How a student built a business for the production of organic fertilizer

How to achieve success in business? - is a question that is on everyone's mind. You can read special literature, watch motivational documentaries or get acquainted with the real story of an entrepreneur. The correspondent of World of NAN prepared one of such stories.

Sherkhan Moldabay is a young lad of 24 whose family is engaged in farming in the village of Tapshyl in North Kazakhstan province. More than two years ago, Sherkhan opened his own business for the production of organic fertilizer - biohumus.

"The idea of creating such a business came to me when I was a student, then I was 19 years old," Sherkhan began telling his story. - I read in social networks different business ideas and came across a subject on organic fertilizers. At that time I thought that our family business has raw materials, equipment, and it would be good to do it. Plus, in addition to animal husbandry, we have crop production as well. Admittedly, we have not been able to grow a normal crop for many years, because we need to use a lot of fertilizers and chemicals. Therefore, the idea of producing biohumus has become a kind of mission for me.

It is worth noting that our hero has been trained under the program "Business Bastau" in his student years. And he received his first financial grant in the 3rd year of study, when he won in the national business competition from the university.

"After winning, we were sent to study at a business school in the Almaty region. There I proved to the commission that the idea for organic fertilizers is relevant, won second place and a grant of 700 thousand tenge. This money was enough for me to buy the first Californian worms and equipment for heating".

Starting a new business is always very difficult, and Sherkhan was not exempt from the difficulties. When he bought the worms, he was cheated out of 100,000 worms and instead he was sold 10,000 worms. Also, he had no experience in their breeding, care and in general the process of creating biohumus.

"There are a lot of nuances on the technical aspects, feeding, drying, and luring the worms. No one taught me this, and none explained the full technology of worm breeding. Fortunately, there is the Internet, where I acquired some knowledge and have already tried it out in practice. Everything was done gradually. I spent more than a year of my own time on construction of wintering grounds, breeding and construction of equipment".

Any business needs financial investments - Sherkhan understood this and invested his own money, but it was not enough. However, at some point his fortune smiled on him, there was a contest held in their area by NCE Atameken, in which people with the best business idea were given a grant of 3 million tenge.

"I thoroughly prepared for the contest, prepared a project and was focused only on winning. I grew radishes, tomatoes and cucumbers on my own fertilizers. So I was able to demonstrate the effectiveness of my fertilizers. In addition, biohumus is chemical-free and suitable for all farmers. Therefore, the committee had no reservations when they awarded me the prize.

There are only advantages in making biohumus. Manure is utilized, pure organic fertilizer is produced, which increases yields and positively affects the taste of products.

" Nowadays, everything we eat is not grown on purely organic products. The same bread, greenhouse cucumbers or tomatoes they are grown on mineral fertilizers, chemicals and pesticides. But this is a question of health! As such I see a future in organic fertilizers. In general, any farmer can engage in the production of biohumus. But this all requires money, time and work. But it's easier for our farmers to buy chemical fertilizers and plant everything, or to douse everything with herbicides".

Indeed the process of producing biohumus is very complex, long and costly. However its effectiveness is proven abroad and even today in Kazakhstan there are companies which use organic fertilizers, but not so many of them as it would be desirable.

"Yes the process of creating biohumus is not simple. Horse or cow manure, which should be composted, at least for six months, serves as a substrate for the worms. Then it is given to the worms to eat, they process it and get fertilizer in the form of small pellets. Next, the worms are lured out of the guhrt, and the fertilizer is processed through a separator, debris and remaining worms are removed. Only then does the biohumus become suitable for fertilizing the soil."

Today Sherkhan has more than 30 tons of ready-packaged products, and the quantity of worms has passed the one million mark. This summer the young entrepreneur plans to produce 80 tons of fertilizer, and in the beginning he managed to collect only a couple of bags. Our hero admits that the way he made it was difficult, and only thanks to the belief in success, he did not give up and did not quit his business.

"It was very hard, but I didn't want to give up because I saw a future in it. I practically lived without income for two years. I had to pay the bills, plus I couldn't hire workers and worked every day myself, literally disappearing at work. Now the process is back on its feet, I have the initial production, the number of worms, equipment, space. Just recently I sent more than 1.5 tons to Atyrau to a greenhouse complex. The worms are also bought in fishing complexes or there are people who also want to engage in their breeding".

One can only envy Sherkhan's will, only thanks to his faith in the right cause, he did not stop and continued his work.

"In general, I think if you want to start a business in the agricultural sector, you have to love this business. I myself love agriculture. To anyone who wants to get into business, I recommend that you start small and don't quit and go all the way. You just can't make quick and easy money here. You will need to work hard. If there is a will to work only then the business will develop," summed up Sherkhan Moldabay.

The story of our hero is a proof that passion and honest and hard work pays off. And perhaps one of you may ask: Can I do it? Yes, you can! If you believe in your success and work hard.