Published On: June 27th, 2020
“THE MAN COMPANY” BY BHISHAM BHATEJA AND MOHIT SAXENA
Women are gifted with the choice of picking the desired option when it comes to grooming and self-care products. However, for men, the alternatives are comparatively less.
This is an unnoticed issue, as several young men and boys experience low self-esteem. Even they are prone to spending a large amount of money to opt for their preferences on hand. Furthermore, men also get assaulted with restrictions to self-caring.
However, two men came up with an idea and a unique approach to men’s grooming and started a venture to address this issue. They are now making the availability of grooming products comprehensively for men.
From hereon, this is going to be the story of Gurugram-based “The Man Company (TMC)” and their founders, who are successful entrepreneurs, owing to their unique mindset. As a reader, you will get to a few prospects related to the men’s grooming industry that can help in your startup plans. In addition, we will cover some of the pain-points approached by the founders of TMC.
REMINISCING THE BACKGROUNDS OF THE CEO AND CO-FOUNDERS – TMC
Pursuing Metallurgical and Material Sciences engineering from IIT Roorkee, Mohit Saxena is a Lucknow-brought up, young man. Gaining hands-on experience from the AT&T Pacbell labs and InMobi, Mohit is the CEO and founder of TMC.
While working at AT&T, Mohit had his 1st ever US trip and was working there decent enough. However, it did not even last for a decade due to the ‘2000 Dotcom bubble’. It was the turning point for him, as Mohit left the job and moved to Virgin Mobiles, where he learned new scaling techniques that are useful for him in his present work as a CEO.
On the other side, we have Bhisham Bhateja, the COO and Co-founder of TMC. He is an MBA graduate from the IBS Hyderabad. Bhisham is also running the company Helios Lifestyle, a notable market that manufactures male grooming products.
FROM BEING A CONSULTANT TO A BUSINESS STRATEGIST, THE EXPERTISE OF BHISHAM IS DIVERSE, INCLUDING DISCIPLINES SUCH AS RETAIL, AUTOMOBILES, E-COMMERCE, AND INDUSTRIAL SPACES. THE COO OF TMC STRESSES THE IMPORTANCE OF GAINING EXPERIENCE IN MISCELLANEOUS FIELDS.
THEREFORE, IT IS HIGH TIME THAT YOU LEARN MANY SKILLS ON-THE-GO WHICH BECOMES THE BACKBONE FOR RUNNING YOUR STARTUP SUCCESS IN THE LONG-RUN.
Along with the COO, there is Parvesh Bareja and Hitesh Dhingra as well, lending a handful of support and dedication to The Man Company. Let’s cover up their backgrounds too:
As the director of Helios Packaging, Parvesh joined the venture as an Angel Investor from one of the company’s previous investment rounds. Now, he deems to be the industry’s veteran. Pravesh possess a vast knowledge of designing cosmetics. Hitesh is the founding member for TMC. Additionally, he is the ex-CEO of LetsBuy.com.
Related Story:- Success Story of Nykaa, Founder – Falguni Nayar
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For both these cases, partnering or investing with others on-board is an excellent strategy. In other words, the one moral to introspect from the partners of TMC is that corporate support is essential to entrepreneurial success.
About 1.6-1.7 lakh of jobs are created annually considering the Indian startup scenario; so, make sure to share your brand with someone whose interests and goals similar to yours!
OVERVIEW OF THEIR FUNDING, SECTOR, AND FUTURE PLANS
From understanding the background and experience of the founders, we now have a quite recent update from TMC:
Emami made an Angel investment deal for $3.5 Mn. Its Kolkata-headquartered FMCG brand, backed with Helios Lifestyle.
Consequently, it was then decided upon acceptance, that 20-odd percent of The Man Company is with Helios Lifestyle and post the funding infusion, 30 percent will be Emami. As a result of this deal, it led to a successful partnering of Emami with TMC!
THE SINGLE-WINDOW SYSTEM OF TMC WAS NOTICED FOR UNDISCLOSED RAISED FUNDS IN 2015, FROM PROMINENT ANGEL INVESTORS LIKE:
- The MD of Microsoft India – Karan Bajwa.
- The CEO and Founder of SVG Media – Manish Vij.
- Country Manager at Airbnb India – Amanpreet Bajaj.
However, what is noteworthy from these partners is that they were the initial seed funders for TMC. Due to their presence, this platform’s monthly turnover(as per Emami’s BSE Filings) is estimated to be around₹4 crore ($5,29,415.64) in the Fiscal year 2019!
Hence, find an ideal platform to fund your startup expenses. Projects like ‘Startup India’ are inaugurated to promote and support the business environment inside India.
What’s more beneficial here is that If your venture is started quite soon from now, then as per the objectives of this Initiative, you are free from Capital Gain Tax and other inspections for the 1st three years of operation!
This is your time to register for a startup and get funded by investors like TMC.
YOUR TAKEAWAY
As we read the anecdote of Mohit and Bhisham, there are many more individuals who are beyond mere entrepreneurs. It all started as a tiny spark in 2015, and currently, The Man Company is deemed to be a ₹16,000-crore worth brand, judged as a tough competitor for many rising grooming partners in the industry.
The future of male grooming products holds the predictions to be a super-productive sector, that is going to be beneficial for its investors and startup founders. Therefore, this market expects to soar up to $5.5 billion by 2021.
Moreover, it is generally evident that only shaving products are grooming for men; yet, with this fast-paced launch of new Indian startups, the voice of metrosexual men to get multiple niches (like hair grooming, deodorants, moustache grooming, etc) would be heard and satisfied.
The good thing here is that the pursuit of choosing the required grooming products will be the reality for men.
To conclude, the present-day limitation bars put on purchasing power and geography will also break apart from the many rising startups in India! From offering Self-certification compliance to Improved Bankruptcy Code, you have all the resources needed for launching a startup in India.
Hire an investment funder, find the right partner, fix your headquarters, and you’re all set to win, provided you have picked a well-to-do sector!
FOOTNOTES:
- Indian Startup Scenario
- The Man Company gets the second tranche of funding from Emami
- Men’s grooming market grows beyond hair and beard products [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
