The journey of entrepreneurship begins with a little struggle and inspiration. Deepika Jalan and Reshmi Mukherjee talk about their journey and inspiration to uphold a sustainable business in this live session.

Like we heard from many other entrepreneurs, Deepika jalan was not from a business background. She pursued her education in finance accounting and work in a corporate sector but however her passion was towards understanding nature and becoming a sustainability influencer. She gained knowledge about nature and completed a lot of trainings with relation to nature and sustainability. The concept of bio enzymes and its utilisation in our daily lives is what fascinated her. The transformative impact of bio enzyme products on her own well-being prompted Deepika to start her venture, Grownest. Beginning with personal care products, the brand has now expanded to include cleaning products and pet care, all with the goal of promoting better and sustainable living through organic materials. Being the founder of Grownest, the ideal goal of Deepika is to help people lead a better and sustainable living through organic products like the products that are produced through bio enzymes and other organic materials.

On the other hand, Reshmi Mukherjee, the founder of Skintopia skin care, also mentions about the benefits of organic materials utilized in producing beauty products. With the advancement of technology and innovations the way product is produced is changing constantly. With the help of this constant change Reshmi introduced beauty products that commit to provide the variety of companies and individuals with quality products and also a wealth of knowledge in experience in everything related to manufacturing of fantastic products. Starting from face creams to body soap and coffee scrub to lotions, Skintopia introduced everything that a person requires.

To understand how sustainability can help us improve our lifestyles we need to understand what bio enzymes are. Enzymes are proteins that behave as biological catalysts and are used to control the rate of chemical reaction[1]. It is one of the best alternatives to conventional chemical catalysts as they are biodegradable. Bio-enzyme were first developed by Dr. Rosukon Poompanvong. So Deepika’s idea of starting Grownest with bio enzymes was to infuse the technology of this bio enzyme so that whenever somebody is choosing a single product, whether it be a soap also, they would, you know, contribute to climate change in a way. So, promoting wet waste segregation where you’re learning how to manage your waste. What Deepika also mentioned starts by choosing these products. We are also choosing a sustainable way of existence and helping the environment grow better every single day.

Addressing a common misconception, Deepika clarifies the difference between bio enzymes and organic materials. There is a very big misconception about the term organic, because organic actually should mean that something natural is coming from the nature does not have any adulteration or anything that’s not naturally produced, that’s man made, that should be organic, that should be the term of organic, so any product that is natural, is 100%. Not toxic. So what then if you’re coming to commercial part of it, obviously, people whenever they do any business or if they are working with self certain kind of products, they need to get certain certifications, claiming that their products are organic, because, if you are tagged as organic, you will be better priced people will be procuring you like that. So that is how that is a perception, basically. Deepika also mentions the fact that there is no comparison between bio enzymes and organic products because they have their roots in nature.

To grow the customer base for the products that Deepika and Reshmi produces, social media has been a great platform for this purpose. Today many of the entrepreneurs and influencers resort to social media like Instagram and Facebook to promote the products that they developed. Deepika Jalan is a COVID born entrepreneur, received an immense amount of customers through social media and now she is developing her own website for more reach. Unlike Deepika, Reshmi started her business way before the pandemic hit. Both of them have survived the pandemic recession in their business. The promotion of sustainability and usage of natural products have helped them to grow their business to the present state.