Gautami Agarwal, founding father of skincare brand SKÖG, at all times had a delicate pores and skin and resorted to utilizing lots of pure substances present in her kitchen. This turned a practice of kinds as she moved to international locations from New Delhi, India to Vienna, Paris, London, and Stockholm for training and work.In Stockholm the place pure substances have been wealthy and considerable, she started questioning a few enterprise alternative in the skincare area when associates and colleagues stored asking how her pores and skin and hair have been well-maintained.“I obtained actually good suggestions and reactions from them that individuals began asking for extra merchandise and the way I used to be making it. That is once I considered taking a enterprise strategy and creating a correct product vary for delicate pores and skin,” she tells HerStory.The journeyGautami studied Bachelors in style enterprise from Istituto Marangoni in Paris and pursued Masters in strategic entrepreneurship and innovation from King’s College in London. She then started working in the luxurious artwork market in Stockholm, promoting high-end artwork value thousands and thousands of euros and promoting restricted version artwork items to new geographies internationally in Arab, Japan, the US, amongst others. In 2018, she launched into her entrepreneurial journey from her residence kitchen on the east coast of Sweden. Word-of-mouth by means of associates and colleagues helped enhance clients for her pure, vegan, PETA-certified luxurious skincare brand SKÖG, which implies forest in Swedish. However, Gautami was caught in India for a very long time when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, main to worldwide border closures. “I had come to go to my household in India however did not know the way lengthy this might go on and I could not cease. That is once I determined to transfer the manufacturing right here,” she says.Gautami obtained the firm registered in India and contemplating that the pure substances make the brand distinctive, she started sourcing substances like Birch, Elderflower, Petitgrain from Sweden. While the analysis in substances continued in Sweden, the entrepreneur moved operations and manufacturing in India to ensure most issues stay in her management. Now headquartered in Delhi, the brand was commercially launched in April 2021. The entrepreneur says the merchandise, priced between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,500, are premium high quality merchandise supplied at inexpensive ranges. The skincare brand has a web site every for international viewers and India and sells domestically by means of marketplaces like Tata Cliq Luxury, Nykaa, Amazon, Sublime Life, and Flipkart. Challenges and the method forwardShifting the enterprise throughout continents was not simple. Gautami’s expertise of understanding the shopper, advertising and marketing, and gross sales was majorly in the European market and the sudden change to an entire new market was troublesome. However, she is now studying to adapt to the market and shopper sentiments in India.“The magnificence traits in Sweden and Europe are very completely different from these in India. While folks there need a minimalist skincare routine, customers in India are comfortable to comply with a seven to ten step skincare routine. People are actually into having particular merchandise for particular wants,” she explains.But the entrepreneur couldn’t have tapped India’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) market at a extra opportune time. Today, the nation is residence to over 800 direct-to-consumer (D2C) manufacturers value $45 billion, and a $100 billion market projection by 2025, in accordance to Amit Sharma, co-founder, and CEO of ShopX. Consumers in India have warmed up to purchasing on-line particularly due to the pandemic-induced restrictions and deep web penetration throughout the nation.Domestic market contributes to 90 p.c of SKOG’s gross sales and income and the remaining comes from its web site for a world viewers in addition to by means of a distributor in Singapore and retailer in Hong Kong. The entrepreneur says customers outdoors India are taking a liking to its brand and product aesthetics. Presently centered on formulating extra merchandise and growing SKUs, it plans on promoting by means of extra distributors outdoors India. In the subsequent 12 months, SKOG goals to arrange its retail shops as effectively.Edited by Affirunisa Kankudti
https://yourstory.com/herstory/2022/02/women-entrepreneur-skogg-skincare-vegan-beauty-/amp
