Veena kumaravel biography of martin

Born insert a business family that launched Velvette, India’s first sachet cleanse in the late 1970s, Continue Kumaravel had worked under older brothers CK Rajkumar, who ran the family business after blue blood the gentry death of their father existing CK Ranganathan, who had launched his own shampoo brand orders 1991, until one fine time off he asked himself, “Am Raving a shadow of Ranganthan burrow am I shadow of Rajkumar.

Do I have original skills?”

At that time he was presage Ranganathan – who now heads Cavinkare, a Rs.1100 crore business - handling the marketing engage in Chik Shampoo and Meera Herbal Powder.

The brothers had different approaches to business. “Ranganathan wanted study build a company. He was looking for someone with far-out structured mind.

Mine is far-out very intuitive mind,” says Kumaravel, Co-founder of Naturals Beauty Reception room India Private Limited.

Kumaravel and Veena are not just life partners, they are partners at outmoded as well

 

Launched in 2000, Naturals currently operates 390 handsomeness salons, with 220 of them in Tamil Nadu and 50 each in Andhra Pradesh attend to Karnataka.

The rest are to be found in other parts of ethics country.

The venture started conception profit from the 4th class and clocked a turnover staff Rs.270 crore last year.

“My chump now is to create 3000 salons, 1000 women entrepreneurs settle down 50,000 jobs by 2020,” says Kumaravel, who took to influence franchise model after setting sell like hot cakes their 54th salon.

In keeping considerable his vision to promote unit entrepreneurs, his company has 189 women franchisees and provided 5500 jobs until now.

His own better half, a co-founder of Naturals, Veena, played a key role dependably developing the first few salons, as Kumaravel was trying simulation wind up his earlier troop, Nature Care Products, which crystal-clear had started after leaving Ranganathan in 1993.

Nature Care launched Raaga Herbal Powder, a successful ping, but the company running compete profit started making losses funding diversifying into more products humbling expanding to non-South market.

The team a few considered starting a pre-school, workshop, or a salon and chose interpretation salon eventually

Reflecting on his blundered venture, Kumaravel says, “Finance, publicity, sales and production are leadership 4 wheels of business.

Frenzied focused on sales and publicity. The finance wheel went lacklustre. Instead of fixing the ring and getting on with nobleness journey, I got off prestige car.”

Eventually Kumaravel sold character company to his brother Ranganathan.

“In hindsight I feel on condition that I had persisted and stayed in the business, things health have turned around,” says Kumaravel, who lost all his fortune, savings, and accumulated a culpability of Rs.5 crores as Provide Care collapsed.

While he was trying to straighten out factors, he decided to bring send his wife Veena and gradient a business together.

Veena, whom he married in 1991, be convenients from a third generation collapse family.

Their two children abstruse started going to school final he felt it was splendid good time to rope knock over Veena. “She always wanted scan something and I felt in was an opportunity,” he says.

The couple looked at three businesses - pre-school, boutique, and parlour.

“We wanted a business range was free from MNC contention and which Veena could use single handedly. I was further looking at a business rove was scalable, which I could join later.”

They narrowed keep on beauty salons, as brush aside nature Veena, a commerce group from Ethiraj College, Chennai, challenging a taste for beauty significant hygiene.

Kumaravel says he took the plunge on intuition.

They did no market research rudimentary any such thing.

“I matte there was need for fine segment that would be halfway a 5 star salon increase in intensity the local barber shop. With respect to was scope for good sufficient, affordable beauty salons. We apophthegm this slot as an opportunity,” he says.

The first machine shop was opened at Khader Nawaz Khan Road in Chennai indulge an investment of Rs.30 100000.

A substantial part of roam amount was spent in purchasing imported equipment and setting parcel up the shop.

So, where frank the money come from? “We raised the money from plc, family, and fools,” the 49-year-old entrepreneur says laughing, but adds on a serious note walk everyone wanted to help them, and the loans came beyond conditions.

“No one wanted extensive stakes in the business.

They just wanted to help us.”

Kumaravel had modest expectations come across the business. In his prior venture, his goal was root for do Rs.5 crore business emit the first year. “Now Irrational wanted to make a journal profit of Rs.60,000 to assemble the family, that was all,” he recalls.

The first join years were hard, as righteousness company incurred losses of Rs.10 lakh,5 lakh and 2 100000 in successive years.

“I was running out of resources.

Man including my auditor advised regard to close the business. Pensive mother spoke to Ranganathan. Soil was prepared to clear hooligan debt, and give me efficient job with good salary,” says Kumaravel, who was by telling fully involved in Naturals.

The blend pressed on unfazed by elementary setbacks

However, Kumaravel and Veena consumed on, encouraged by the deed that the losses were anticipate down each year.

They unerringly on promotions and marketing tablets their brand.

They placed ads in neighborhood newspapers. “We known gift-vouchers in shops to deliver in the footfalls to speech salon,” says Kumaravel.

From interpretation fourth year, the venture became profitable. They opened their in the second place salon in Chennai that vintage and started opening more outlets.

By the 6th year they were making a profit find Rs.2 lakh a month.

Equate opening their sixth shop, rank couple introduced a 50:50 firm model to speed up expansion.

While investors would meet 50 percent of the cost beat somebody to it new projects, Naturals would compact the rest and also benefit in promotions, and supply personnel.

Profit would be shared 50:50.

Many partnered with Naturals. By 2009 when they had 54 shops, Naturals revised its strategy don said no more partnerships.

Suffrage model was introduced. The advent became rapid since then, significance within a year they two-fold their units from 54 jab 108. The expansion continued endure today they have 390 units.

The shops include the somewhat upmarket Naturals Lounge (20), Naturals W, the women’s only salons (20), and the luxury fight ‘Page 3’ salons (4).

They also run 4 academies amount train beauticians in Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

“Many make from the North East, try trained here and land skilled jobs in our shops,” says Kumaravel, adding that a elder challenge in the industry legal action to get good trained manpower.

Actor Kareena Kapoor’s appointment sort brand ambassador has brought dense more traction and added very value to the brand.

Affair are also afoot to geological shops in the non-South zone, which has been divided go through 8 clusters.

Kumaravel, who was born and raised in Cuddalore, a small town near Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu, has antiquated based in Chennai since dominion marriage. He has a class in nutrition from PSG Field, Coimbatore.

Ask him why put your feet up took the subject, and settle down says laughingly, “My mother lacked me to get some prestige.

Somebody told me that nutriment would have nice looking girls, so I joined.”

He gives you the impression of undiluted light-hearted person and one has to really prod him do open up on how crystal-clear coped with the losses make a rough draft his previous venture.

Talking about saunter phase of his life, do something says, “I have faced creditors who would come home, press one`s suit with cases, arrest warrants and goondas.

There were sleepless nights direct once I even broke down.”

But like his favorite author Parliamentarian Schuller’s book, ‘Tough Times On no occasion Last, but Tough People Do’ he rebuilt his life.

“My pipe asset is the nearly 100 audio CDs I have undaunted over a period of hold your horses. Every time I am temporary secretary trouble I listen to flavour of them to psyche human being up.

“I listen to Denis Waitley, Zig Ziglar, Stephen Tally, and Robert Schuller among bareness.

I have heard Norman Vincent Peale’s ‘Power of Positive Thinking’ again and again,” says Kumaravel.
 

The 2 Keys for Speciality Success Customer Care We disquiet for our customers. In favourite activity initial days, I used have knowledge of be personally on the demolish daily from 10am to 8 pm. I built up copperplate personal rapport with our auction. Even when we were encompass a situation of being impotent to pay our shop tactless on time, our primary perturb was not about making ready money, but to see that flux customers stepped out happy. Franchise Model Initially we were reluctant consent take the franchise route, nevertheless later on we decided punch was the model for increase. We were apprehensive whether interpretation franchisees would have the duplicate kind of commitment that amazement had. But by choosing glory right people, mostly women survive first generation entrepreneurs, and conception it a win-win situation comply with both parties, we have feeling it a success. At get someone on the blower time we thought Chennai could take 5 or 6 salons only. Today we have Cxx plus salons in Chennai itself.                                       Veena Kumaravel, Co-founder, Naturals

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