This UP-based company is looking to grab a slice of the Ayurveda market
Ayurveda, the ancient science of medicine and health, has been gaining momentum in India and across the world due to increasing demand for natural and organic products. According to a Research and Markets report, the Indian Ayurvedic Market is poised to grow at a CAGR of around 16 percent over the next decade.
However, with rising consumer interest, a number of ayurvedic brands have entered the market to cater to a large base of customers.
Mohd. Miyan founded RP Healthcare in 2014 along with his brother Mohd. Alam in Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh. Miyan says his main aim is to make his products be on par with products of big multinational companies.
The company manufactures ayurvedic cosmetics and pharmaceutical products and sells them under the brand ‘Balan’. Some of their major products include ayurvedic hair oil, shampoo, joint pain relieving oil and Arshaveda capsule for treating piles.
While Miyan mainly handles the business, his brother supports him in the business. Initially, they started on a very small scale with an investment of around Rs 5 lakh and slowly expanded.
Mohd. Miyan is an MBA graduate and has earlier worked with other companies before he started this venture. He says,
“I didn’t have a prior background in this sector and it was because of the success of the Ayurvedic hair oil brand ‘Kesh King’ that I decided to step into this industry. The popular brand inspired me to try my hands in this industry.”
Miyan did extensive research about the industry for more than six months and spoke to local physicians (vaidyas), took suggestions from them and tried to incorporate natural ayurvedic ingredients that would be suitable for the customers.
Today, the company has an annual turnover of around Rs 80 lakh and there are around 10 people directly employed with the company.
Miyan says: “All our products are 100 percent tried and tested. I used these products as a beta tester and saw positive results after six months of use and then I decided to launch the products.”
“Our two main products - Balan ayurvedic hair oil and shampoo - are manufactured under the supervision of Vyas Paramedical, which is one of the largest Ayurvedic products and Medicine manufacturing company in India,” he says.
He says, the customer feedback is very important and keeps us going. “Our products provide the customers all the benefits that are claimed on our packaging. Therefore, even though at a small stage, our customer base is happy and is loyal to our brand,” he explains.
He says, central and eastern Uttar Pradesh form the main market for his products. On handling the critical areas in the business, Miyan says, “I focused on the distributors, the distribution chain and right now I am on advertising the brand as it will help us in better customer acquisition.”
The ayurvedic pharma and healthcare sector is an extremely competitive industry and Mohd. Miyan faced a lot of hardships as he started off with a very limited capital and didn’t have enough funds to go in for advertisement and promotions. He says, “Building a brand name was very difficult as there are a lot of other small, medium-sized competitive brands in the market. Wide-scale marketing and proper advertisement play an important role in this business.”
He adds, “The normal distribution system (manufacturer-distributor- retailer-consumer) didn’t work out for us initially as our company was new in the market and we didn’t get enough distributors. Sometimes, the shopkeepers delayed the payments and so after failing initially, we decided to go with direct marketing and supply of the products, i.e. shop to shop distribution. It was because of the superior quality of our products that we got word of mouth publicity and this helped our brand establish in the first two years.”
Talking about future prospects in his business, Miyan says,
“We are trying to diversify our products and are planning to increase the product range. We are also planning to launch Balan hair dye and face wash soon.”
The brand also plans to explore new markets in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal.
“There is a lot of scope in this industry, but the entrepreneurs should be willing to work really hard and should have a lot of patience as none of the products here is fast consuming items. It might take them more than a year or two to see the results,” he concludes.