Anurag Agarwal
CEO and MD
In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights Anurag Agarwal, CEO and MD of Natural
Remedies, briefs about his personal and professional expeditions.
Tell us the major facets & achievements of your professional journey.
‘A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step’ is an ancient saying and this is apt for me, I started my journey from the North to the South way back in the early 80’s to grow and build the family business of southern region of herbal animal products. Western India was added to my portfolio a few years later seeing my success in the South. Family members involved in the business, which was started by my grandfather decided to part ways in the year 1996.
Within a couple of years, we started the Human Health Division and renamed our company Natural Remedies, and it was a challenging time for us as we had limited
resources and there was a shortage of funds. With support from our business mentors, we could steer through this difficult time and currently, we are a Rs. 300 crore company.
The organization internally evolved with professionals coming on board and developing certain departments and teams, we encouraged and supported our employees to reskill and grow during this journey. They have played a very pivotal role in growing and developing the organization. My key takeaways during these 35 years of the journey are business should be done with the spirit to serve and add value to the customers and the society. Profit and growth will happen as an outcome.
What different roles have you been undertaking at Natural Remedies?
I do not have a formal management degree however, the teachings that I have received from my father and grandfather to remain humble, ethical, and honest in all dealings. For me, business runs in the blood, so managing and taking decisions come naturally, and what I learnt from my mentors is to start to observe, understand, remain patient and be a good listener. These qualities hold good for any leader and visionary.
What were the initial challenges that taught you the basic lessons of managing diversified functions of large organizations and achieve the success that you had in the later phase?
Since I had the privilege to grow small set up to a decent size organization, challenges at regular intervals gave me time and opportunity to learn and progress at every stage. With the firm believer in the philosophy of developing and
The organization internally evolved with professionals coming on board and developing certain departments and teams, we encouraged and supported our employees to reskill and grow during this journey. They have played a very pivotal role in growing and developing the organization. My key takeaways during these 35 years of the journey are business should be done with the spirit to serve and add value to the customers and the society. Profit and growth will happen as an outcome.
My key takeaways during these 35 years of the journey are business should be done with the spirit to serve and add value to the customers and the society
What different roles have you been undertaking at Natural Remedies?
I do not have a formal management degree however, the teachings that I have received from my father and grandfather to remain humble, ethical, and honest in all dealings. For me, business runs in the blood, so managing and taking decisions come naturally, and what I learnt from my mentors is to start to observe, understand, remain patient and be a good listener. These qualities hold good for any leader and visionary.
What were the initial challenges that taught you the basic lessons of managing diversified functions of large organizations and achieve the success that you had in the later phase?
Since I had the privilege to grow small set up to a decent size organization, challenges at regular intervals gave me time and opportunity to learn and progress at every stage. With the firm believer in the philosophy of developing and
constant improvement, this journey has been very rewarding and fulfilling.
How does your vast experience in Corporate help you to chalk-out efficient business modules at Natural Remedies?
My experiences have taught me about the power of focus, and the 80:20 Pareto principle helped me to focus on the things which matter the most, supported by a very able and committed team. We all at Natural Remedies, constantly consult in embarking on new activities to expand and grow the business.
In your professional journey so far, which are the milestones that bestowed your utmost satisfaction - both as an individual and a CEO and What was a difficult decision you had to make as a leader, and how did you come to that decision?
When we created our vision and values for Natural Remedies that was my dream moment; we discovered and created competencies for our organization which guides and propel everyone at Natural Remedies to truly live with our organizational values. To our pleasant surprise, these competencies not only help our professional life but also became very powerful tools to be happy in our personal lives too. This transformation journey towards everyone’s happiness is utmost satisfying and fulfilling for me. The most difficult decision which I constantly battle is to create a balance between the pursuit for growth and the joy of the journey for our entire team.
Anurag Agarwal, CEO and MD, Natural Remedies
After completing his graduation in Chandigarh, Anurag Agarwal pursued his higher studies in St. Josephs College, Bangalore. The numbers came to him very easily which helped Anurag in his business. By nature, Anurag is competitive and had played all the available sports in college and excelled in them. As an extrovert, he could build relationships easily and realized that collaboration is a far superior way to life than competing.
Location: Bangalore
How does your vast experience in Corporate help you to chalk-out efficient business modules at Natural Remedies?
My experiences have taught me about the power of focus, and the 80:20 Pareto principle helped me to focus on the things which matter the most, supported by a very able and committed team. We all at Natural Remedies, constantly consult in embarking on new activities to expand and grow the business.
In your professional journey so far, which are the milestones that bestowed your utmost satisfaction - both as an individual and a CEO and What was a difficult decision you had to make as a leader, and how did you come to that decision?
When we created our vision and values for Natural Remedies that was my dream moment; we discovered and created competencies for our organization which guides and propel everyone at Natural Remedies to truly live with our organizational values. To our pleasant surprise, these competencies not only help our professional life but also became very powerful tools to be happy in our personal lives too. This transformation journey towards everyone’s happiness is utmost satisfying and fulfilling for me. The most difficult decision which I constantly battle is to create a balance between the pursuit for growth and the joy of the journey for our entire team.
Anurag Agarwal, CEO and MD, Natural Remedies
After completing his graduation in Chandigarh, Anurag Agarwal pursued his higher studies in St. Josephs College, Bangalore. The numbers came to him very easily which helped Anurag in his business. By nature, Anurag is competitive and had played all the available sports in college and excelled in them. As an extrovert, he could build relationships easily and realized that collaboration is a far superior way to life than competing.
Location: Bangalore