This woman entrepreneur started her Ayurvedic beauty brand from Rs 20,000, now eyes Rs 50 cr turnover in less than 3 years

While studying in Bengaluru in 2019, Amritha Gaddam was suffering from a lot of lifestyle-related health problems. Being away from her home — Rajahmundry, a small city in Andhra Pradesh — made it difficult for Amritha to manage her wellbeing.

Her struggles led to the genesis of The Tribe Concepts, plant-based Ayurvedic skin and hair care brand.

“My mom would make a concoction for any problem we had. Even for problems like hair fall or acne, she would suggest home remedies. When I was in Bengaluru, I was all by myself. I had started eating all junk food and the lifestyle too changed. This caused me a lot of problems,” says Amritha speaking to SMBStory.

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“But that’s what the lifestyle of today is,” she adds. Today, everyone is busy. The long jobs, changing schedules, improper meal times, this has all taken a toll on health. When Amritha asked her mother to courier her some of the concoctions and homemade oils and masks, her friends too got fascinated. She says her mother’s remedies do wonders. 

It was at this time when Amritha realised that everyone around her was looking for a solution. A product that would solve their problems which seems so common but are too problematic. 

“From hair fall to acne, weight gain, less immunity; these are the problems people suffer a lot. And when these remedies are mesmerising everybody, why not offer these as a solution?” This is how Tribe Concepts was born in 2019, Amritha says. 

The genesis

Amritha’s father is an Ayurveda doctor. After doing her bit of research and taking help from her father, she quit her job in Bengaluru and started with her product range. She first developed a 90-day miracle hair oil. 

“I started in an old building that my father owned. All the products I sourced locally from and began my work. I invested Rs 20,000 out of my savings and spent a major share of it in social media marketing,” Amritha tells SMBStory.

Tribe Concepts is strongly marketed over Instagram and the online reviews have played a pivotal role in the brand’s growth so much so that today it gets over two lakh orders worldwide including the US, UK, Canada, UAE, and more. 

With a no-chemical philosophy and a portfolio with 14 products, the brand in the first nine months made revenues worth Rs 1 crore and followed it up with Rs 1.25 crore in the next three months. In less than three years of inception, the brand is eyeing a turnover of 50 crores by March 2022. At present, the brand has its head office located in Bengaluru. 

Going the sustainable way

One of the core principles that Tribe Concepts have followed since inception is that it uses 100 percent natural ingredients. Amritha says that right from development to delivery, everything is sustainable.

“Our packaging material too is all natural. We offer our products in tin boxes and glass bottles. Even our taping is through paper tapes. There is no use of plastic,” Amritha explains. 

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The industry is dominated by plastics, it is a persistent problem. “When we as a brand claim to be sustainable we wanted to be the one from start to end in our offering,” Amritha asserts. 

Plastic is everywhere and this also poses challenges as Amritha recalls the time when she was struggling with making deliveries possible without the bubble wraps. “We use recycled papers and cardboard to deliver fragile products,” she says.

Market scenario and future plans

Falling to the likes of Just Herbs, SkinKraft, Amritha believes that every brand has a unique offering and each targets a different set of audience. In this year, Amritha is planning for rigorous offline expansion and growth in marketplaces like Amazon. 

As the next part of her entrepreneurial journey, Amritha expects to introduce another brand — Tribe Veda — to target the health supplement segment.