How this woman entrepreneur built three Ayurvedic ventures in three years
Based in Mumbai, entrepreneur Dimple Jangda is leveraging ancient ayurvedic practices to treat lifestyle, physical and mental issues in a holistic manner.
Former investment banker and journalist Dimple Jangda had traversed through many organisations and cities, each time leaving a mark, before she realised that the journey to self-realisation is a continuous process. And in an effort to keep at it, Dimple decided to do something that held meaning for others too.
She founded 'Prana by Dimple Jangda', an ayurvedic health and wellness clinic, in 2017, on a trial basis. At the time of launch, little did she know that her clinic in West Bandra, Mumbai, would go on to offer 45 different treatments for physical and mental ailments to patients from about 49 countries.
Prana by Dimple Jangda was founded in 2017.
The path to happiness
Dimple has dabbled in multiple professions - as a business journalist with TV9 and CNBC18, then learning the ropes of investment banking and starting a consultancy firm in New York, leading $ 550 million worth of transactions at the peak of her career.
In 2015, when she took a two-year sabbatical and travelled around 10 countries, it changed her life. Rural India was her last stop, and the countryside left a huge impression on her.
"I was completely baffled that people are generally happier in villages than in metros. I discovered that happiness and health comes when you are in sync with nature."
She embarked on this new chapter after delving deep into Ayurveda, yoga, and ancient wellness practices, and put in a year’s research before starting Prana. In just three years, besides the health and wellness centre, she went on to launch the Prana Academy for Ayurvedic Life Sciences, with courses certified by Jain (deemed-to-be) University, and a range of personal grooming products.
Products by Prana
Prana’s skincare brand boasts of over 47 different handcrafted and organic products, and have sold out four times already. Its fifth batch is in the making currently.
With regards to community, the company organises virtual corporate workshops on a regular basis.They also recently introduced Ayurveda Diaries, a TV show on Tata Sky, in Hindi, English, and Telugu. Plans to start another show is in the pipeline.
Education as a marketing tool
All this growth and expansion did not come without challenges. Dimple says that people were initially reluctant to take advice, even when she offered free consultations.
“Unfortunately, because Ayurvedic learning institutes was shut down during the British rule, this ancient practice was not backed by research and development,” she says.
To raise awareness among the public, Dimple compared some of the Ayurvedic principles with advanced research conducted by reputed institutions like Harvard University, and circulated them.
“It was a huge challenge to explain Ayurveda to the modern generation and people living in urban areas, because they are used to instant gratification and immediate remedies. When we explained the concept by marrying modern science with traditional practices, it eventually worked. So, education has been the best marketing tool,” she says.
Talking about gender biases, she says, “I probably have faced biases as an investment banker, but never in the healthcare sector, and that has been a big boon. People are more accepting of a woman health coach than a man,” she says.
Growth over profit
Dimple donned the entrepreneurial hat with an initial investment of Rs 50 lakh from her savings and some help from her father. She says she prefers to “remain in fiscal deficit to continue investing in projects for the brand’s growth, rather than just focus on profit.”
The Ayurvedic market in India is expected to reach Rs 710.87 billion by 2024, according to ResearchandMarkets. Dimple’s focus on driving growth and being a pioneer in making natural ayurvedic practices a global way of life, may just add to that staggering figure.
Edited by Anju Narayanan