Interview of Mr. Hrishikesh Lonkar: Founder Director of ‘A Fragrance Story’ – An Indian perfume Brand in the making.
1. As an entrepreneur, what are your 3 main challenges and how do you overcome them?
1) Cash Flow: Managing Cash flow properly and maintaining it by implementing,
a) A regular follow up with the customers, this helps in getting payments on time.
b) Managing Creditors well – building trust.
c) Ensure Profitable Products, focus on maintaining good profit margins right from the beginning.
2) Consistency of Sales and Expansion:
a) Continuously enhance your current sales channels for sustained growth.
b) A parallel active search for and add new avenues for sales.
c) Study competitors thoroughly and plan your strategies accordingly for.
3) Finding the Right Marketing Tool:
a) As one glove does not fit all we can trial on different marketing activities and tools within a budget and with an objective of identifying a fit one for us, then channelising our resources with a higher probability of conversion.
b) Don’t overlook digital platforms, we invest in them wisely.
2. Is Selling, Marketing or / and getting & retaining Customers a challenge for you? If yes, what do you do about it?
A right product and a good marketing strategy leads to selling but to retain a customer you have to go a step beyond. Retaining customers can be challenging, but strategies include seeking feedback, staying in regular contact, and implementing customer suggestions.
3. What is your way of understanding customer needs?
a) Feedback: Gather input from customers (both B2C and B2B).
b) Competitor Analysis: Observe changes made by competitors.
c) Stay Alert: Keep your senses open at all times.
4. What is the way in which you reach customers (i.e., How do they come to know about you?) Reasons to select these ways?
a) Social Media: cost-effective and extensive reach.
b) Word of Mouth: Leverage satisfied customers as it is said “A happy customer is the best advertisement for your business.
c) Trained Sales Staff: Ensure your sales team is welltrained and motivated for effective communication.
5. What is the role of Technology and Processes in your Business?
Technology and processes are extremely important for us as it keeps us updated and the we get any data at the click of a mouse.
6. Tell us something Creative / Innovative you do in your Sales / Marketing or any aspect of your Business.
- We follow a creative theme as “every fragrance we make is inspired by India.”
- Fragrance Themes
We have captured the exotic Indian locations like Goa and Darjeeling in our fragrances. and introduced perfumes inspired by famous Indian rivers like Ganga, Narmada and Brahmaputra. We have also tried creating perfumes based on historical characters of India like Bajirao-Mastani. Our fragrances are of high quality and something that our customer likes.
- Niche Strategy
We position ourselves as a niche brand by using appropriate and by focusing on specific sales points
such as Air-port Retail, Hotels and Boutiques, Travel Companies, Event Management companies etc. that align with our Indian storytelling approach.
- Importance of Stories:
Emphasize the significance of storytelling that helps us make our customers identify on how as a brand we are different and how our curated/customised perfumes are different than any other. We use social media, cost-effective influencers, and creative agencies to effectively communicate our stories. In simple terms, we craft fragrances inspired by India, with a hope of creating an experience for customers by communicating our unique stories and delivering quality products.
Interviewed by: Abhay Kardeguddi, of NIVA Growth Consultants, Pune – India
Abhay kardeguddi
CEO and Chief Consultant-Trainer
NIVA Growth Consultants
Pune I Dubai I Thimphu I London
www.nivagrowth.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhay-kardeguddi-4b02216/
