As part of our relentless efforts to identify and share some of the meaningful stories from India and around the world, this week we invited yet another Passionate Entrepreneur Divij Bajaj for an interview with us. He is the Founder and CEO of POWER GUMMIES. Let’s read more about his inspiring journey so far and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with him:
Talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
My journey to bringing in force this health supplement startup company following the philosophy of ‘Health inspired by Happiness’ has not been a cakewalk. The aim of catering to adult nutrition driving away from the fear of bitter-tasting medicines or pills with my startup has been a life learning experience and I am glad to have become an entrepreneur, which I always wanted to.
I am an MBA graduate from Maharaja Agrasen College, I.P University and alumni of KMC College, University of Delhi, who was fascinated with the idea of building my own identity and dissecting my super inner powers. Followed my imagination to reality, when no one could believe my nutraceutical startup could be a market leader delivering a stellar performance.
It all started with an ingenious idea when one day I wanted to bring a solution to one of my personal experiences in life, changing my outlook towards nutrition. My mother hated medical pills, and she would desist from taking any vitamin supplements and believed “every tablet was a medicine”. I used to keep on trying different ways to make it comforting for her by crushing and mixing them with honey or chocolate. His entrepreneurial mind loved solving issues and understood the call was to devise a supplement that wouldn’t look like another medicine yet tasty, bringing Power Gummies in 2018.”
I didn’t want my product to be similar to the other multivitamins which made me do my stringent R&D on gummy supplements. Worked as a one-man army relentlessly without a pause, believing my vision all alone changing the game rules for me.
Before starting Aesthetic Nutrition, I founded an Edtech platform called The Admission Portal to ease the admission related problems faced by both students and parents which later got merged to become justdakhila.com. Also started his silent disco chain by the name of “Headphones”.”
It has not been an easy road to walk but always focussed on my intrinsic motivation to guide me when everyone else laughed. Often people who do not resonate with your ideas try to pull you down though you must keep going no matter what and today the same people appreciate me.
We are aware of all the good work you are doing in your space; what keeps you going?
To me, the definition of an entrepreneur is not just about a person who sets up a business taking on the financial risk in hope of reaping profits, but my goal has always been to feel the thrill of exploration. The industry dimensions change drastically in today’s time and I wanted to experience all and stand true to my virtue against them serving the society. The key to becoming a successful entrepreneur starts from observing, adapting and responding to the needs of people around you and the profits shall follow.”
This process of starting something from scratch to building it as an entity with a large self-driven team has been an expedition itself and am looking forward to the journey ahead. I suggest, whenever a person wants to find self-purpose which keeps them going, they should only try to look within and know what allows them to live one day at a time, even in the times when something went wrong. Articulate your goals well which go in sync with your ideology as well and how you always imagine your life to be. I feel this struggle seems meaningless once you derive the great happiness from the process of working towards achieving your goals.
Why did you choose entrepreneurship over a corporate career?
I’m a person who always loved to excel in everything and genuinely not everyone can do that. I yearned to learn everything and anything but in my ways. I’m a creative-minded person who had a keen interest in dramatics and debate and was actively participating in them, due to which I always missed my classes. And my resort was using the technique of smart study to cover whatever I have missed upon. At a young age, I realized victory comes with smart work and not just with hard work, which is very important to aim for overall development.
My idea to reinforce the example is to highlight my personality traits. I never wanted to restrict myself around knowledge or a fact of awareness which have been stated or given as existing. Always wanted to think beyond and kept digging, I strongly consider it one of the paramount attributes of a creative mind. My problem-solving nature was a promising indicator of what I aspire to be. I was not meant to be playing a single detailed role and desired to step into shoes of varied job roles for building a successful venture facing never-ending challenges. By no means, I degrade a corporate career, however, everything sums up at what drives you from within.
Please share with us some of the challenges you faced in your journey;
The road to building an entrepreneurial venture has its share of recurring problems and tough challenges. Initially, it started as a one-person army as I mentioned above, from finding research organizations to procurement and distributing the samples in the market for pilot trials, I took on almost every role that was needed. I had my highs and lows, but this is what keeps making the journey adventurous and keeps you striving hard.
The significant challenges were the stability and composition development of our product. It took a lot of research, and our team of taste experts and food scientists helped us to discover sweet and tasty gummies that are both nutritious and yummy.
However, there were several third-party experts, agencies, and labs that supported me in the research process. Even my friends started volunteering as a motivating factor. My confidence in the product grew stronger day by day as we moved ahead. I wanted the quality and taste to be top-notch without a compromise.
Once we started to grow, I knew it was time to fly higher. I hired self-driven professionals and experts for different job roles, who aligned with company vision and we derived everything with our collaborative efforts. This is how we have sailed so far and will keep putting off all the challenges to come in future as well.
What is your Business Mantra: Money or Emotions?
The philosophy of my brand is ‘Health inspired by Happiness’ and we aim to bring one-of-a-kind health supplements catering to adult nutrition in tasty, healthy, and chewable gummies driving away from the fear of bitter testing medicines or pills. Our focus is to facilitate them with supplementation that can bring both health and happiness in their lives.
My brand’s ideation ecosystem is itself based around taking care of people’s needs and making them happier and healthier. Hence, emotions are key mantra but I would conclude it on when the business aesthetic and visions are correct, then money will eventually follow.
How do you handle the pressure and manage stress?
Everyone has different ways to manage stress and I genuinely believe they need not be productive always. If you like to paint and it helps you relieve stress then so be it. Few people might need a short break doing nothing but it shouldn’t deviate them from their path. As far as pressure is concerned, one day at a time will solve the issue. Always articulate your long term and short term goals.
However, my getaway from work stress is travelling. I love exploring different places and make sure to leave for a 5-6 day long vacation every two months. I genuinely follow work hard and play hard philosophy. I have travelled over 38 countries so far and aim to cover all before I die!
What has worked well for you so far?
Creating a market for us from scratch with educating customers about the concept of on-the-go nutrition via gummies, and related topic areas have been cumbersome yet exciting. People believed it to be just another candy and it becomes difficult to keep walking when you see your efforts are not going in the desired direction.
Trusting myself and my team has only got us this far that today people recognise and actualise the potential output one can drive from regular consumption of these gummies. With our first variant – Power Gummies, we’ve done just that! Chew them, savour them, and listen to your body and taste buds.”
Consistency also helped us stand ahead of our various competitors in the market who are advancing their variants with single vitamin ingredients or for a particular gender.
Always know what you are doing, why you are doing and never slide away from your path.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
There is no definite formula ever made for success. Self-belief and intrinsic motivation always play a critical role in how you develop yourself into a skilled person. And skills are always varied and measured in different ways.
I firmly believe, “Success is not final; failure is not fatal.” It is the courage to continue that counts.” At least, my self-discovery has been a thorough example standing true to this famous quote.
Never step back and consider criticism as a motivating factor. Leadership isn’t about people, organizations, plans, or strategies. Always look for solutions to problems around you. Persistence, patience, and consistency are the supreme keys to ensure your success as many times I have seen the genius minds stop trying after one setback, who could have the potential to turn the icebergs.
Your efforts matter. It is sheer luck when you have the right set of personality traits. You must follow only – Never Stop
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
