Entrepreneur India – July 2019

JULY 2019 l ENTREPRENEUR l 33

A

nchit Nayar

is the son of

Falguni Nayar

• the mind behind the
  online retail giant in
  beauty and wellness
  industry, Nykaa.com.
  Nayar joined Nykaa
  recently after working
  as an investment
  banker for Morgan
  Stanley in New York
  for six years.
  Currently, Nayar is
  working as the head
  of retail department
  in Nykaa. He is
  spearheading the
  company’s offline
  retail strategy. “I had
  to convince people
  that this business
  makes sense and that
  everyone believes
  online is the future,

but I believe that the

future is actually omni

channel. Especially

for a B2C business,

you have to give the

consumer the option

to shop both online

and offline,” asserts

Nayar.

He is fully aware

of the expeditious

growth rate of

Nykaa and hopes

to maximize it.

He credits the

professionalism

and expertise of

the people working

with the company

for its great

success. “We have

a very professional

management team

who all report to CEO.

I also report to her,”

Nayar shares.

Nykaa already

has 36 offline retail

outlets with plans to

expand the physical

store footprint to

more than 100 stores

soon. On his journey

of heading the offline

retail, Nayar tells,

“Physical retail is like

a start-up within a

start-up. It is like I am

doing my own thing

in bigger start-up.”

BEAUTY BOSS
ANCHIT NAYAR, CEO-Retail, Nykaa

THE CEMENT MIXER
VIVEK PATNI, Director, Wonder Cement

T

ill the time
Vivek Patni
had not
booked a berth at
the management
table of his family
business, he was
grinding his teeth
at the Nimbahera
cement plant near
Chittorgarh district
in Rajasthan. At an
age when his peers
were playing cricket,
his sojourns with
his father to the
business facilities
spurred him to take
up entrepreneurship.
Later, it were his
branding strategies
that gave Wonder

Cement, a rather

young brand, an

identity that could

lock horns with

market doyens

like ACC, Ambuja

and Ultratech.

After completing

his studies from

the States, Patni,

who oversees

the branding and

communication

of the company,

deployed significant

manpower to exploit

social media.

The team

garnered more

interaction with

consumers online

than any of its

competitors. “Instead

of telling the story

of how we were, like

other brands, we

chartered emotional

factors through our

tagline ‘Ek perfect

shuruaat’ (hinting at

the foundation of a

house). We had an

impressive cost and

quality which people

related to.”

Patni’s flagship

CSR project, Cricket

Saath:7, a seven-over

cricket tournament,

saw 39,000 people

participate from

across 1,100 rural

locations across

Rajasthan.

SELLING LIKE

HOTCAKES

>> Nykaa sells over 850

brands across makeup,

skincare, and hair care

and wellness categories.

The brand recently

entered into fashion and

men’s grooming products

with independent

websites and apps.

>> The company reported

a revenue of Rs 570 crore

in 2017-18. The retailer is

on a path to 100 per cent

revenue growth in the

current financial year.

LESSONS

FROM DAD

A few qualities

ingrained in Patni by his

father and uncles are:

a) Never compromise

with quality

b) Be loyal to company

and customers so

that the trust on an

entrepreneur and the

brand is always retained