Shaktipreneur in Spotlight: Pavani Lolla (Co-founder of Future Step)

Due to the increasing population, waste management is becoming a major environmental concern. Landfills are taking a toll on nature. Future Step is a budding organization trying to solve the problem of recycling waste.“Our main idea is to simplify the segregation, recycling, decomposing, and composting of waste in a hygienic and hassle-free manner,” says Pavani Lolla, Shaktipreneur in Spotlight and Co-founder of Future Step. 

The inspirational Journey of the Entrepreneur 

During her graduation from VBIT, Pavani led an Eco Club- a group of students engaged in bringing awareness about the environment among the nearby villagers and students. They went to schools and villages to clean the places, distribute dustbins, and segregate waste.

 Pavani noticed that even though the waste was segregated, the waste-collecting vehicle dumped everything together.

She came up with the idea of creating a machine that would segregate the waste and decompose it to make compost.

She joined TEP(Technology Entrepreneurship Program) by ISB that helped her create a prototype.

Lolla started exploring composting techniques and researching the decomposers in the market. She encountered various problems, as designing the product was not an easy job.

She met Siddhesh Sakore, now a Co-Founder at Future Step, at a Maker Fair. He was representing Vigyan Ashram, an NGO in Pune that works for the welfare of students. Vigyan Ashram was doing some research on reducing the time of composting, and Pavani decided to collaborate with Siddhesh. Thus, Future Step was born.

They created the decomposer, but Pavani realized that they needed to create a machine that would replace the dustbin and do the processing.

They partnered with U.Mahesh for manufacturing the machine which is called vapra.

Vapra– a Sanskrit word for something born out of the soil, is a small portable, hexagonal device made from mild steel. Waste is put inside it with the decomposer- a natural, microbial culture, and rotated five times manually for mixing. Sold for Rs. 3500, the Vapra has a capacity of 30 litres. It is designed in a manner that there is no foul smell, and compost is created in seven days.

“We started manufacturing in June 2021, and have already sold 190+ units with more than 250 customers for our decomposers,” Lolla adds proudly.

Her Challenges 

Pavani’s entrepreneurship journey has been a roller-coaster ride. Balancing between academics and work was difficult for her. Her family does not have a business background and expected her to take up a steady job, and convincing them was a tough job for her. Designing the prototype was a big challenge, and the team had to go through various trials and hiccups. Despite the problems, Pavani and her team were determined to work on this.

“My heart lies in my venture and I am passionate about it”, Pavni adds.

Future Step: The ideology behind the name

A good environment is the best gift we can give to the future generation. Pavani believes that her venture is a contribution to saving the environment.

“I wanted the name to convey the message that we are taking a step for the future,” Pavani explains.

Effect of COVID

Covid proved to be a setback for Pavani due to the ban on industrial oxygen necessary to manufacture Vapras. Covid also led to the lockdown of industries and transportation and the manufacturing of products and their delivery got delayed. Manufacturers charged them a lot, leading to higher costs.

Future Plans

Future Step received a grant of 12 lakhs from RKVY-RAFTAAR, and they want to set up their own manufacturing unit as presently they create products through third-party manufacturers.

They are also exploring the possibility of a plastic vapra as it is more cost-effective than the metal one. They want to move to vegetable and fruit markets to recycle waste, scale up by building plants for societies and communities, research for a liquid decomposer for quicker decomposing, and work on agri-composters so that agricultural waste can be recycled.

“We are working towards our dream of recycling waste produced at every doorstep, and we strive to sell our vapras throughout India,” Lolla says optimistically.

Advice to entrepreneurs

Pavani advises young entrepreneurs to take calculated risks, have a clear vision of their idea, and be firm in their beliefs.

“If you have a dream, work towards it. You will achieve it if you believe in it,” she adds.

Pavani, the Shaktipreneur

Pavani believes that being a part of Shakti was a huge gift for her as she met diverse people from the cohort, cleared her doubts on sales and marketing through her mentor Jayshree Marakini Braganza, and learned a lot of entrepreneurial and life lessons.

“STEP is a community which helps women grow in 360 degrees- professionally, personally, and mentally. I feel being in the STEP cohort was the best decision for me,” she feels.

“For someone like me who did not have any practical experience in entrepreneurship, marketing, and sales, an incubation program like Shakti is a necessity,” she says.

Empathy Circle was her favourite session. She shares a bond with her community at STEP and can communicate with them without hesitation.

“I got emotionally connected to the cohort members as I could identify with them and their problems,” she adds.

She feels that as the cohort members are from diverse fields, they can find business opportunities in the cohort. “We are a part of a community where we have helped each other grow,” she says.

Pavani really liked the way the voting for the grant was done and she used it in building their compost plant and buying equipment.

Pavani has a special place for her mentor, Jayshree. She feels that a mentor is a necessity for a startup as new entrepreneurs need someone to clear their doubts and listen to them. Marketing was a difficult issue for Future Step before getting into the STEP’s incubation program. Her mentoring sessions helped her grow their sales by framing better marketing strategies.

”My mentor helped me choose the right path to reap success and make more impact. I can speak my heart with her, and she is my go-to person,” she adds.

Pavani, the person

The strong, ambitious, and restless Pavani loves to write and sing. A lover of nature, this 24-year-old loves beaches and would love to visit the Maldives. Her greatest inspiration is Mahendra Singh Dhoni. She is a humanist and loves to learn about its different aspects. Desserts are her weakness.

“I am not into this for making money. I want to create an identity for myself,” she closes pensively.