The challenges of a young entrepreneur

Auroville Today: Tell me about your history and life in Auroville.

I was born in Munich, Germany and moved to Auroville with my parents in 1990, when I was 9 months old. I went to Transition School and then to Future School, which was still in its early days. After graduating from Future School, I had the strong feeling that I didn’t want to follow an academic path. At the same time, I wanted to go and see the world, and find out what it means to live outside of Auroville. At that point, I decided to explore Germany a little bit, since I am technically German. I moved to Berlin, where I also got a part-time job. As it happened, after about a year of the working life, I changed my mind about further education and decided to give it a go. I was always interested in Economics, so I moved to Aberdeen, Scotland, where I attended the University of Aberdeen and ultimately received my degree: A Masters in Economics.

What brought you back to Auroville?

During my time at University, I regularly came back to Auroville. I usually spent my vacations here and kept in touch with my friends. It was also a meeting place for all of us, each living in different corners of the world yet meeting regularly and sharing life experiences. It was a difficult and interesting period of my life. I felt torn between two worlds. In the UK I was part of a society that had quite different views on life and yet I felt the social mechanism pull me in. I had thoughts about a career and making money and I felt that my priorities in life had changed from when I was living in Auroville. Coming back to Auroville every summer for several months always gave me the anchor I needed, and the feeling of alignment. I instantly felt grounded and connected again. I felt at home and safe, but more importantly I felt how suddenly from one day to the next money was no longer the driving force or the motivator behind work. Upon receiving my degree, I felt the strong urge to move back to Auroville, a place where I felt my input, my hard work was needed and appreciated, and where the fruits of my labour are part of a bigger picture.

So how did you find your place in Auroville, and the kind of work you wanted to do?

It came knocking on my door. Anadi and Julian, who had been running TreeCare for several years, met with Virya and me to discuss the future of TreeCare. We had a similar vision and so I joined TreeCare. Shortly afterwards I was approached by Ulli who was searching for a new executive for Auroville.com. At that point, though, I really wanted to spend my energy in nature and start up a new unit rather than work in an existing one. Another motivating factor was that I greatly enjoy spending my days outside doing physical work rather than sitting in an office.

What has it been like, working in Auroville?

Working in Auroville so far has been a very rewarding experience. We have a lot of support and encouragement from fellow Aurovilians. Working as an arborist in India is very interesting. To say the least, we have found a niche market and Tree Care has grown very quickly over the past two years. At the moment, we have a team of 7 people, and we are looking to expand and hire another 3 this year.

So, what is Tree Care, how did it start and what does your day look like?

TreeCare was first started by Juan in 2004 who passed on much of his knowledge to Julian and Anadi. TreeCare now has three young executives Anadi, Julian and Jonas who have invested their time and money into both expanding the team as well as increasing the variety of services we provide. Over the past two years the team has grown and we currently employ two Aurovilans Matthieu and Timothe as well as two Nepalis Lal Bahadur and Ram Kumar. Tree Care provides a solution for all your pruning, rigging, grass cutting and garden needs. At the centre of our business, as the name suggests, is the love we share for trees and nature in general. We are knowledgeable in different plant species and know how to prune them in order to encourage healthy growth. Furthermore, we are able to help trees recover from storm damage or diseases by performing accurate and calculated pruning cuts. With our specialised tree climbing and rigging equipment we are able to take on even the most challenging jobs. For example in Auroville there are a lot of trees which have grown very close to houses, and over time these trees start rubbing on tile roofs. We are able to remove hazardous branches over fragile structures, power lines, or simply ensure that no plants in your garden will be damaged. We are currently working on launching our website, but in the meantime people can contact us through our Facebook page.

Putting the challenges aside, I love the work I do and I enjoy going to work every morning. My day starts at 7:30 preparing the equipment, by 7:50 everyone has arrived and we are ready to move out to the different job sites. For here on the schedules vary from day to day and from job site to job site. Some days we all go to one client but on most days we split the team and are able to visit several sites. In the afternoon I spend my time fixing broken machines, purchasing spare parts etc, and of course meeting new clients. Furthermore, I contact clients and inform them that we will be visiting their site the following day. On days where there is less to do, I catch up on the accounts.

Moving forward, our goals for 2016/2017 are to focus on training and increasing the size of our team, increasing our client-base, and also constructing our new office and workshop space.

What have been some of the biggest challenges so far?

One of the biggest challenges is acquiring the funds for investment. In Europe, I would have been able to get a start-up loan or to talk to investors. But the economic climate in Auroville is very different. This also means that growth is slow. Investment in new equipment as well as the repayment of outstanding loans has been our biggest challenge but also our biggest achievement over the past two years. We had to rely on loans from family or friends, and this was also a risky venture with a certain sense of insecurity. Apart from that, some of the biggest challenges of working in such a small team is coordination and time management. For us especially, if a member of the team falls ill or is unable to make it to work, it has consequences for the plan of the entire week. In those moments, we really improvise in order to get the job done and the customers happy. Another challenge which we perhaps had not anticipated is that since arboriculture is such a niche market in India, it is difficult if not impossible to source spare-parts, tools and also new climbing equipment. Most of our equipment is sourced from abroad as it is not available on the Indian market.

Can Auroville better support young entrepreneurs?

I think Auroville is filled with opportunities and possibilities, however there is a lack of communication. There are so many people that are doing their own thing and one doesn’t hear about it. I wish we could have more collaboration, use the skills and knowledge that we have in Auroville rather than looking and hiring professionals from outside. I am aware that the price plays an important role but I also feel as though we do very little to promote our own locally-gown businesses. Abroad there is advertisement, while in Auroville we rely mainly on word of mouth and News and Notes from time to time. However, I think that we have reached a size where word of mouth no longer reaches everyone. To solve this, we need to find a new medium to help young entrepreneurs collaborate with one another, learn from each other, support each other, and grow together.

How would you see this happening?

I would like to see the development of a platform, a sort of directory of all things we do in Auroville, where units and individuals can share their services and products. For example, if I need to fix my roof before the monsoon, I can use the list on this platform to approach and find construction units in Auroville. There are so many amazing projects, activities, small units, and individuals that are engaged in Auroville that many of us don’t know about. If such a platform would exist, I feel that it would lead to collaboration between individuals and even units that are working on similar things and could mutually benefit from being in touch, whether it comes down to sharing resources, knowledge, or even clients.

Having a degree in Economics, what is your reflection on how Auroville can become more financially strong?

Auroville has a unique economic and ideological framework. It does not make sense to compare it to the rest of the world and highlight what works and what does not work because we are trying something different here. We are not trying to improve on existing models, we are creating a different model altogether, and therefore our exercise is to think outside the box, and outside the social norms. So, we must look at Auroville in its own right. For example, speaking of the Auroville contribution, I know many that come to Auroville and find it strange that one should pay (contribute) to be a guest of Auroville. And, although I too feel this should be abolished, we must consider that we are an island within a well established economic framework and that change will be slow and difficult. As for contributions from businesses, I think this makes sense within the current framework, considering that Auroville has a tax exemption for this purpose. For Auroville to become more independent, we need a change in mentality. We must source locally, from our own businesses, entrepreneurs and freelancers. Instead of looking for the cheapest option when building your house, taking care of your garden, buying your food, clothes, furniture or anything else, we should take advantage of the many wonderful products and services that we have within Auroville, and only source from outside what is absolutely not available here. Having said that, the drawback is of course that Auroville products are generally more expensive because there is no compromise on quality. This needs to be looked at also. In brief, on the current maintenance system it may be difficult to make ends meet, however, if more of us allow the money to circulate faster within the Auroville economy, everyone is set to benefit. In my mind this is a stepping stone away from the monetary system and towards a collective sharing of skills and workforce within Auroville.

How can Auroville better encourage young entrepreneurs and units to contribute financially to Auroville?

I don’t know. For me, the word ‘contribute’ has an aspect of choice and free will to it. I think it is the wrong approach to implement a policy that dictates how much one should “contribute” because it takes away some of that free will and motivation to do the right thing. Personally, I would want to contribute because my business is economically sound and able to help build the future Auroville I live in. Having said that, I would appreciate having the choice to make the decision when and how much that contribution should be. So, for example, some months I could contribute 100% of my profits, while other months I would need to keep money aside in order to pay for my investments, for example, a new chainsaw. Having a fixed contribution makes it very difficult for start-up units to have flexibility. Also, the way we were raised in Auroville allows us to question the established rigid systems that govern most countries around the world. Although this is a good thing, it might also make us particularly sensitive and almost allergic to “rules and regulations”. For example, I think that new small businesses should be encouraged to grow, therefore I don’t think it is wise to put an additional strain of a contribution on such businesses. On the other hand, I also don’t think it’s good to create a policy enforcing that all new businesses are exempt from contributions for the first 5 years, because how would that make us different from the rest of the world? I feel that we should be given the free choice to decide when we are able to do so, and trust that for some it may take only one year, while for others it may take more than 5 years.

Coming back from abroad, how did you manage to find accommodation in Auroville?

I was very fortunate that 26 years ago when my parents moved to Auroville with 4 kids, they had decided to build several small houses rather than one large family house. When moving back to Auroville after my studies I settled into what used to be “the kitchen house” and I am slowly turning it into my home. It is somewhat rundown, a work in progress, but I am grateful to have a space where I feel at home. Especially when I look at friends and other fellow Aurovilians who are looking for a space that they can invest in.