Amma-Naturecare:
Amma-Naturecare is a
world-renowned healing center franchise that has quickly rooted in the Indian
countryside. Ensconced in betel nut groves, set amidst pristine green rice
paddy fields, we built a chain of serene ashrams with rustic but well-equipped
cottages,surrounding world-class massage facilities for those who desire more
than the usual escape from their stressful lives.
The idea came to me when I
visited Urasa, a village in Japan and paid visit to an Okabe Onsen and SPA a small boutique hotel situated
amidst the rice paddies. As I absorbed the beauty of the dark clouds reflected
in the brimming paddies, it struck me that India had a gold mine to tap into.
At Urasa , and around the world, massage costs a premium. In Paris, an hour’s
massage could cost €130 ($182); in Tokyo, it could be 20,000 Japanese yen
($263);
But in India, where labor costs were a fraction
of Western costs, we identified the opportunity to train hundreds of masseurs
in deep tissue massage, along with the Ayurvedic and aromatherapy forms,
anddeliver the service at an astonishing $10 an hour.
In 2014, Amma-Naturecare’s first
center, a 20-room terra cotta ashram, rose 50 kilometers at Neelmangala outside
Bangalore amidst the rice fields. The villagers had never seen construction of
this scale. They watched for 18 months as the cottages gradually spread across
their once empty land. Before long, it became the major employer for this
region.
We envisioned Amma-Naturecare as
a social venture wherein villagers will be trained in massage therapy and deep
tissue forms of massage. We tied up with
National Skills Development foundation to secure a grant and initiated a
separate training center in each of the envisioned Amma-Nature Care center to
train local villagers as staff.
Soon our all-inclusive six-day
programs, ripe with twice-a-day massages, meditation sessions at dawn and dusk,
yoga classes, sauna, swimming pools, and mineral baths, all woven within our
delicious vegetarian cuisine, were gathering not only locals but a sweeping
international clientele. The entire six-day program: $600 per couple.
Another opportunity became very
clear to me: In India , almost every fourth person is diabetic. However using
naturopathy care it is possible to reverse Diabetes in 8-12 days in
non-critical cases. In Bangalore, where there is a huge chunk of IT population,
we tied up with HR depts. of various organizations and offered yearly packages
for their staff. This turned out to be a big hit.
We sprinkled Amma-Naturecare
centers throughout Karnataka, Maharashtra,Goa, Gujarat Bengal, and Madhya
Pradesh – India’s major rice growing regions. There was something infinitely
serene and earthy about the rice fields, how they swayed at dawn before
harvest. Or in May, at dusk, how the dark clouds announced nor’wester storms.
That became the essence of our brand. The tropical tranquility. The rhythm of
the fields. The monsoon.The harvest.
The Amma-Naturecare staff was
cloaked in light brown saris and sarongs. The cottages blended into the
thatched huts of their surroundings, and they were decorated in the colors of
hay, leaf green, and light buff. We offered white cotton kurtas and pajamas to
the guests, and we asked that they wear them while in the ashram. It added a
layer of simplicity and harmony to the place, and it helped the guests quiet
the chatter of their otherwise busy minds.
By 2018, we’d built 18 centers
and just over $100 million in revenue. Our annualoccupancy hovered around 60%.
April through June was sometimes hard to fill due to the heat, although the
nor’westers in some of the centers held their own appeal. The monsoon was very
popular, with the voluptuous rain, thunder, and lightning. Nature was alive, it
evoked awe, reducing the dominance of the ego, an essential practice in Vedic spirituality.
We continued building new centers and garnering new businesses:Revenues from our six-day
packages just crossed $1 billion. Occupancy is at 85%,and we now charge $750
per package – a price far below our international competitors,while more than
adequate to employ each 200-person staff. All told we employ over 20,000
people, of whom almost 7,000 are trained massage therapists. Therapists for
whom people travel from all over the world to lie under their masterly hands.
