Most of the grooming products available in the market for men are fancy products which doesn’t solve any real problem faced by men. MENSOME as a brand was started in September 2017 with aim to make Men Dress, Groom and Gift in a better way. We are publishing an interview with Mr. Himanshu Jain, Founder of MENSOME.
Q.: What is the problem you are trying to solve? Please share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?
Ans: During my job, I had to meet different distributors and retailers of FMCG products, I discovered that men grooming products were limited to hair cutting and shaving products only, in similar way I had to meet gift shops owners also and I discovered that male gifting products were limited to wallet, belts , perfume and watches only.
I decided to fill this void in male grooming and gifting products category with MENSOME.
With grooming products, we wanted to solve the real skin and hair problem faced by men rather than providing them with a fancy grooming product. We created products in more natural way and less chemical way. They are free from paraben and sulphates and other harsh chemicals.
We introduced men clothing accessories like Neck Tie, Cufflinks, Pocket Square, Lapel Pin etc. and combined them in such a way that it opened a new gifting option in men gift category and was well accepted by the customers.
Q.: Please tell us about the founders
Ans: The Company is a bootstrapped organization started in 2017 by Himanshu Jain as Founder of MENSOME.
Mr. Himanshu Jain has done BTECH in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from MDU and PGDM (Masters) in International Business Operations from SRCC, Delhi University. He is born and brought Up in a Working Middle Class Family in Delhi. He has never thought he will start something of his own in fact he had good career growth going in corporate sector and while leaving the job he had 2-3 job opportunities with other leading MNC also & after having an in-depth research and long conversations with different stakeholders he realized there were not so many products in men grooming category. So he felt there is a void in Male grooming and Gifting market and that it needed to be filled. There comes the idea of MENSOME
Q.: List all the names of the core Team Members, along with their Designated Roles.
Ans: Most of the Tech and Marketing support is outsourced. We have Packaging and Logistics team in house which process daily orders.
Q.: Tell us about the Product / Solution. How did you get your first customer? Explain how you went about the Product-Market Fit Process.
Ans: Our product range includes a mix of Men’s Accessories and grooming range.
With grooming products, we wanted to solve the real skin and hair problem faced by men rather than providing them with a fancy grooming product. We created products in more natural way and less chemical way. They are free from paraben and sulphates and other harsh chemicals.
We introduced men clothing accessories like Neck Tie, Cufflinks, Pocket Square, Lapel Pin etc. and combined them in such a way that it opened a new gifting option in men gift category and was well accepted by the customers.
Q.: What is your USP? * What is the insight that you have about this market, which no one else has? Uniqueness about your Startup.
Ans: If we talk about our grooming products we have developed them in more natural way and less chemical way. They are free from harsh chemicals like Parabens and Sulphates.
Our accessories range like Neck tie set and Bow Tie set are manufactured in house where we can develop and customize the design as per customer requirement
Q.: What were your assumptions when you entered the market, learning that you have? Who in your mind is your ideal customer? Do you have at least one of them signed up?
Ans: We believed in the growing e-commerce market as in 2017 there were very limited D2C brands. Our first priority was to be available on all leading E-marketplaces and increase our product portfolio.
Our Ideal customer is the person who has just started doing job and want to succeed in corporate life. He goes to gym, parties, travel a lot, spend time in learning new skills, wants to look best and give his best.
Q.: What has been your biggest failure as an entrepreneur and what did you learn from it??
Ans: Continuous launching of new grooming products led to blockage of capital and we couldn’t spend on marketing of our best selling products.
Q.: How are you pricing the Product? What is the logic behind it? What is the model you are following – Free / Freemium / Premium etc. ? Explain your thought process.
Ans: Providing the best solution and creating the wow factor without spending too much.
Q.: Please tell us about the investors (if any)
Ans: It is self-funded startup (Bootstrapped Organization)
Q.: Is there any interesting success story of your startup? If yes, please write about it. ?
Ans: Once a customer placed a Neck Tie Combo Set order on flipkart and he returned the product with a note and a silver coin mentioning he liked our product and have sent a silver coin for future luck and wishes
Q.: Since inception, give us a sense of the value of business done by your venture?
Ans: MENSOME was started in September 2017. We have closed FY2020-21 with Rs. 1.6 Cr in Total sales revenue. Monthly we deliver more than 5000+ orders via marketplaces and other channels.
Q.: What is the big picture of your startup? Is this Product/service leading to something bigger? If so, how?
Ans: We are looking towards presence in offline stores through franchise model or availability in Hyper lifestyle stores like shopper stop, Westside etc. Our grooming products to be available in pharmacy, cosmetics and supermarkets stores via distribution channel.
Q.: Who do You Perceive as Your Competition? How do you differentiate yourself with them?
Ans: After Covid many D2C players have entered in the market. We treat Park Avenue as our competition but our outlook is more natural when it comes to grooming products.
Q.: What would be your goal to accomplish in the next six months? Any other information you would like to share?
Ans: In next 6 months, we are majorly focusing towards community building on social media and promote our website.
Q.: What message do you want to convey to fellow entrepreneurs?
Ans: Changing social media algorithms will lead to increase in customer cost of acquisition, our focus should be on building communities to retain our loyal customers.
Thanks Himanshu. All the best!
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