Forbes India — November 17, 2017

66 | FORBES INDIA DECEMBER 29, 2017

with its parent Marico Kaya

Enterprises Ltd (MaKE), with the

former being listed separately.

Kaya Ltd reported a net loss of

`8.62 crore in FY16 and `17.76 crore

in FY17. There are 101 Kaya skin

clinics in India, 23 in the Middle

East and 137 Kaya Skin Bars.

The focus of Kaya’s India business

would be to drive specialised doctor-

led services such as anti-ageing,

fairness-pigmentation and hair care.

For the Saudi Arabia business, the

focus for the next year would be to

improve the business and to bring

it back to single-digit growth. “We

have an internal challenge for Kaya in

India; there are both leadership and

execution issues,” says Mariwala.

He says ensuring that talent does

not leave remains a key concern. “We

have to improve customer service,

offer something that investors want,

invest more in technology and sell

more products. I have confidence that

it will turn around but we have to do it

in the next one or two years,” he adds.

A New Venture

Mariwala knows the challenges

of building a business and taking

decisions as an entrepreneur:

After all, he took over his family

business (Bombay Oil Industries)

in 1971 and managed to turn it

around by building brands and

marketing concepts, before starting

a separate company. “It [Bombay Oil

Industries] was completely family-

managed: No professionals, some

supervisors, and a few family friends

working for the family,” Mariwala

had told Forbes India earlier.

After starting Marico, in the

initial phase, the company relocated

its corporate headquarters (from

Masjid Bunder to Bandra in Mumbai),

expanded manufacturing facilities and

opened centres for research

and development and product quality.

In the next phase, came acquisitions

(Nihar, Camelia, Manjal and Paras),

product innovations (Safflower oil

blends, oats and value-added hair

oils) and attracting top talent.

Saurabh Mukherjea, the CEO of

Ambit Capital who has studied Marico

in his book Unusual Billionaires,

says the company took steps such

as advertising and promotional

spends for product campaigns,

keeping buffers to safeguard against

unexpected costs and improved

demand forecasting which helped

it plan its copra purchases better.

Entrepreneurship and

strategising come naturally to

Mariwala. He continues to spend

a significant portion of his time

in entrepreneurship-related

activities, whether it be at Ascent

Foundation, a peer-to-peer

platform which he created in 2012,

or even meeting budding and

new entrepreneurs separately.

Each month, Mariwala meets a

set of new entrepreneurs, where

they discuss challenges and carry

out follow-up meetings. Mariwala

also spends time with his daughter

Rajvi’s venture Mariwala Health

Initiative, which helps organisations

play a catalytic role in solving mental

health problems. He also works with

the Marico Innovation Foundation,

which serves as an incubator

for Marico’s social aspirations,

including the health foundation.

Mariwala’s son Rishabh was

instrumental in advising his father

to create a family office—Sharrp

Ventures—in an effort to de-risk

their portfolio, considering that all of

Mariwala’s wealth was in the form

of Marico shares. Rishabh looks at

this venture besides his own Soap

Opera N More, which makes ‘non-

toxic’—herbal and handmade—soaps.

With much satisfaction, Mariwala

suddenly says, “I am now setting

up a new business.” More towards

achieving a social cause, Mariwala

is building ‘Aqua Centric Pvt Ltd’,

a water therapy treatment centre,

with Dr Amit Kohli, a renowned

physiotherapist, for aiding in the

recovery from spinal and knee

injuries. The health care venture is set

to be launched in December this year.

“It will be a comprehensive

centre—with a large swimming pool,

built-in treadmill, a team of specialist

doctors, including paediatricians,

gynaecologists, neurosurgeons

and physiotherapists, to deal with

back- and knee-related issues.” The

first clinic will open in Andheri,

Mumbai, with at least another three

centres planned for the city.

At this stage of the interview,

Mariwala gets a bit impatient, getting

ready for a review meeting for one

of the businesses. After nearly 46

years of professional life, Mariwala’s

strengths could be listed—disciplined

and focussed with a willingness

to learn. All these played a part

in building Marico as a brand.

Gupta has an eye on strengthening

the new brands which Marico has

acquired, for it is clear that the

nature of the company’s original

businesses—food and nutrition—

are not evolving dramatically in

India. Distribution models are,

however, changing and Marico

will have to deal with it.

But the new guard at Marico

may not have much to worry about

as Mariwala’s vision, well-outlined

processes and an open-door

policy of meeting investors and

shareholders,will remain pillars on

which the company stands.

Mariwala’s well-outlined

processes and vision are pillars

on which the company stands

Richest

10 0 INDIANS

The