As part of our endeavour to identify and share some of the unique and compelling stories from India and around the world, we invited Hardik Varia for an interview with us to understand more about his promising entrepreneurial journey so far. He is the Founder of Whiskers and Phade. Let’s learn more about his story, his background and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Hardik:
Talk us through your background and your journey, please.
Being an entrepreneur I love multitasking and therefore I generally prefer to do all the work on my own. I have also received an appreciation from IIM Ahmedabad for my management skills.
My work, my passion was to organise gigs where I use to promote international artists and music to develop a good music scene in India and build a gateway.”
I have worked with artists like Norman Doray, Chris Montana, Dave Kurtis, Jaytech, Tom Fall, Peter Brown, Stan Kolev, etc. I have also worked closely with Nikhil Chinapa to develop a good music scene in India. I wish to start my own record label one day.
I founded Whiskers (mens’ grooming brand) in 2017. I use to attend a lot of music festivals around the world where I noticed all the men focusing a lot on grooming i.e. from bodybuilding, hair styling, maintaining a good beard and of course, smelling good.”
Everyone was looking dapper. I also noticed what the shops were selling in terms of men’s grooming products and that’s when I figured out the gap and desperately wanted to start this trend in India.
One of my friends also asked me to get a tattoo aftercare product from Europe as there was no Indian brand fulfilling his necessity. I researched for a short time and saw that there were actually no Indian brands serving this virgin category.
Please illustrate more on the company profile and products/services?
The brand PHADE was established in the spring of 2021. Phade was born to create exemplary skincare products using plant extracts, sustainable farming and green practices which results in producing a dynamic range of skincare products. We believe in providing the best skin care products possible. We continue to use hand-picked fresh ingredients to create products that contain potent healing and beautifying properties.
Many of these ingredients are combined with the purest plant extracts containing minerals and trace elements found nowhere else on earth. Our products are made without any severe heating or hydrogenating processes that can affect the nutritional content and potency of natural ingredients.
Vitamins are captured in their all-natural fresh base, offering dramatic results as actual seeds, pulps and peels impart regenerative and healing powers that only nature can produce.”
The products will include Stretch mark lotion/cream, psoriasis cleansers and creams, eczema creams, diabetes lotions and creams.
Please brief us on the inception story of your business venture.
I first thought of starting a skincare company when my wife was pregnant in 2018. She use to spend hours searching for good products online to prevent stretch marks. We also use to discuss a lot about hormonal changes and how the body reacts during and post-pregnancy.
I also started surfing about companies that were into making pregnancy care products and trust me I could not find one. As I was already serving the market by making men’s grooming products I could differentiate between ingredients very easily.”
All the products serving this category were not at all satisfying. I came across different skin problems in my family and relatives like itchy skin due to diabetes, psoriasis, eczema, etc.
I then decided to start an intense skincare company that could honestly serve this category.
What is your mission & vision at the outset of your venture?
Our Vision – Is to be the number one choice for skincare and well-being to help people feel more confident about their appearance. A captivating customer experience that drives long term loyalty and delivers sustained growth for our company.
Our Mission – From scientific discovery to botanical products and our essential partnerships around the world, we are committed to creating disrupting products for people of planet earth. We have created products that will not only help in making your skin look good but also boost your confidence.
At Phade, we share a common purpose to create products that fill the gap.
Our Values –
1) Professionalism and innovation
2) Beauty
3) Quality and a rich variety of advanced skincare treatment
4) Social responsibility
5) Reliability and integrity
6) Sustainability
7) Authenticity and Honesty
How is your company synchronizing with the latest technological advancements in the market?
There is a growing interest in cosmeceutical products (combining cosmetics and pharmaceuticals). Technology is simplifying consumers’ purchase journeys both in-store and online. Phade utilizes a combination of dermatology and data to decipher individual skin needs.
Environmental factors, lifestyle, mood, stress, pH, oil measurements, hydration levels are closely examined to determine and create consumers’ most ideal stretch mark cream.
We also plan to launch a mobile app in the near future where consumers will be able to test their skin conditions by submitting skin concern pictures.
How do you ensure the quality of services in your company?
We aren’t just happy with reinventing grooming and personal care products but we also want to reinvent the ways in which they are made. We invite our key suppliers and manufacturers to work with us towards zero-waste manufacturing.
Our domestic shipments are done with GOGREEN Carbon Neutral Service ensuring a cleaner, safer, environment and doing our bit towards ensuring healthy planet earth.
At every stage, the quality team ensures that the standards that characterise the brand are complied with and achieved. Quality covers several sectors of business such as design, compliance and distribution.”
In terms of design, the quality teams ensure that the quality of the finished product (formula, packaging and process) complies with the quality set by the brand. They also make certain that the product complies with specifications.
What kind of clients do you serve? Please enlist some names. How are you winning their faith?
With our flagship stretch mark lotion, we will be serving Pregnant women, bodybuilders, obesity, puberty stretch marks. We will be explaining and providing an in-depth study of how the secret formula is going to work on their skin.
We also plan to educate our customers through social media and our own website i.e. www.phade.in
How is R&D helping you to take your company to the next level?
The role of skin care cosmetics is to guide users to fresh and healthy beautiful skin. At Phade, we are working on formulation development focusing not only on skin effects for that purpose but also on sensibility values such as security and comfort to keep using it with satisfaction.
The research area is based on colloidal surface chemistry, such as emulsification technology and dispersion technology, but we have also developed more effective formulations by combining dermatological knowledge.
The basic function of skincare cosmetics is moisturizing, but it also plays an important role in responding to various skin problems such as Stretch Marks, Psoriasis, Eczema.
Phade’s strength is in the technology for stably blending the active ingredients that fulfil those requirements and in the encapsulation technology for maximizing the effectiveness of the ingredients.
Please highlight your competitive advantages, and also tell us why it couldn’t be copied.
As such we don’t have any competition in the market because of the breakthrough formulation that we have developed. There are no such brands focusing on the appearance of stretch marks instead brands are selling products to lighten or cure existing stretch marks.
The formulation and process from which we derive our actives are registered trademarks and so it’s not only difficult but it’s actually impossible to copy and even if any other brand is trying to copy the results will vary.
What gives you an edge over your peers and how is your company different from others in the same arena? Please mention some of your fortes.
Your product or service inspires people to think outside the box. Your secret ingredient receipe is top quality and result oriented. Your service is top-notch. When customers describe your company, they speak in superlatives. You are always there for your customers.
You give them peace of mind. They know they can count on you. Today, there are an infinite number of ways that people access information about products they wish to purchase.
The challenge for businesses is to maintain a consistent unique selling proposition whether their messages are on television, in print or online.
Your objective is to have all your customers use the same few words when describing your brand to other people.
Talk us through the way forward and your future endeavours of the Company. Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
I do not have a precise role in mind, but my aim over the next five years is to be at a place where I can make a difference.
I will also be looking for opportunities to expand my responsibilities within this role to work towards my goal.
Share some words of wisdom that you would like to convey to the aspiring entrepreneurs and the readers of our Magazine.
Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
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.
