ENTREPRENEURSHIP

DEVELOPMENT
Women entrepreneur
DA3

NOVEMBER 18, 2023

AN ARTICLE BY
HARINI HEMKUMAR,B.COM HONOURS 2ND YEAR 22BHC1051
G

Entrepreneurship
development
Case Article:
This case study is about a women
entrepreneur Ms.Vineeta singh based on the topic
under women entrepreneurship.This article is about
her story of success and the steps involved in it.
ABSTRACT OF THE CASE:
 Introduction
 Early life
 Evolution of the company
 Financial background
 SWOC analysis for the company
 Business and marketing
 Achiements
 Conusion
 reference

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Introduction:
Women of today are the most powerful
they create their own destinies and fulfill their dreams.
Along with that, they inspire others to achieve the
milestones of their path to success. From handling the
household to children and work, women juggle
between roles and fulfill all their responsibilities
efficiently and that is how they break the glass cieling,
push the envelope and achieve what they set their
eyes on. And one such remarkable woman is Vineeta
Singh the co-founder at homegrown brand SUGAR
Cosmetics. Vineeta has been inspiring women
entreprenuers from the last 2-3 years and has proved
that risks that are taken with sheer determination and
are well thought out, are worth taking. Lets know more
about this amazing woman and know about her
journey from this article.

Early life:
Born in Delhi, India, in 1984, Vineeta Singh
completed her schooling in Delhi. Her mother was a
Ph.D., and her father was a professor at IIT Madras.
She pursued a bachelor’s degree in Electrical
Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology,
Madras, in 2005. Immediately, she pursued her MBA
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(Master of Business Administration) from IIM
Ahmedabad and completed 2007. By the end of
pursuing her MBA, she had a strong determination to
set up her own startup. As a result, she rejected a job
offer worth 1 crore LPA. While doing the MBA course in
Ahmedabad, she met Kaushik Mukherjee, with whom
she married in 2011. Though she got multiple job offers
after her MBA, she refused all of them. Even her
parents were astonished about her decision.

However, she was very determined and had a fact in

her mind:“You can be an entrepreneur only by actually
being one”.With this in mind, she moved to Mumbai,
full of dreams in her mind and a passion for turning
them into reality.

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Evolution of the company:

Vineeta Singh is also the founder of two

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other startups, which eventually failed. With two failed
startups and a regret of rejecting the lucrative job
offer, she found her way out of demotivation and
established Sugar Cosmetics. As she struggled with her
professional life, she founded a beauty subscription
firm, Fab Bag, offering different types of beauty
products. There she realized the importance of
makeup, beauty, and cosmetics in the life of Indian
women. She analyzed foreign and local brands and
found that many cosmetic companies in India did not
cater to the needs of Indian women’s skin tones.With
the insights from her analysis, she and her husband,
Kaushik Mukherjee, founded Sugar Cosmetics in 2015.
It was not a plain road for Vineeta Singh initially. Many
people said that it is not easy to compete with other
cosmetics behemoths, like Lakmé, L’Oréal, and MAC
Cosmetics, and it would require a million dollars of
investment. Also, many said their products were only
basics and won’t be strong moats.
Financial background:
Vineeta Singh started her own line of crayon lipsticks
that were made in Germany with a Rs. 1 crore
personal loan from an early investor. This served as
the launchpad for SUGAR Cosmetics to become the
name it is todayWith so much criticism and failure,

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finally, in 2017, India Quotient, an early backer, and
Singapore-based RB Investments raised a helping hand.
They were the first investors for Vineeta Singh and
Kaushik Mukherjee. This investor helped her dream
turn into reality. In the first year, the company yielded
INR 52 lakhs, which was unexpected for the duo,
though not enough. Only three products rolled out in
the first year. Unfortunately, the duo was not able to
import one of their products from Germany due to
inadequate working capital. They took a loan and paid
manufacturers to import that product from Germany.
The product was Lip Crayon. This product turned out to
be the best-selling product in the second year. The
revenue multiplied 6 times by the first year – INR 3
crore. By the end of 2017, the sales jumped to INR 11
crore. And in fiscal 2020, the sales turned out to INR
105 crore. In FY22, the company generated an
operating revenue of INR 210.9 crore, which was INR
148.9 in FY21.

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an interview, Vineeta Singh said:
“My savings were diminishing; I’d hardly ever go out
because I was on a strict budget. But I pushed on. I
even started a venture, but it didn’t work as planned.
After a year, I felt brave enough to give
entrepreneurship another shot with Fab Bag, a beauty
subscription company.But after research, I realized the
need for quality cosmetics for Indian women–that’s
how Sugar Cosmetics was born.”

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. Sugar Cosmetics is a makeup brand led by Vineeta
Singh. The company has been financed by several
investors, including Elevation Capital, A91 Partners,
India Quotient, Stride Ventures, and L
Catterton123. Bollywood star Ranveer Singh has also
invested in the company and became a "brand
evangelist" of Sugar Cosmetics3. The company has an
estimated valuation of more than half a billion and a
retail footprint of over 45,000 retail outlets4.this is the
link that has a few information about the funding of
the company.the company has several investors of
which some of them is mentioned above the link.

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SWOC Analysis:
Strengths:
1. Innovative Product Range: Sugar Cosmetics is
known for its innovative and high-quality
products, catering to the evolving beauty and
makeup trends.
2. Strong Brand Identity: Under Vineeta Singh's
leadership, Sugar Cosmetics has built a strong
and recognizable brand, particularly among
the younger demographic.
3. Online Presence: The brand has a robust
online presence, leveraging e-commerce and
social media effectively, which is crucial in the
beauty and cosmetics industry.
4. Female Leadership: Being a woman
entrepreneur in the cosmetics industry can be
a strength, especially in understanding and
catering to the needs and preferences of
female consumers.
Weaknesses:
1. Limited Physical Presence: While the brand
has a strong online presence, its physical store
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 presence may be limited. This could
potentially limit its reach compared to
competitors with a more extensive offline
presence.
2. Dependency on Trends: The beauty industry is
highly influenced by trends. Depending too
heavily on trends could be a weakness if the
market shifts rapidly.
3. Global Expansion Challenges: If Sugar
Cosmetics is primarily focused on a specific
market, expanding globally might present
challenges related to cultural differences and
diverse consumer preferences.
Opportunities:
1.International Expansion: Exploring
opportunities to enter new international
markets can help tap into a broader customer
base and increase market share.
2.Diversification of Product Range:
Introducing new product lines or diversifying
the existing range can open up opportunities

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to attract different customer segments and
stay relevant.
3.Collaborations and Partnerships:
Collaborating with influencers, makeup
artists, or other brands can be an effective
way to reach a wider audience and enhance
the brand's credibility.
challenges:
1.Competitive Market: The cosmetics industry
is highly competitive, and new entrants or
existing competitors may pose a threat by
offering similar products or better pricing.
2.Economic Fluctuations: Economic
downturns can impact consumer spending on
non-essential items, affecting sales of
cosmetic products.
3.Supply Chain Disruptions: Any disruptions in
the supply chain, whether due to geopolitical
issues, natural disasters, or other factors,
could negatively impact the availability of
products.

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Business and marketing:
As a strong women she has been aan inspiration
for a lot of women homemakers and graduates.

She said that,

"The struggle is real. And we’ll embrace it.
And we’ll tame it" .this has been an advantage
for her business that ended as the great
marketing strategy
Sugar Cosmetic believes in the optimal use of
marketing and also dedicates a large chunk of

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 its annual budget to this facet of the business.
Without that, they wouldn’t have experienced
the massive success they already have!

Here, we are going to discuss the marketing

strategies they put into action, which led them to
boost their customer base and skyrocket their
sales.

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1. Affordable range
It provides consumers with comparable
effective prices as compared to the beauty
giants Lakme and Maybelline. As the products
were priced with the middle-class population
in mind, the company heavily endorses make-
up products at affordable prices.

2. Astounding packaging
Even though the company’s products are
reasonably priced, there are no efforts left in
the packaging sector. The products come in
attractive packaging with high-quality content
and a cult following among the youth.

3. Optimal use of internet marketing

Sugar Cosmetics also made an effort to
market their goods through the Internet.
Instagram and YouTube have produced the
best results for them out of all the digital
platforms!

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 They also promote their products through
Social Media influencers. They collaborate
with a famous content creator who targets
their audience and captures a mass audience
at cheaper prices as compared to
conventional marketing strategies.
Last but not least, they will also continue to
rely on BTL activities for their marketing.
Organizing trade shows, telemarketing their
products, sending direct mail to the targeted
audience, and focusing on search engine
marketing are all producing positive results.

Sugar cosmetics online site:

https://in.sugarcosmetics.com/

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Achievements :
The achievements of this young women so far
o Between 1993 and 2001, Vineeta won
academic gold medals. She is a superb athlete
as well.
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o The IIT Madras Badminton Tournament saw
her win two gold medals and two silver
medals.
o At IIM Ahmedabad, she was given the Dulari
Mattu Award in 2007 for being the best
female all-rounder.
o She was awarded back-to-back medals from
the Comrades Marathon Association in 2012
and 2013 for finishing South Africa’s highest
Ultra-Marathons, Ups and Downs (89 km),
and Comrades Back-to-Back (89 km).
o She was recognized by the Economic Times in
2020 as one of India’s 40 Under Forty
business leaders.
o She will be among the most influential
women in India in 2021, according to Forbes
India.
o She was mentioned as an advisor on one of
the questions in Kon Banega Crore Pati (KBC),
Amitabh Bachchan’s most popular TV
program.

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 o Now, she is a leading investor in the
show Shark Tank.

Conclusion:
‘My story is so imperfect that it sort of can
motivate young men and women to be more
and to do more.’, -vineeta singh.
Vineeta Singh’s entrepreneurial journey has
been a story of Hunger, Hustle, Humility and
Humour - the four H’s our powerhouse CEO,
SUGAR Cosmetics believes in. With hunger in
your idea, hustle in your action, humility in
your words and humour to build it all - you
can achieve what you set your mind to.
Reference:
https://in.sugarcosmetics.com/blog/vineeta-singh-is-disrupting-what-it-means-to-be-a-woman-in-
the-business

Spironelli, Claudia. "Cosmetics industry: an analysis of marketing and mass communication

strategies." (2019).

https://www.timesnownews.com/leaders-of-tomorrow/taking-those-moonshots-and-believing-in-
yourself-is-the-key-to-success-sugar-cosmetics-ceo-co-founder-vineeta-singh-article-104494269

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/expert-view/20-25-of-businesses-in-india-are-run-
by-women-but-less-than-2-are-able-to-raise-capital-vineeta-singh-sugar-
cosmetics/articleshow/92428321.cms

Haldar, Piali. "Sugar Cosmetics: Leveraging Social Media Influencers." (2022): 62-64.

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