| At the same time, Sunita's post-graduation in mass communication prepared her for the intensive marketing required in the early days, to get consumers to notice the product. |
| From being a small company in the 1980s, Fem Care now has a turnover of Rs 65 crore, a countrywide presence and expansion plans that include exporting to countries like the US. |
| "My early years were spent moving around a lot "" my father had a government job "" but by the time I was in Class 2 we had settled down in Bombay. I did my schooling there, followed by graduation in chemistry from Elphinstone College. This was followed by a post-graduate degree in mass communication. |
| "Shortly after completing my studies, I got married. But I was restless, and unwilling to be just a housewife. Around this time my brother Sunil, two years younger than me, had graduated from IIT and we decided to do something together. |
| "It was my idea to do something with bleaches, since I had noticed that the only options available in the market were chlorinated concoctions that had a burning effect. This was in the early 1980s "" there was only one imported bleach in the market at the time, and it cost Rs 500, which was a huge amount then. |
| "My brother and I did two years of research on cream bleaches before we started manufacturing, under the name Fem Care. Initially our promotional efforts were very modest. I would go to ladies' clubs with samples and demonstrate the product there. Gradually, we entered into tie-ups with small shops. |
| "At this time we only had around seven workers. Our advertising was in the form of a 10-second spot telecast on Doordarshan, back in the days when people would actually sit through TV commercials! |
| "To be honest, our business wasn't so well organised in the early years, since we were still finding our feet. It was around 1993, when we moved our factory to Nashik, that professionalism really set in. |
| "We decided to make our presence felt across the country and began an expansion process "" so much so that today our products are available in around 300,000 retail outlets all over India. |
| "Our flagship products are still our bleach variants, like perfume bleach and oxy bleach. But in 1987 we introduced liquid soaps too. What distinguishes our soaps from that of others is that we use pure coconut oil "" one of the best cleaners "" as a base, unlike the synthetic soaps widely available. |
| "We also pioneered the concept of Aloe Vera-based products. It is a very useful plant, because its water absorption and retention capability is very high, and water is a major rejuvenator of skin cells. Most creams tend to be oil-based but it is imperative that the skin be hydrated. We now cultivate our own Aloe Vera plants, around 40 km outside Nasik. |
| "In 1998 we did some product diversification and launched a range of women's westernwear under the Barcode label. The idea was to use standard western outfits as a model, but to tailor them according to the unique needs of the Indian body. |
| "We have our own outlet in Mumbai but there are no immediate plans to expand "" we want to focus on customer relationship and comfort levels, and for that we need a certain degree of control. That wouldn't be possible if we just decided to make our products available in general outlets. |
| "As you can see, I have my fingers in many pies but the focus area for me is still Fem Care. On a day-to-day basis, I personally take care of the distribution and marketing side of the business, while my brother handles manufacturing. |
| "Future plans? I believe Fem products have strong export potential. Accordingly, we are now tapping international markets "" we already have a presence in countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the UAE, but are now looking at first-world countries as well." |
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