For most people a dream job or a dream business remains just that…a dream. But there are some who never let go of their dream and every action in their life makes them inch closer to crystalising that long cherished passion. Meet Jagriti Choudhary who grew up with her two sisters and parents in an idyllic farm. Growing up in the lap of nature meant that Jagriti and her sisters were exposed to a lifestyle that was in complete harmony with their natural surroundings. Jagriti went on to pursue her higher studies at Harvard, LSE & Otemon Gakuin University, Japan, while her sisters ventured to other parts of the world to pursue their studies. But the dream to have a business that harnessed the goodness of nature stayed very much alive in all three sisters’ hearts.

Little wonder that once the siblings returned to India, after dabbling in different professions they gravitated towards launching Skinyoga – that provides natural skincare solutions. Their products are inspired by ancient recipes that are adapted for modern lifestyle. Skinyoga prides itself on using the best, unadulterated ingredients to create 100% natural products.

In conversation with GlobalLinker (GL), Jagriti shares her commitment to making Skinyoga a world-class skincare brand that puts a premium on natural ingredients.

GL: Tell us about your business and how it came into being.

Jagriti: We sisters grew up in a 20-acre farm in India where we grew our own vegetables and milked our own cows. Later, for higher education, we moved countries. The transition from the farm life to the concrete glam life made us realise the importance of nature. Our experience has been our biggest inspiration to start Skinyoga and to share with the world how simple and effective it is to follow a natural lifestyle. We believe that there is a dire need for businesses today to contribute to the changing mindset of people who opt for a natural lifestyle.

GL: You have started this business with your sisters, how has the experience been of working with them?

Jagriti: We three sisters returned to India after finishing our higher education almost at the same time from three different parts of the world (London, Boston and Paris). We individually tried our hands at various careers but did not enjoy the experience nor did we succeed in our endeavours. We were restless to put our learning to practice and hence we decided to join hands and pursue one business. This was the best decision of our lives! We embarked on our entrepreneurial journey with Skinyoga. Like any other family business, we have our challenges but in the bigger picture family is strength and three of us together makes us 300 times more worthwhile than each of us individually.

GL: You have an impressive educational background. How has this helped in establishing your business?

Jagriti: My business education from world-renowned universities of Babson College, Harvard University, London School of Economics and Political Sciences and Otemon Gakuin University Japan gave something very strong and invaluable; it completed my entrepreneurship puzzle by adding the last piece. I realised that the only way to become an entrepreneur was to START. My sisters and I shared a common passion for nature and the complementing skill-set required for the venture. We only needed to put the idea into action. I dedicate every milestone achieved from the beginning of my journey till date to my education.

GL: What are the challenges you have faced in establishing your business?

Jagriti: When we forayed into the luxury skincare market, it was very difficult for us to get real users for our product because people were skeptical about investing money in a new brand.

After the second month of our launch, we decided to come out with our miniature sample product. The idea was to give our prospective users a taste of what their investment would feel like. This proved to be an excellent marketing tool for Skinyoga. Distributing free samples and getting testimonials from real people with their honest feedback helped build a strong foundation and trust for our company among our network and drew new customers organically. Having no budget for marketing, we feel this was the best way for us.

GL: What is the USP of your business?

Jagriti: We are not only trained in, but also blessed to have practiced and experienced a natural lifestyle all our life. We are bringing on to the table our experience of using these products for 20 odd years. These formulae have been passed on to us from generations - guaranteeing long lasting results. Not only do we concentrate on creating the best quality product possible, but also create products that suit individual skin types to protect their skin from inconsistent nature and seasonal changes while keeping the practicality of today’s fast paced life in mind.

Our skincare range can single-handedly do it all; be it cleansing, moisturising, nourishing and anti-ageing. We have built and made products that are extremely well researched and have possibly gone through all kinds of tests and lab work that their clients wouldn’t have to rely on any other routine to take care of their skin problems. Another unique feature of our production cycle is that we procure each ingredient from its place of origin where nature plays its role to produce them. We do not use pesticides and plant growth hormones.

GL: What are some of the milestones you have achieved in your business?

Jagriti: We started retailing in 2013 and today we are selling in 29 countries. The most valuable achievement for us is that we have 90% repeat customers and 99.9% satisfied customers. Those are unheard of numbers for our industry! We are very happy with our work so far and are ready to hit the world market with a bigger and stronger grip now. 

GL: What role do you feel GlobalLinker plays in connecting and assisting SMEs?

Jagriti: GlobalLinker brings people together in an approachable manner. It’s informal, yet active and hence gives more opportunities to SMEs to connect with future partners.

GL: What is your Big Business Dream?

Jagriti: We are actively looking for distributors in India and abroad and at the same time would like to consolidate our online presence before setting up stores. We are looking into expanding our range to hair products. People need to watch out for that because we believe it would be revolutionary.

We want to bring a sophisticated and advance range in natural skincare product which can be used everyday more effectively than any chemical based product in the market. We are aiming to make every household and vanity bag chemical and paraben (chemical that cause cancer) free. We have the best team to source the best ingredients from all over the world. We absolutely control everything from sourcing to research to formulation and manufacturing. Every stage goes through our eyes. We are obsessed with quality. So much so we don’t add aroma oils to make our products smell good and attract customers.

GL: What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Jagriti: Our motto at Skinyoga is, "Follow your heart and make your business your own reflection." 

If you are in a business that you are truly passionate about and that you love doing, you will never quit. Even in times of utmost difficulties and depression, you will naturally think about how to alter the situation towards your business growth and not about closing it down. 

Additionally, if the core values of your business are in sync with your own belief system, day-to-day business activities will be very smooth because at every step you will be your own Wikipedia.

GL: Any other facet of your business that you would like to share.

Jagriti: We constantly seek for reviews and comments to improve our business. Every day is a learning day for us and if someone out there would like to share their valuable advice with us, we will be very grateful! I would like to take this opportunity here to invite anyone reading this article to feel free to link with me on GlobalLinker.

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