Dream it, build it
It often starts with a simple idea — a soap handcrafted in a home kitchen, a puzzle designed at the dining table, or a small store on a bustling street deciding to take the plunge online. Ahead of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Day (June 27), it's these stories that deserve the spotlight, stories of humble beginnings that dared to grow, adapt, and dream bigger.
'Earthy Sapo started as a passion project, not a business plan,' shares Sheetal Kabra Mohanty, founder of the Hyderabad-based personal care brand. 'When I first began making soaps, I shared them with friends and family and participated in farmers' markets around the city. My goal was simple, to connect with people, understand their skin and hair care concerns, and see if my products could genuinely help. I wasn't in a rush. I spent nearly two to three years just doing that — listening, learning, and gathering honest feedback,' adds Sheetal.
What followed was no overnight transformation. Sheetal spent years refining formulations and deepening her understanding of what customers truly needed. 'The response I received was not just positive, it was heartwarming. That's when I began thinking of Earthy Sapo not just as a passion but as a business,' she says.
A key turning point came in 2017–18, when a loyal customer encouraged her to explore online retail. 'Amazon was the first e-commerce platform I joined. Their onboarding was seamless, and their vast reach — both across India and internationally which helped me take Earthy Sapo beyond local markets. Their robust logistics, user-friendly tech tools, and deep expertise in online selling made a huge difference. For me, Amazon became the launchpad that transformed Earthy Sapo from a farmers' market brand into one serving customers nationwide and beyond,' she notes.
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Mint
30 minutes ago
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DMart eyes higher margins via private labels as quick commerce grows
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Mails sent to DMart did not elicit a response until press time. 'DMart is attempting to increase its gross margins by adding private labels in more categories (HPC, foods); this may only partly offset QC-induced footfall and cost pressure," according to a Kotak Institutional Equities Report written by Garima Mishra and Ishaini Swain on 23 June. Private labels According to the report, these private labels now occupy 20-30% of shelf space in select product categories at DMart outlets. The retailer previously restricted private labels to its staple product category under the 'Premia" brand, which was started in 2002. According to the report, these private labels are priced about 30-70% lower than some of the branded FMCG products. This underscores the retailer's vision to sell everyday products at 'everyday low prices" to Indian consumers. For example, its private label detergent, Star Bright, costs ₹72 per kg, while P&G's Tide costs ₹125 per kg. Similarly, the retailer's mango juice under the Go Fruit brand sells at ₹34 compared to Parle Agro's Frooti. Founded by billionaire Radhakishan Damani in 2000, DMart opened its first store in Powai, Mumbai, in 2002. Today, it is India's largest retail chain, with a market capitalisation of ₹2.8 trillion. The company went public in 2017 and has built its success by offering consistently low prices. DMart pays wholesalers upfront, often ahead of industry payment cycles and secures deeper discounts, which it passes on to consumers. The company is currently navigating a phase of transition, facing twin challenges: a change in leadership and intensifying competition from quick commerce players. Longtime chief executive officer Neville Noronha, who has been instrumental in building DMart into India's most valuable retail chain, is expected to step down by 2026. He will be succeeded by Anshul Asawa. 'It seems like Asawa might have a significant challenge ahead given the high benchmark that Noronha has set," said the analyst based in Mumbai. The retailer's aggressive push into private labels also coincides with the rapid rise of quick commerce players such as Zomato's Blinkit, Swiggy's Instamart, and Zepto, which have been making inroads in several cities, especially in tier-II and tier-III cities, where DMart has limited presence. According to the Kotak report, there are over 100 cities where one or more quick commerce platforms have a presence, but DMart does not. 'Quick commerce is outpacing DMart Ready, which operates more like traditional e-commerce with one- to two-day delivery. In contrast, quick commerce players deliver within minutes," said the analyst. Increasing coverage DMart currently has stores across 152 cities, while Blinkit operates in 194 cities, followed by Instamart and Zepto that are present across 116 and 73 cities.'In urban and metro markets, quick commerce has high penetration, but DMart is present even in places where Q-commerce hasn't reached, so I think it will be able to keep up with rising competition," said Pratik Prajapati, equity research analyst at Ambit. Despite its value positioning, DMart's profitability has come under strain in recent years. According to the company's FY25 financials, the company's Ebitda margin, a profitability metric that indicates the company's operating performance, declined from 8.5% in FY23 to 7.6%, even as gross margins remained steady at 14.8%. 'The main reason for this drop is due to rising employee costs," said the analyst. The employee cost now accounts for 6% of revenues, up from 5.4% two years ago. 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