A young graduate from Kota chose a road most of his peers skip, and it has turned into a business worth Rs 20 lakh a year. Yashraj, who studied a BSc in Agriculture in the city, decided against joining the long queue of graduates chasing high paying corporate jobs and instead built his own agri-startup from scratch. That call has paid off: his mushroom farming venture now clocks an annual turnover of Rs 20 lakh, and he has become something of a role model for young people across the Hadoti region.
A Training Stint That Revealed a Market Gap
Yashraj says the idea took shape near the end of his college years, when he was sent for various agriculture related training programmes. Mushroom cultivation, dairy farming and vermicompost production were among the options placed in front of him. It was during this phase that he noticed something crucial: Rajasthan's hot climate meant the demand and consumption of mushrooms in the state was high, but local production simply could not keep up. He read that gap between demand and supply as a genuine business opportunity and decided he would start growing mushrooms right there in Kota, reasoning that an area with such strong demand was the smartest place to build local supply.
Starting With Just 50 Bags and Pocket Money
The early days were far from easy. Yashraj had no significant capital of his own, and his family's support stretched only as far as covering his college fees. So, while still a student, he pooled together a modest Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 with the help of friends and began growing mushrooms in a small room, using just 50 bags to start with. The space was tiny and the resources limited, but the determination was not. That very first attempt returned a net profit of roughly Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000, proof enough that the idea could actually work in practice, not just on paper.
When Funding Dried Up, His Confidence Nearly Broke
To scale the venture into a real business, Yashraj approached several banks and private companies for support. He also registered his startup under MSME so he could tap into government schemes meant for small enterprises. But in the beginning, no financial help or loan came through from anywhere. Yashraj recalls a phase when he was so demotivated that he considered shutting the business down altogether. Instead of giving up, he somehow arranged funds privately and kept working, even without the institutional backing he had hoped for.
Rs 20 Lakh a Year, and Jobs for Dozens
Built on relentless effort and unshakeable self belief, Yashraj's mushroom business now touches an annual turnover of Rs 20 lakh. What stands out is that the startup has not only made him self reliant, it has also created employment for 15 to 20 local people alongside him. What began as a modest experiment funded with just Rs 10,000 during his student days has now grown into a genuinely profitable industry.
Yashraj says that if you commit to something with your whole mind and refuse to give up in the face of setbacks, your struggle is bound to turn into a big success one day.
