How did you get the investor?

Bharat:
It was somebody who knew about our company and was interested to look. As I said, the company had just really great energy. Everybody that was a part of it felt inspired. You know, when you do the right things, when there is a guiding light which nobody’s willing to compromise; there is a cohesive vision and sense of mission. The money is important but there is something else which we all shared and was much more precious than money. It was very attractive. As I said, many people were attracted, wanted to do buisness and wanted to work not because we had so many skills and many great things to offer. There was something very refreshing about a bunch of guys, a group of people, that were very committed to bring some light into the business world. Not to be driven only by greed, not to be driven only by selfish, self-interests of making money but how can we make money in a way that will also contribute to the environment and contribute to society. How can we take care of the community? How can we create that morality that is really fair all around so that it can be sustainable? I think that was very attractive and many, many people came. We got many investors before this, people just wanted to put their money in it and be part of it.

Andrew:
Because they were also devotee’s of Papaji? Because they had similar beliefs?

Bharat:
Some of them. Some of them were devotee’s of Papaji, yes. This woman that came in the later stage was also a devotee of Papaji. She came from a very established business family in America. She understood business very, very well. Besides the resources she had available for us, she also identified that there is something that can be very interesting.

Andrew:
Who is the woman? Is she one of the transformational characters in this story?

Bharat:
Oh, absolutely. Without a shade of a doubt.

Andrew:
How? Beyond the money, what did she do?

Bharat:
She just brought…[end of audio]
Bharat:
and she just brought in grounding and she brought intelligence and she brought vision and big house. And the combination of the many, which was important, but also a very grounded approach.

Andrew:
Because she was, you guys were visionaries and you had a purpose, but she added a business model, if I’m understanding.

Bharat:
And I think that she was instrumental in definitely, in making sure that we have a business model.

Andrew:
I see.

Bharat:
I think that hours at a time, especially hours as a hopeless visionary, that had no very inspired and visionary, but really lacking very basic. At one point, for example, she was a, wanting to bring, we had some other friend that had some companies in America and said maybe we should create a board and get some advice from people who understand really business. I mean, we have great vision here, but we also need…

Andrew:
A board of advisers.

Bharat:
was really, exactly, was very much a course of our mission. We never wanted to be only like visionaries. But we felt that we, the integration of being professional and effective and grounded with vision and consciousness and commitment. We felt that the promise of the companies integration. And we felt it was also our willing mission to present the world that vision and consciousness and commitment to environmental and social justice, is not contrary to having a very viable, profitable, professional, effective business. In fact, they can support each other so beautifully. And when we wanted to bring some few people that maybe coach us and help us, and I remember that we brought two people, one of which was a very top executive in some really big companies. He was also one of the biggest properties, so he came and really wanted to help. And one of the things that he asked me in the beginning, he said “where is your business plan?” And I looked at him and I said “business plan?” This is for Americans. What is plan? Plan is bullshit, we have intuition, so every moment, I know what needs to happen. Plan, it’s like, I thought it was the most stupid thing I ever heard, you know. And we had a week of like debates and discussions. Which really at the end of it, I truly understood, you know, like the need, the absolute need, of the business plan and the action plan, and the focus it creates, and the clarity that it provides. And also the freedom to still be intuitive, and if you need to change something, you can change. It doesn’t have to tie you up, but the clarity and the focus that it provides are absolutely tremendous. And [Bavani], which is the woman I’m referring to, was very much with the mentoring, providing in these dimensions at this point of time, definitely.

Andrew:
You know, I’m curious about what was, what were you doing day to day before the business plan? Or what was your vision before the business plan, and how did your vision change afterwards? What was that clearer version that came up after the business plan was written?

Bharat:
Well, before that, I would just respond spontaneously to whatever was happening. And while there was a lot of like, many different activities, which any one of them potentially could be great, at the lack of focus, and many things were just like falling in between the cracks. There would not be a focus and there would not be a continuity, so, I felt there was not enough momentum that got created. And, there wasn’t any sense of priorities, so sometimes, there would be things which were really important to deal with now. And something else would happen and you deal with…
Bharat:
By the time you come back to the thing that were important actually the opportunity was already lost. So I think that the business plan provided a few things. One is really the clarity where the focus should be. And this is when we stopped a lot of the trading activities. Because there were a lot of trading activities of various things, as I told you, from marble to sesame seeds to rice to textile to handicraft to bras to… And each one of them, if you really get expertise and you build it up, each one of them had the potential to grow. But really doing a little bit of so many different things didn’t take the company anywhere. Especially when we didn’t have to…yeah. And we didn’t…

Andrew: What were you going to say?

Bharat: We didn’t need the $500 or the thousand dollar. I mean when we just started every income of like $500 or $1000 or $2000 was a really big event because we were…we didn’t have anything at that time. And to spend all this money on things which, again at this point of time, did not produce a lot but really diverted the focus from what we knew is really the big potential of the company. And it’s the herbal medicine and the XXXX and the XXXX line which require a lot of attention to develop agricultural infrastructure, connection with the farmers. We had to do a lot of research in developing our own technology. How to process the herbs so even when it’s big quantities we still maintain the quality of the herbs in terms of the essential oil, the original cell structure, the potency, the lifeness. Because it’s very easy to take herbs, dry them in like 80 Celsius, XXXX of bacteria and everything. It’s hygiene. You take it out, you have 100% pure whichever herbs you’re working with: camomile or XXX or Echinacea, whichever herb it is. But the truth is what the consumer doesn’t know that this herb though it’s 100% XXXX, carry no potency in it anymore. So how to create the technologies that we pick up some herbs in the fields in India and by the time that we give it to consumer in America it is as close to its original form. It took a lot of research. It took a lot of study, a lot of experiment and require a lot of focus. So rather than to focus the energy on things which were like really important for the company we were basically all over the place. And when we made a business plan and an action plan and we knew, ‘Okay. We’re not going to have an income over the next six months but we’re going to focus all the resources on really getting forward with developing our formulations and the fields and the cultivation and the processing and building, you know, some processing centers.’ There was a sense of focus and clarity and priorities that make gi
ve us a huge progress in a very short period of time that didn’t happen before the business plan.

Andrew:
I see. Okay. So I said I think at the beginning that Organic India is just one of several businesses that you’re involved with. And I’ve got Organic Market. I know that you have investments in the US ñ

Bharat: Just to finish one thing. Bavani which came to the company in ’97, at ’98 became a…’98 we worked together very closely and it is my really incredibly great luck that 12 years later she’s my beloved wife.

Andrew: Oh wow. Congratulations. So this woman who we’ve talked about, who helped give clarity, she is now your wife?

Bharat: And she still give clarity, yes.

Andrew: How long have you been married?

Bharat: We’ve been married since…we had our own personal ceremony in ’98 and we had a public marriage in 2000 so depend from when you are counting. But from like…
Bharat:
…about 10 or 11 years.

Andrew:
Alright, and I’ve got to ask because we talked earlier about another wife that you had. What happened there?

Bharat:
She wasn’t my wife. She is the mother of my kid. She’s a very dear friend and we always remained good friends. The truth is that we were not so much romantically involved for many years before that. We both recognized that we needed to move on with our lives. We have a child together and always remained living around each other and co-parenting our daughter Gopi [sp]. We always remained great friends. After I separated from her, I got involved with Govani [sp].

Andrew:
Alright, well congratulations on the marriage. By the way, your daughter, what part of the world does she live in?

Bharat:
She’s living in Australia. This is primarily the main reason that I’m based in Australia over the last few years. She’s going to school here, she’s based here.

Andrew:
Okay, alright. Before we get into the other business, I know that you do a lot of traveling. You are now in Australia, as we say. Half-way around the world from me and the connection has been holding up for us. You are going away, I think, is it tomorrow?

Bharat:
I’m going tomorrow morning, yes.

Andrew:
To where?

Bharat:
I’m flying to London for a day and then I will be in Isreal for about two and a half weeks. We have, in Isreal, a chain of nine health stores. We are going to have a workshop with all the employees and all the workers and friends of the company. It’s a special company. Again, we are looking for ways to make a difference and to run a retail business which is really based on giving genuine service and giving general information for people; how they can take care of their health, how they can take control of their health. Not by merely selling them product but also by giving them information, by giving them training, by creating stores which have a great sense of community.

Andrew:
This is the organic market that I mentioned earlier?

Bharat:
Yeah, this is the organic market.

[crosstalk]

Andrew:
I understand how you want a place and an outlet to connect with people and give them more than a box might give them at another store. Why a market? There’s a lot involved in running a market. There are a lot of…what am I trying to get at? Why that instead of selling books? Instead of having a website where you communicate all your ideas. Why did you decide a market? Was there a business mission behind it?

Bharat:
I saw the potential of…there is something great about a website which gives information. OrganicIndia’s website can give a lot of great information. As great as the digital domain is, as great as the cyberweb is and as accustomed as we have all become to connecting the way that you and I are connecting right now; you can’t replace a real one-to-one, face-to-face meeting. The ability to provide people, in a real way, with unique products. In the stores, we don’t have many products which other health stores supposedly have that are considered to be healthy, we have removed from our shelves. In the beginning it was really challenging because it was responsible for a lot of turnover. People, when they don’t get the product that they like, they go to your competitor. The retail business is incredibly, incredibly, incredibly competitive. But, again, the commitment is for people to understand that if there is something that can contain aspartame as a food for diabetic people because it doesn’t contain sugar. We know so…[end of audio]
Bharat:
We know very well the damage that [??]creates for human body so we remove [??] for example from our cells and many other products and try to replace them with products which are actually generally support the well being people and providing also the information and generally support the well-being of people and providing information and study and different and the thing that is slowly especially in the last year, we are seeing the incredible improvements because of those who in the beginning go, they go. But those who come there is a certain bonding and connection and loyalty of customers to the store which is starting to reflect on the bottom line, and also create a very successful business modality. So if one is willing to resist the temptation of looking at the short term gains and really understand that by really providing generally great service, you are not only creating something which is sustainable, and does not depend on how clever your marketing is, and how your branding but is based on but is based on real ñ direct experience of consumer where they get the genuinely great service, nothing can replace that. So the stores, besides providing information and besides providing great product and beside the obvious synergies between organic market and organic India. Also what they have is an embodiment of a business modality which is really based in consciousness it is really a shining example of business which is viable and profitable, and at the same time committed to real values.

Andrew:
You’ve got something that is committed to real values; you’ve got something that’s pure. You are not giving customers aspertin every time they ask for it specifically. Even if you know you’re going to turn some of them away. But how do you build business that is profitable that way? I mean how do you how do you get new customers in to understand the quality that you have there is worth their time and worth their money? How do you bring customers in the door in the first place? How do you grow your customer base? How do you grow you profit margin? What about all the practical stuff that you learned.

Bharat:
The practical stuff like there no contradiction between being like absolutely being based in real values and being incredibly practical. Actually the practical thing each one of us, and each business person whatever industry, whatever your business is, being based in values is the most practical thing you can do because if you we are not based on values then we are based in greed and we’re based in greed and we’ve seen what is happening to the world we are living in when everyone is based in greed and we a re basically killing ourselves and the truth is, we are all interconnected. This is from the big picture, but in the small picture ñpeople want to be a part of something which is right we all have a longing to belong to something real which is based in connection. So one thing we doÖ. (Connection breaks).

Andrew:
Am sorry, I just lost the audio… I don’t know if you can hear but I can’t hear you now for a reason. Let me try and adjusting here…. did the mike come off, or did something happen here?

Bharat:
Can you hear me?

Andrew:
Yes I can, ok, am sorry.

Bharat:
And so on the very practical level another thing that we did, we decided to interact directly with the farmers in Israel to inspire them to move into organic into sustainable agriculture. So we have the best produce than any other competitor took sometime to develop took sometime to stay with them, to help them through the conversion. But by the end of it, we right now bring into the store the most fresh, the biggest variety, the highest quality and in the best price for example the produce, and we communicate this to people that we just don’t buy in the wholesale like everybody else. We go directly to the farmer by buying. It’s like lets say all organic India, even this [??] when buying in the organic market. By buying the best product, when do you buy from the tool city, you’re not only buying the best product for youÖ (End)
Bharat:
…And for your family, best value for money; but you also actively participating in empowering a business modality, which is consciousness based, which supports farmers and the environment, and support the very possibility of having a business modality which is viable and profitable, and ethical and value based.

Andrew:
How do you communicate it to them? How do they know about it if they haven’t been in your store. How are you promoting it.

Bharat:
Well, you know, good things have a way to spread. So for example, if I came to a store, and I say “I want to buy a multivitamin,” or “I want to buy a multi-vitamin that contains chlorophyll,” and he said “I have this, it will cost you $30, but it is also possible for you to make yourself a green smoothie everyday, and you might get a high level of chlorophyll,” or, “You might get a high level of…”

You’ll appreciate this; that someone isn’t there just to take your money, but really try to give good advice, and when you try, it works. When something like this happens to you, will you share it with your friends?

Naturally. Absolutely naturally, and then more people come. You know, we’re so used to business, which is just based on greed, and therefore, the need for marketing is obsessive. Really, there is non difference between this and this. We both manufacture the same, we both like running to the cheapest raw materials. We both have the best purchase manager which will cut the throat of supplies to get whichever. We have very similar product, but what will determine how successful is how clever your marketing campaign will be, and how wise you are going spend your marketing dollar.

This is one part of business. Another part of business is, “You know what? I’m going to put my resources in general quality. In providing genuine service, and I’m going to trust that people go and identify this and are comfortable with this.”

Once someone is buying authentic Indian, goes through the box and listens to the story, and get the benefit. I tell you, we without any marketing man, whatsoever, are lucky. In America, we have nationwide distribution. Our boxes are disappearing from the shelves. The main marketing money that we spend is just giving training to the people in stores; letting them know what this company is about, what this product is about, participate actively. The world is not going to change by some politician making it change, we are the world. It is up to each and every one of us to make up the right choices. As consumers, we impact the world in a big way. Each time I buy a product, I’m voting for this company. When many of us understand it, I will buy products from companies which were ethical, which were socially responsible, which are environmentally conscious. More and more companies will have to live by those values.

I really think that, by creating genuine values, and allowing people to be part of something which is so holistic and real and resonate with each one of us in our heart, we know that this is the way to be. I never met one person who looked at me and said, “Ah, you’re doing something which is terrible.”

Everybody hears this, and everybody’s stunned, because in the heart we know that we need to change the paradigm, we need to create business modalities that are taking care of not only my own bottom line, but doing so, also taking care of my environment, and my community. Then, we’re going to live in the world, which is worthwhile living in, and stop destroying the planet.

Andrew:
You touched a little bit on politics there, and you and I met through Yosif Ginsburg whose website
Andrew:
Öhas a post by you about how you met Obama. How’s that for a transition? I’m wondering; how did you meet Barak Obama?

INTE: Well, I met Barak Obama because I – I was never interested in politics whatsoever and the first time that I saw a speech, one friend of mine called me and said, ‘You must check out this guy.’ I said, ‘I really can’t care less.’ He said, ‘I understand but why don’t you check him out?’

The guy who asked me to do so is somebody that I really love deeply and respect. A few days later there was a speech of Barak Obama. It was time when the whole race issue came up during the campaign with Hillary and this Jeremiah Wright story came out in the newsÖ

Andrew:
From his pastor.

INTE: Öand he came up with this speech about race. I happened to hear about it and I said, ‘OK, I’m going to check it out.’ I saw the speech and I recognized instantly that this man have – is a man in politics but he’s not a politician. He’s a man of vision, he’s a man of integrity, he’s a man with a sense of purpose which is remarkable. I start following up and I really fell in love with the man. I really fell in love with what he represents. I really am setÖ

Andrew:
But a lot of the country, a lot of the country, a lot of the world fell in love with him. Very few people ended up in a conversation with him. Very few people ended up as close as you were.

INTE: What happened was that a friend of mine introduced me to one of the people that have been working very closely with Barak Obama because I offered my help. More specifically I offered my help in ñ there was some approach that when Barak Obama was accused of being a Muslim and when Barak Obama was accused an anti-Israel and other things.

The Jewish vote at this time at the polls looked like the traditionally, which is going very strong with the democrat was leaning towards McCain. I really felt that the strategy of the campaign was like not very wise at the time.

hey were denying but I felt that the way to approach it wasn’t through and denying that Barak is Muslim or that he’s not anti-Israeli but it was like to make people aware that George Bush which was considered to be a great friend of Israel and gave them everything they wanted all the years, I thought that people should ask themselves, ‘After eight years of George Bush, is Israel better or worse?’ Infinitely worse. Infinitely worse.

Israel did not have the Hamas before Bush. Israel did not have the Hezbollah before Bush. Israel did not have nuclear Iran before Bush. So by just like giving them supposedly what they want and losing all credibility was the Muslim words, he does not support Israel.

He create a situation ñ the only thing that support Israel if there will be would be a genuine movement towards peace. Without peace Israel is never secure in time. Doesn’t work well. So anyway, I wanted to talk with one of the people that were involved in the campaign and I met someone who’s now like a dear friend. His name is David Friedman [sp] from Boulder which was like closely working with the campaign and suggested some of my help.

I also was going to visit my father-in-law which is one of the leaders of the Jewish people in America, was the president of the World Jewish Congress and offered my help and maybe having him more motivated that he was at that time to stand behind Barak and got involved with David and I guess that we talked well [?] and the otherÖ


Bharat
:
…become kind of like me, they suggested it would be, like, really great for me to meet with, meet with Barack Obama.

Andrew:
Right. Alright now well, I-I’m looking now at the time and I see that I-I went way over the amount of time that I asked you for. But before we end, is there any piece of advice, you’ve now done way more, I’m looking at my notes too, and I see, I wrote a whole bunch of questions here and a whole lot of topics that I wanted to cover and we didn’t get into them. We didn’t get into the investment company in the US, we didn’t get into production company, we didn’t get-I wanted to go deeper into vision. So from everything that I missed here and from everything that you’ve learned, is there a bit of advice that you could give to someone who is like you were starting out back then in 1997?

Bharat:
Yeah you know, I think that we just spoke about Barack Obama, and I think that, there is a lot to learn from him as well. Because here is a guy that against all odds, really against all odds, because when he announced that he was going to be a candidate of the Democratic party, to go and be candidate for President of the United States. The young, black man,from Chicago-Hilary Clinton, I mean it was like her party, there was like no way he was going to make it,I mean really.
And yet, you know like the conviction, in the values that you really believe in. Like staying on message, like really not trying to play the game of the words. Having confidence in the calling of your own heart. And trust it, really trust it. Inquire within yourself, what is it which is really important for you.
You know many of us when we start business…definitely money is a great motivation, but it’s really good to stop right at the beginning and see: is money just going to cut it? It’s only moneys, is this going to make it? Look at the world around you, look how many successful executives with a lot of money, being the most miserable people you could ever meet. I met many of them. I met people flying private jets all over the place; those are normally the most disturbed, unfulfilled people who wasted their whole life on just, like, making money.
Money will give you physical comfort, and it’s great, physical comfort is great, but happiness, fulfillment, comes from somewhere else. So it’s really important to really be clear if your business is only meant only to generate money, because your business can also be a source of joy, a place where you can be, like, creative, where you can connect, so many things. And I feel that when you have the conviction, when you have the clarities, like having a business plan, like having an action plan. When you know what your priorities are, when you know that money alone is not the only thing which is important. But happiness is important, fulfillment is important, connection is important.
Then there might be some struggles and I won’t deny that there are many struggles I had to go through that I wouldn’t {have} had to go through unless I was, like, really committed to being ethical and acting out of values and committed to the vision to be a vehicle of consciousness, it’s true.
But at the same time so many benefits came, so many people have been part of it. We got entry into so many places and the consumers, there is such a steady and sustendable [sp] and loyalty.
So I would encourage everyone to get clear about what is really important and to…and to trust it and to go with this and you know,like, again I think Barack Obama is like the most incredible example of someone who really stayed on message, who really did not play the politics that’s been played down the ages. Someone who really trusted the common intelligence of people, that they would recognize with time, that it’s not just about me wanting to be in power. It’s really about the values that we all share; it’s about the future that we all share and look at what an incredible outcome…

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