Shahnaz Husain has single-handedly built a business empire selling Ayurveda products. Here, she speaks with Forbes India about her journey so far and succession plan
Your company is very personality-driven and every product bears your face. How much do you think that has been a part of building a loyal customer base?
If it bears my name, it catches on. I’m not there for the money, and people know that it is my love of the job. Money was never the purpose. People pay for our concern, they can tell we care. Sometimes we tell a client ‘there is nothing wrong, it’s in your mind’, or we send them to a doctor for blood tests. I am not worried about the cost. I am a typical creator or pioneer. I pay the price, the next generation bears the fruit.
Today you occupy a very niche position. Who do you call your competitors?
What we do is not just beauty, it’s treatment and cures. There is no European line is doing it. Dabur is health. Clarins is not into cures. Every time I go into Selfridges I browse to see if there is anything there. There isn’t. It’s a very limited line. You can’t mass market it. You can’t mass market a cure.