Started A Business On Instagram With An Investment Of Only Rs 20,000, Now Earning Rs 2 Lakhs Every Month

Social commerce is quickly becoming the platform of choice for women entrepreneurs to open virtual shops. People are preparing to take more risks to start a business during the pandemic. Many people use online platforms like Instagram extensively to start a small business and build a community around it.

One of them is Ritu Bhansali, 49, who was a housewife for most of her life and only became an entrepreneur a year ago in the middle of the pandemic. This Jaipur-based entrepreneur, with the help of her daughters, runs EverythingMomMade, a natural, preservative-free skin and hair care brand on Instagram.

The social commerce business is getting a lot of love from its community of over 16,000 subscribers on the platform. Over 1000 reviews were received, all of which made Ritu very happy.

Ritu eldest daughter Diva says:

“She is a housewife who is stepping out of her comfort zone and reaching so many people. " 

Diva says her mom got an M.Com degree. But in the early 90s, people laughed at working women and preferred to get married after graduation.

“Today there is a 360-degree change in the house, as our mother is doing justice to her new entrepreneurial identity and holding successive business talks and meetings. Not that we doubted her abilities, but no one thought she would be that financially independent, let alone run a business."

How did it start?

Diva is the more adventurous of the two girls and has lived away from home in cities like London, Delhi, and Mumbai for eight years. But now, after her full-time job as a PR professional, she has freelanced to support her mother's growing business.

Girls motivated their mothers to come up with various home remedies for almost all kinds of problems and use their skills to start businesses. It only happened during the pandemic when they started doing it.

In memory of Diva said:

“We created an Instagram page, created product catalogs first, and told them the top 5 orders are that you need to fulfill and there is no other way. That's how we started. "

As the demand grew, so did their customer base, asking Ritu for advice on various skin issues and home improvement. Currently sold exclusively on Instagram, EverythingMomMade has around 175 hair, skin, and body products, all of which cost between Rs 150 and Rs 800. The brand doesn't want to be listed on e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart because big brands and small, month-old businesses are subject to the same policies and procedures for service and delivery fees.

She adds

“It will force us to raise the price as we want to build a community and satisfy our customers who love our brand. But you never know when these guidelines will change. "

The brand, which started with an initial investment of Rs 20,000, now has sales of Rs 1.5 to 2 lakh every month.

Despite being a relatively young brand, the three women see great potential in their homemade recipes because packaged skincare products are often loaded with harmful chemicals.

According to a report by TechSci Research, the male and female beauty markets in India were valued at $ 208.22 million and $ 226.95 million, respectively, in fiscal 2020.

Starting a business for the first time during the pandemic wasn't easy. Dealing with two bottlenecks and managing suppliers in times of scarcity on the one hand and fulfilling customer orders on the other was a challenge.

She adds

“We're a young brand and don't have the power and relationships like the big brands to quickly move suppliers for certain orders."

After a year of activity, she hopes to reach wider audiences and customers across India in the years to come.