As part of our ongoing quest to get you meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world, we invited – Nandhini Priya for an exclusive interview with BrilliantRead Media. She is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Founder of Araah Skin Miracles and CEO at Yeka Herbal Cosmetics. Let’s read more about her inspiring journey and her advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Nandhini:
Please talk us through your educational and professional background and your current role at Yeka Cosmetics and how are you leveraging the best of these elements across your company’s operations?
A Law Graduate from Madurai Law College. And with over 10 years of experience in civil services exam preparation, we also started a free IAS study centre in Anna Nagar, Chennai.
And With the motto, to empower micro, small and medium Women entrepreneurs, we founded the “PeNPassionates”, a Women Entrepreneur Association. The Group consists of talented passionate women doing small scale business. We would do periodical training, mentor sessions for them. And there will be an exchange of ideas, experience also.
The Civil Services Preparation gave me the confidence, ability to think beyond the limits & lateral thinking for every challenge we faced in our journey.
It is with this expertise, Confidence & a great team of Siddha Experts & Cosmetic Consultants, I Founded YEKA Cosmetics.
“PeNPassionates”, is a team of energetic & dynamic Women. They have always been our first preference for any kind of job opening in our Company.
How did you discover your passion for the skincare industry?
Being an advocate by profession, I always had a thirst for being a change-maker in the society. Eventually, I got into the Civil Services Preparation. Unfortunately, I got to miss it each time by very few marks. With over 10 years of expertise and knowledge gained in Preparation, I decided to change my path but not my ambition.
I always had a personal inclination towards self-care & skincare. That is when I realised Cosmetics had become a twin word for chemicals.
With over 85000 chemicals in the Industry, we are still unaware of how many toxic ingredients get into our Skin!
Owing to breaking the Myth of Only Chemicals drives Quick Remedies, I decided to provide natural yet effective solutions to all the skincare issues. This is how YEKA was formed!
How you are helping women entrepreneurs across the globe with the help of ‘PeNPassionates’?
With the motto, to empower micro, small and medium women entrepreneurs, we started the “PeNPassionates”, a women Entrepreneur Association. It gathers homepreneurs and women folks who are interested to do something on their own into an active team.
We had organized trade fairs for them to sell their products. We also have exclusive WhatsApp groups for them to get cross-connected and sell their products across each other.
We had also conducted digital marketing workshops for them and whenever there is a job opportunity, they shall be our first source.
What was the inspiration behind the establishment of Yeka Cosmetics?
As told before, I always had a personal inclination towards Self Care & I had been a regular buyer of cosmetic products. But found most of them to be chemical dumped and never had satisfying results for some skin issues like pimples.
However, I was surprised when it could be cured by a simple home remedy and your evergreen granny’s secret. For instance, a type of Basil juice is very effective in curing pimples.
That is when we realised the vacuum in the market. Natural Cosmetics are comparatively less and when it comes to affordability it is almost nil. The price of natural organic products is mostly out of reach for middle-class customers.
So we decided to create a brand that resonates both 100% Natural & affordability to middle-income consumers as well.
What are the major challenges that you have encountered during the establishment of your company and how has been your journey so far?
Finding out the right product itself was our first challenge. It took almost 2 years to find out the best ingredients and curate the right product. After the rigorous R&D, we had test marketed it with the customers and the customers were highly satisfied. Then came up the next challenge, indeed the biggest disappointment – Marketing.
Getting the product to retail was an uphill task. Placing in just 20 stores across Chennai was itself a challenge as retailers always entertained only known brands. Despite placements, reaching out to the customers was again difficult. It required investments in Store Campaigns, Sales team, etc. However, even after these efforts, the output was very minimal.
That’s when we turned out to Social Media. We realised it is the best platform to reach out to customers directly. Now, over 90% of our business is through Instagram & Facebook and we have around 20,000 Customers across India & its increasing daily.
Our audience would like to know what is the current position of ‘Yeka Cosmetics’ in the FMCG industry of India?
Currently, our YEKA Moringa Herbal Hair Oil ranks #220 in the Hair Oil category. And our YEKA Golden Glow Skin Oil ranks #2215 in Body Care. We envision our YEKA Moringa Herbal Hair Oil to be in the Top 5 Hair Oil Category & our Yeka Golden Glow Skin Oil to take a key role in every family.
It should be the solution that they seek out for any of their skincare issues. We have planned to introduce natural soaps, scrubs, hair care products etc in near future.
How you manage your personal & professional life?
Balancing between family and work life is definitely difficult especially when you are a Startup. Your Family gets to compromise a lot. The time you spend with them reduces. But in that way both my husband and daughter had been very supportive.
How has been your family supported you in your career so far?
Initially, I faced a situation that any First Generation Entrepreneur would face. My Family definitely feared a lot in the beginning as they believed business can be successful only when it is started by people who are from a business running family background.
It was the confidence that I gained during my Civil Services preparation that kept me motivated. Later the Quality of the Products spoke for itself. When my relatives and friends appreciated the work, my husband too gained confidence. Then, throughout my entrepreneurship journey, I had the support of my husband and daughter.
Please share with us your experience with respect to raising funds or pitching to VCs?
Yes, we did try for funding, but it wasn’t successful. So we have decided to run our business for at least 3 years successfully and ensure our products are available across at least 15 major states and then go for fundraising.
What is your biggest stress buster?
Food is always my biggest stress buster and I love trying out any new varieties in cuisines. Good tasty food makes our day cheerful!
What is your advice for an aspiring entrepreneur who is in the same industry?
“Do Business On Paper First!” Before starting any business, we need to plan every minute part as well. Talk to entrepreneurs from various categories, discuss with them about their challenges and their journey.
Think from every aspect. Forethink about the problems that may arise and come up with a solution for every problem. And being an entrepreneur is all about, being a Jack Of All. If you are good at Product making, your line of business doesn’t just stop with manufacturing. You must be aware of finances, accounting, people management, logistics, administration etc.
And it may sound like a cliché`, but Don’t get demotivated with Failures. Every failure teaches you a lesson. You must try till the end before you give up an idea.
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.
