Building a Rs 50 lakh business in 7 years, finding opportunities amid COVID-19 — top stories of the week
This week, SMBStory curated a list of Indian startups helping small businesses avail of easy loans to scale their business amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hailing from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh — a city known for its cultural heritage and palaces — Dishi had grown up seeing artisans visiting her home to design jewellery for her mom and grandmother.
Since childhood, Dishi has been an art lover. But when she grew up, the hustle and bustle of life and the usual course of completing education to get a reputed job didn’t leave her enough room to explore her creative side.
However, in 2015, in an epiphany of sorts, she quit her cushy job at ICICI Bank after working there for around two-three years to pursue entrepreneurship and launched her jewellery brand — .
“I wasn’t satisfied with my job. Although I did my MBA and was earning really well, art was really missing from my life. I am a creative person, and a 9-5 job really didn’t cut it for me. My father wasn’t supportive when I quit my job, but I found my calling and eventually started my own label.”
Dishi launched her label with an initial investment of Rs 5,000. She claims her brand was one of the first few to start as an online-only platform, showcasing gold, diamond, and silver jewellery.
In a span of seven years, she has delivered over 5,000 designs selling online only. She claims to have an annual turnover of about Rs 50 lakh.
Charak Pharma
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented focus on health and wellbeing — be it mental or physical — thereby boosting allied services like the pharmaceutical industry.
According to a report by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the pharma market was estimated to be worth $42 billion in 2021. It is slated to reach $120-130 billion by 2030.
India has several established brands in the pharmaceuticals space, from Himalaya to Emami to Dr Reddy’s. A relatively new space called pharma-tech has also emerged in the last few years, which focuses on telemedicine or online selling.
SMBStory spoke to Dr Ram Shroff, Director of Charak Pharma — a company almost as old as our country — having been started in 1947 by the Shroff brothers D.N. Shroff and Dr S.N. Shroff.
Today, has carved a niche for itself in the Indian and global markets. It offers around 106 SKUs across categories, including dental, gynaecology, ortho, and more, and is present in two lakh outlets in India.
Charak also exports to over 30 countries, including the likes of the US, UK, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and more.
Talking about the pandemic impact on the industry, Dr Ram says, “One industry which has definitely gained is the pharmaceutical industry.”
“COVID-19 has been a huge wake call that has come at a heavy cost,” he says, adding, “It has also made all of us relook at what we were doing. Sometimes you overlook certain things, but when the going gets tough, you start looking into everything.”
Other top stories of the week:
The micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is considered the backbone of the Indian economy. According to IBEF, India is home to about 6.3 crore MSMEs, which contribute around 29 percent to the country’s overall GDP.
MSMEs generate significant employment opportunities and provide a livelihood for people in semi-urban and rural areas.
In fact, the Indian government has launched schemes — including Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), Digital MSMEs, etc — to enhance the sector to receive more capital to scale their businesses.
Besides, the Indian startup ecosystem has come forward to help small and medium businesses (SMBs), especially amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, with digitisation, capital, etc.
Here are a few Indian startups helping SMBs avail of easy loans to scale their business amidst the pandemic.
Edited by Suman Singh
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