As you all know, Entrepreneurs are problem solvers who offer solutions using creativity or innovative ventures that exploit opportunities. In this chapter, Sonam Tandin Phurba focuses on different approaches to problem-solving and needs recognition that helps potential entrepreneurs come up with ideas and refine those ideas.
Entrepreneur Bhutan ๐๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ฎ, ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ธ๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐โ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐-๐ผ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ผ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐.
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Sonam Tandin Phurba, 26 years old is the founder and CEO of Gongphel Agro-Industry. He graduated from SEGi university in Malaysia in 2019 with an honours degree in chemical engineering, through a scholarship from the Royal Government of Bhutan. ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ฅ-๐๐ ๐ซ๐จ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ.
Speaking to Entrepreneur Magazine, he said that its painful to know that Bhutan was spending billions of ngultrums every year to import one of the most basic necessities in life – food.
He shared that Bhutan spends about Nu 2.5bn every year just to import rice. โAs a Bhutanese, my goal as an entrepreneur is to make food self-sufficiency and, โTo keep Bhutanese money within the country instead of sending it outside.โ
However, Gongphel agro was established to make our country food self-sufficient. โOur diet right now is heavily based on rice. Bhutanese love rice, but our country will never be able to produce enough rice for us. The best option for us is to follow in the footsteps of our forefathers and depend on crops that we can grow in our country,โ he said.
Sonam Tandin Phurba also divulges that wheat is one of the grains that Bhutanese can depend on like rice. โIt can be grown throughout our country, from the warm sub-tropical Dzongkhag like Samtse to the cold sub-alpine area like Gasa,โ he said, adding that it also requires much lesser effort, labour, and irrigation compared to rice.
His company’s first product is called “Karzey Bulgur”. Itโs a combination of Bhutanese love for rice and the feasibility of wheat as the main cereal grain. ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ.
According to Sonam, in the 1980s, the World Food Program supplied bulgur wheat to the boarding schools in the country. โGongphel Agro has brought back this delicious dish, under the name Karzey Bulgur, with the vision of making our countryโs food self-sufficient through diversification of the people’s dietary patterns,โ he added.
Karzey Bulgur, he said, is a 100% natural whole-grain wheat product that is cholesterol free, with low sugar, and rich in minerals, vitamins, and dietary fibre. โIt is a great rice substitute if you are looking to lose some weight and it is the best dietary option for people battling diabetes, hypertension, or any heart-related diseases,โ he said.
In addition, Sonam said that Karzey is the first of many healthy and delicious rice substitutes that Gongphel Agro is bringing to our country.
Meanwhile, Sonam said that like all other startups and entrepreneurs, the biggest challenge that he faced was a lack of financing. โLuckily for me, the government in 2021, developed the National Credit Guarantee Scheme to help startups and entrepreneurs get access to finance.โ
When asked what you want to advise young entrepreneurs, he said that young aspiring entrepreneurs have to believe in themselves, believe in their ideas, and always believe that better days will surely come.
โFor me, an entrepreneur is a problem solver. For a country to develop, entrepreneurs should thrive. Entrepreneurs bring innovation and implement these innovations in a way that is suitable for the precise community or society,โ he said.
