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Shark Tank India 3: Even though major participants receive a lot of attention in Shark Tank India Season 3, little companies occasionally steal the show. Among them is the 22-year-old businesswoman Anoushka Rele's startup, "Polish Me Pretty." Not only is Anoushka's achievement remarkable given that she is just 22, but also looking at the fact that she started the business alone with the guidance of her mother.
All of the sharks were interested in her idea. However, it was Piyush Bansal who chose to invest in the idea after realizing its potential. How much did the shark offer for the business? Keep reading to find out.
After graduating in June 2022, Anoushka, a Pune resident, founded Polish Me Pretty. She holds the straightforward opinion that manicures are just as important for girls as hair and facial makeup. Anushka highlights that not getting a manicure during a gathering feels like something important is missing, and that's where her startup comes in.
Polish Me Pretty has more than 200 nail color options that are all hand-made, hand-polished, and handcrafted, in addition to personalized nail art services. To make things even better, the nail extensions can be reused up to five times, and they are inexpensive and environmentally friendly.
Anoushka's business sense comes through in her characteristic of being reasourceful. She used her personal funds, which she acquired from selling limited-edition Nike sneakers to launch Polish Me Pretty. Her initial attempts to find a nail artist in Pune through Justdial were unsuccessful, so she began to describe her designs to local artists for possible execution.
Anoushka was successful in her marketing endeavors because of her persistence. She sent weekly emails for 32 weeks to secure Zepto after making repeated attempts to secure a platform on BlinkIt.
Anushka remembers nights spent packing orders with her grandmother, aunts, and sisters, and she gives her family credit for their consistent support. Throughout her journey, she was inspired by her father's instruction to never give up on possibilities, which ultimately helped her succeed. She conveyed that her father's support towards her business endeavors has been encouraging.
The target market being Gen Z, Anoushka wishes to transform the manicure and pedicure industry. She observes that current businesses don't appeal to the current generation because of their dicey social media presence and rather straightforward packaging.
This void is filled by Polish Me Pretty's inventive line of handcrafted nails that come with alcohol pads for application. Anoushka's handcrafted nails are of higher quality and more durable than their machine-made counterparts, which are more likely to break.
In accordance with her father's suggestion to start from scratch, Anoushka corrected mistakes brought to her attention by prospective investors and opted to bootstrap her business. Polish Me Pretty hopes to make a big impact in the approx. Rs 9000 crore Indian nail market by aiming for a revenue of Rs 50 lakh in the upcoming year.
To make their items more affordable and available to a larger market, Polish Me Pretty offers them for Rs 1299 on their website, Rs 660 on BlinkIt, and Rs 770 on Zepto.
Anoushka pitched 25% shares in return for Rs 25 lakh. She was offered Rs 51 lakh in exchange for 51% shares by Vineeta Singh (Sugar Cosmetics CEO and co-founder). However, Anoushka managed to seal the exact offer that she had asked for of Rs 25 lakh in exchange for 25% equity with Peyush Bansal (CEO and co-founder of Lenskart).
Anoushka's company is set to make a big impact in the cosmetics sector with its ambitious growth plans and impressive sales figures. Anoushka's entrepreneurial story will serve as an inspiration to anyone aspiring to start a business from scratch.
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