Adopting ‘clean’ lip care products from Alanna

Alanna's founders shifted focus from several body care products to just one. They share the story of this pivot

- Namita Shibad

PUNE: Sometimes, it is the numbers that do all the talking. Rashi and Ankesh Mehra launched Alanna (beautiful in Greek), which produced body care products from "head to toe," says Rashi. "I started the business in 2015, where I developed and sold several products like hair care, body wash, lotions, and creams that were all natural and vegan."

Rashi, a marketing postgraduate had eight years of experience working with several well-known firms. However, the "bug" got into her and made her restless. She quit her job and decided that she would make the most of the "natural" wave that is dominating people's minds. "At the very outset, I decided to use my energies to market my products rather than manufacture as well.

"This is because manufacturing is like running another business. You have to look into quality, raw materials, machinery, labour and so on. I searched for contract manufacturers and zeroed in on one from Gujarat. He was in sync with my philosophy of natural products and also had some experience working for a well-known cosmetic company. Our warehouse is in Pune. With him manufacturing my products based on my formulations, I could focus all my time on marketing."

Initially, she chose to sell her products on marketing platforms, Amazon and Nykaa. Alanna was doing fairly well till her husband Ankesh who is also the co-founder and chief financial officer (CFO) noticed that among the body washes, shampoos and lotions, their lip wash was doing very well. Says Ankesh, "In fact, the lip wash made up for 70% of our sales. This was certainly telling us something." And that something was to switch over and focus completely on lip care products instead of manufacturing several products.