Indrani Cosmetics – Proudly Indian

Photo credit: Indrani Cosmetics

Meet Dilip Gugle (60) and Sammet Gugle (32) a father-son duo, the Founders of Indrani Cosmetics, who share their enterprising journey of how with a mere Rs. 300 investment several years ago, established them as a successful enterprise today.

Father Dilip Gugle is a B.E Chemical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology with 35-years of work experience and Sammet Gugle, Bachelors Hons (PR) from London College of Communication (University of Arts London) who is following his father’s footsteps to take his vision and legacy forward.

What we admire about this brand is that they have retained their roots of struggle that keeps them as individuals and as a business firmly grounded. Indrani Cosmetics logo reads ‘From the House of Rajasthan Beauty Products’ – when you read their brilliant entrepreneurial journey, you will understand its significance.

How did it all begin?

Dilip Gugle was born and bought up in Miri – a small village on the outskirts of Ahmednagar in a large family. The family business of groceries store had run into trouble due to infighting amongst his father’s siblings and he wanted to create something on his own. He Joined MIT after graduating from Fergusson College Pune to study B.E Chemical Engg. At MIT, he took part in a soap-making competition which sowed the seeds to cosmetics manufacturing in his mind. Once he passed out of his university, he worked in a couple of companies to earn a living and gather funds to start his own company. He started Indrani Cosmetics in 1993 after eight years of rigorous R&D.

Initial investments

“Our initial investment was Rs 300 which was used to make a face pack,” recalls Sammet. He further continues, “That first batch of face pack was sold by my mom Suwarna Gugle in Pune as she used to take the local from Mulund to Kalyan daily, travel to Pune, arrive at the station and go out to sell face packs on her Luna to parlours in Pune and then return to Mumbai at midnight. She did this daily for almost a year before my parents moved to Pune permanently.”

From then on, it was a slow and steady growth. Sammet shares how his mother started a parlour called Rajasthan Beauty Parlour in 1986 and his father opened a cosmetic store called Rajasthan Beauty Products in 1985.  The money earned by both was pooled into launching their own brand called Indrani Cosmetics in 1993.  Slowly and steadily as the news spread about the quality of their products, Indrani Cosmetics became a well-known brand.

Challenges

Sammet admits there are quite a few challenges today as he explains, “There is always the economy which hasn’t been the same since Demonetisation which was painful to stores all around the country but necessary to improve our country. GST on beauty products and salons could be reduced as well. There is a big influx of cheap beauty products and equipment from China which is hurting Indian manufacturers and our economy. These Chinese goods are cheap and fill the streets for the masses.  If this is controlled or stopped, it will be a major win for Indian companies and will give a huge boost to the Indian beauty industry.”

What makes Indrani Cosmetics unique?

Indrani Cosmetics takes pride in being a good combination of quality, packaging and affordability. Consumers can now avail luxurious personal care products at high street prices. “At Indrani Cosmetics we firmly believe a customer should not be overcharged and it’s important our products are available to all without disturbing their budgets,” explains Sammet.

He further adds, “We’re very conscious of our product quality and packaging. We’re not in the favour of making our customers feel that after paying a premium, the product she gets is not up to the mark in terms of quality and quantity. Keeping this in mind, we have over seven sizes in our product range that cater to all types of customers. Our range include sizes in 50 gms/ml, 100 gms/ml, 200 gms, 300 gms/ml, 500 gms/ml, 1 kg/litre and 5 kg/litre. We figured such product and price combination keep both our retail and wholesale customers as well as salons, spas, parlours and stores very happy! Our price range of products is starting from 90/- only and going up to 9000/- as we have a huge range of products and a variety of sizes to choose from.”

Production of Indrani Cosmetics

Indrani Cosmetics are made with great care and undergo vigorous testing.  Their ingredients are sourced from the most reliable and best places. Each batch is sent for testing before it hits the market shelves.  We don’t sacrifice quality to gain quantity and profits. We would rather make a little less money than to use sub-standard ingredients.

Natural ingredients

All their ingredients are sourced from the best sources and suppliers. As Sammet explains, “We don’t pretend or show to have natural products as our products do contain parabens and sulphates which is necessary to get certain desired results for your skin and hair. A lot of companies pretend to be all organic and natural but actually lie to their customers as you can’t get the most results with just natural ingredients. We choose the ingredients based on practice and through our extensive R&D as our long years of practice has taught us which sources would provide the best quality ingredients necessary.”

Best-selling products

Some of their best-selling products would be Aritha Amla Shampoo, Aloe Vera Shampoo, Chocolate Wax, Herbal Shampoo, Cuticle Cream, Rose Water, Hand and Body Lotion, Almond Cream, Cold Wax. “These products give very good results and I am not saying that just because they are my products, but they really do,” laughs Sammet.

Gifting options from Indrani Cosmetics

Indrani Cosmetics always wanted to have a wide range of products for their customers to choose from. “The gift sets and packaging is actually my idea as I wanted us to step into the luxury section and offer the audience a luxury product at a high street price,” adds Sammet with a twinkle in his eyes.

Response

While the response has been good, it has been a slow and steady growth due to all the mitigating factors in our world and country right now shares Sammet. He shares, “We see this year to be a game-changing year for us and feel this is the year we will be reaching new heights. Our primary customers are parlours, spas and retail customers. We do supply to hotels and resorts (such as Hatti Mahal – Goa, Club Mahindra) as well, but our audience is spread out.

Effect on business during the pandemic

On sharing our concerns owing to the pandemic, Sammet adds with a sense of pride not only as an entrepreneur but also as a good citizen of India, “The pandemic hasn’t been that bad to us as feared as we also manufacture hand soaps at nominal rates like starting with 28/- only for 100 ml going up to 700 for 5 litres,  which is widely needed and used and hence we have been able to keep our factory open during the pandemic to manufacture hand soaps in bulk and supply to everyone which we did at no profit no loss basis as a moral duty to help our city and country.”

He signs off on an optimistic note which is truly commendable, “This whole recession thing and being scared of what’s going happen is a mental thing.  The market doesn’t run on its own. We the people are the market. If we take the necessary steps to help our fellow Indians in their business like buying only Indian goods, going to Indian owned restaurants and chains, reducing our dependence on foreign goods and services, we can all fight and win not only this pandemic but also the upcoming decades to come.”

To place an order for soaps, spa kits, body washes and more connect with Indrani Cosmetics right here!

Get listed & profiled on The Lifestyle Portal:

Write to us at contact@tanyamunshi.com if you’d like to get listed, featured & collaborate with us at The Lifestyle Portal.