Brief Profile of Anshita Mehrotra
The curly hair type severely lacks representation in the hair care industry, and Anshita Mehrotra decided to fix that by launching ‘Fix My Curls,’ a haircare range specially catered to curly and wavy hair. She started Fix My Curls in the year 2019, and today this haircare brand is helping people embrace their natural hair texture instead of ‘treating’ them with heat, or other damaging treatments.
It has shaped into a beautiful well-knit community of curly/wavy/textured haired people who share their experiences and struggles with embracing their natural hair in India. Hailing from Varanasi, Anshita is a Journalism major from Penn State World Campus. The thought of entrepreneurship was ignited at 19 when Anshita was still studying back, on a winter break home, a casual Google search on curly hair products gave her empty results, and anything available was ridiculously expensive. Curly hair barely finds representation in pop culture, media, or the beauty racks in stores. The wide gap in the haircare market for this hair type was quite evident. She resolved to bring a direct solution to the problem strategy, that if you have frizz and got curls, we are here to help you maintain them. Haircare being a sore subject for her, she turned it into a platform for like-minded people to proudly show off their curly hair.
Growing up with curly hair in India can be challenging with all the unsolicited advice pushed at you – to fix your curls by simply straightening them. But curly, wavy, and resultant frizzy hair can be managed with proper care without manipulating them with salon treatments. And Fix My Curls aims to change the notion that curly hair is ‘unruly, frizzy or untamable’, and plays on the word Fix as a clapback to the industry.
Her mother has been her strongest pillar in this entrepreneurial journey, being her confidante and motivator to emerge competitively in this male-dominated beauty industry. Anshita’s efforts to change the narrative for curly hair care in India haven’t gone unnoticed. She was awarded the Women Entrepreneur of The Year from Assocham in 2021 for Haryana.
Ambitious, invested, stubborn, and strong-headed are the attributes of Anshita’s personality. She believes she can actively take up responsibilities for another start-up eventually. Fix My Curls is a great head start to embrace one’s natural look instead of taming it with chemical-laden alternatives. And with that zeal, she aims to expand further into mental health, skincare, and self-care on the same principle.
Passionate in Marketing caught up with Anshita Mehrotra to discuss about How this 23 year old women entrepreneur is craving a niche in the hair care segment with her brand Fix My Curls to solve the issue of managing curls and frizzy hair
- What inspired you to start FMC?
FixMyCurls is born out of my own need for curly hair care. I was 19 when I was looking for curly hair products and one Google search gave me empty results. Back then, even the options that were otherwise available, were too expensive. I personally realised that the wide gap that existed in the market affected me greatly, simply because we don’t consider curly or textured hair in India as normal hair that needs its own care. I started FixMyCurls with the strategy of bringing simple solutions to frizzy, curly and wavy hair problems. So you got frizz and cannot manage your curls – Here’s Fix My Curls. That is exactly how I began because I knew the potential we have.
- What aspect of owning your business gives you the most satisfaction?
Fix My Curls is not just a hair care brand but a community for people with curly and textured hair. When I see the results of my products working wonders and helping people fall in love with their curls that makes me feel content. In India, we still do not see the kind of openness toward curly or textured hair. People think they need to change them with chemical salon treatments instead of caring for them with products that are good for them. We want women & men alike to be themselves and embrace their natural hair, and if my business is helping them do exactly that, I believe I have succeeded a great bit.
- Errors people commit when choosing a proper hair care regimen?
I think a lot of people don’t want to understand their hair type and what products will suit them. Very often, products are picked based on false advertisements, packaging or those on sale. These people don’t pay heed to the constituting ingredients, and chemicals that go within the products. Every hair type and especially textured hair types require silicone, paraben and sulfate-free products. Reports have also found that more than 70% of women don’t use a conditioner! This is ideal for achieving soft, shiny hair that doesn’t break or fall.. A hair care regimen involves multiple steps from shampooing to styling.
- What opportunities and difficulties did COVID-19 provide to the area of brand development and communication?
We started in August 2019 and just when we thought we were growing, COVID hit and our business growth came to a halt. We were not able to ship any orders during the lockdown. Order management became really difficult due to the strict restrictions. But we utilised that time as an opportunity to get to know our customers. We built our community on social media and interacted with potential consumers. We also used that time to strengthen our research and development for future launches. We were better prepared for the next lockdown, as by then we had grown our marketplace, being present on multiple portals. Since 2020, we went from 4 platforms to 14 today.
- How do you intend to promote your brand’s sales throughout the forthcoming holiday season?
For every D2C business, the festive season is the peak business time. We too have festive season offers and sales, along with special ad campaigns to target new customers. Almost 20% of our advertising budget is allocated for festive campaigning. We are using all mediums of social media – Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to get in touch with our new existing customers and attract new ones. We have a plan of roping in many small influencers in the curly hair care niche, gift boxes, special edition products, and new launches to reach a wider target audience.
- Could you elaborate on the much-discussed new launch?
Our newest launch Scalp & Strands Elixir Hair Oil is not just any other hair oil but a rich ingredient-based multitasker in many ways. It is a heat protectant, it helps to scrunch out the gel cast, it also promotes hair growth from the roots and provides shine. What makes it so different is we have followed the concept of the scalp is skin, so if your scalp is not nourished, your hair won’t be either. This hair oil has a weightless formula so it feels more like a serum and it has active retinol, Omega 3, golden seaweed and over 11 natural oils. It does not have any harmful chemicals or silicones, so it is really a healthy potion for all curly and way hair types 1A-4C type curls.
- What sets your products apart?
Fix My Curls is not one product-based brand, but we curated a stepwise routine for textured hair and have products for every step from cleansing to styling. What sets us apart is every formulation is different and focuses on protein or moisture ingredients. We often do multiple versions of one product but keep the differentiating factor the protein/moisture content, this makes the range good for all textured hair types. There are times when we have to tweak it. Making products for curly hair means considering the density, porosity and hair history. Our product range is vast so that you can create a mix and match and decipher a combination that works for you.
- What marketing tactics would you employ when you introduce the product?
When we started, we had a 5-step process hair routine, a concept that was very new to the Indian hair care market. And to not let our customers feel overburdened or sceptical about the switch from non-CG to CG method, we introduced trial sizes or travel sizes. These 50 ML sizes are comparatively cheap, and offer a trial to the consumer before they buy big bottles and don’t like the result. So we have an 11-product range in 3 sizes, a tactic that has worked for us to get more consumers from all types of socio-economic backgrounds. And we have built a very strong community on social media where we have consultations and quizzes, drive conversations about curl care and start a dialogue about the acceptance of textured hair.
We even have plans for a Curl Convention – an event that is for the curly hair community with in-depth QnA, brand awareness, hair influencer meet and greets, and sale of products or launch of new ones.
- How the e-commerce and startup boom is empowering women in Indian entrepreneurship?
E-commerce has truly been a boon for women in India because it gives us the chance to create our own businesses/communities without needing to even leave our homes! IIt gives us a chance to expand and experiment and reach audiences who we could never reach so quickly from a retail point of view. This paradigm shift of online shopping, as well as mixed beauty marketplaces have opened avenues for all kinds of niches – hair care, personal hygiene, beauty, skincare etc. And I believe that we learn as we lead. Women are holding top positions, handling multiple profiles, growing their brands and empowering a lot of other women in the process. Not solely the top ranks, but even those who take care of our packaging and back-end operations are women. It is a chain of learning and empowering one another.
- What sales percentage goal are you seeking for the upcoming quarter?
We are looking for a 10-15% steady growth every quarter, and with the festive season coming up we hope to catch this growth and use it wisely by acquiring new customers who join our community. We are also looking at new launches before the year ends so those should aid us. Overall this Financial year of 2022, we are seeking a 70% growth from the previous year.
