How This Mumbai-based Entrepreneur Has Found Its Way in the Body Building and Fitness Industry

Scitron is on a constant quest to bring together the best of science and technology to provide better nutrition and help whose who want to reach their pinnacle of physical strength and health. From a team that encompasses more than 20 years of combined experience in sports nutrition, now comes a brand focused on delivering accessible, high quality and distinctive products.

About the founders
Scitron has two co-founders:

1. Dilip Mohanlal Rohra – Managing Director – Dilip is a seasoned veteran with over 25 years of experience in wide variety of industries including Textiles, Personal Care, and Dietary Supplements. Having successfully managed one of the leading firms in Sports Nutrition industry importing variety of Health & Nutrition products, Mr Dilip has performed an important role in shaping the Indian Sports Nutrition industry. He has been successful in establishing smaller brands like Labrada Nutrition & Scivation, Inc. and making them as household names/category leaders across the Indian market. He continues his journey in making Scitron Nutrition as one of the leading brands in the Sports Nutrition industry in India and beyond.
2. Ravi Mohanlal Rohra – Chief Operating Officer – Ravi has completed M.S. in Management Information Systems from New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA and has a wide variety of experience ranging from innovating patented technology solutions for a Silicon Valley based firm in USA to managing Financial instruments in New York’s Wall Street. After deciding to relocate to India, he has been contributing to the success of Muscle Pro Nutrition, a leading importer and distributor of Sports Nutrition industry. He has been a pioneer in introducing the Industry’s only Authentication solution that rewards its users for buying genuine products. He has a very keen interest in understanding the science of products in the industry. In the current role as Chief Operating Officer, he is leading the marketing and product development of Scitron Nutrition with some cutting edge formulas that deliver results across the spectrum.

We are publishing an interview with Mr. Ravi:

Q.: What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Ans: In this age of fast paced environment, getting the right macronutrients in your meal becomes a challenge. More often than not, we fail in achieving our goals not due to training but due to lack of proper diet. Scitron provides the product profiles that help in achieving your fitness goals by staying true to their nutrition needs.

Q.: Can you share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?
Ans: Protein supplements was a major contributor for a healthy and balanced lifestyle. The biggest challenge which the consumer were facing with protein supplements was authenticity and results. Many products were imported from the US but import duties made the products expensive for the indian consumers. A parallel market of counterfeit products started growing rapidly because of the increasing demand.

To overcome these challenges, we at Scitron launched a complete product range of Protein supplements. All the products are manufactured in India with the help of international ingredients which made import quality products available for consumers at a reasonable price.

Q.: Tell us about the Product / Solution. Explain how you went about the Product-Market Fit Process.
Ans: Our products range in the spectrum of Sports Nutrition and are targeted towards someone who wants to lead an active lifestyle. We have products ranging from Whey Proteins to Weight Gainers to Amino Acids and all other products that help our clients achieve their fitness goals.

Q.: What is your USP?
Ans: Our unique value proposition is to use Science and Research in everything we create. In addition, we try to use technological innovations in ingredients and delivery profiles of our products. Our use of Vegan BCAA’s which are fermented in a lab rather than sourced from Animal bones or skins is one such attempt at using technological innovation in our products.

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: Our assumption has been that our customers are price sensitive but at the same time, they look for quality products. The customer does not want to sacrifice on any attributes and is seeking value proposition that matches their expectations. We feel these customers value the premium ingredients and quality that goes in Scitron products but at the same time does not hurt their pockets. We have signed up many retailers who believe in our approach and are constantly expanding our network.

Q.: What has been your biggest failure as an entrepreneur and what did you learn from it??
Ans: In every entrepreneur’s journey, there are road blocks. We have faced a few in our previous endeavour where we were in the business of distribution. In that line, you do not have control over the decisions that are taken by your principal company but you may end up paying the price for it. If your principal company does not evolve with the changing conditions, then our business can get affected. Our biggest learning was that in order to control your destiny, you have to take charge of the brand from the initiation and lead the success story by integrating all aspects of the business.

Q.: How are you pricing the Product? Explain your thought process.
Ans: We are product company and are working on the traditional inventory model. All our products are offered to our distributors and retailers at competitive margins that prevail in the industry.

Q.: How did you get your first customer?
Ans: Due to our association with MPN, we got our initial set of customers from them. We have been slowly penetrating into the MPN network for adoption of our products.

Q.: Please tell us about the investors (if any)
Ans: Scitron Nutrition is using its own funds for the venture. There are no external investors.

Q.: What is the big picture of your startup? Is this Product/service leading to something bigger? If so, how?
Ans: We plan to expand our product portfolio into a very diverse set of products with some cutting edge products as well as everyday use products. This way we can fulfil the needs of every customer that wants to stay fit can use Scitron products in their everyday lives.

Q.: Since inception, give us a sense of the value of business done by your venture?
Ans: We have been blessed with rapid adoption at the primary level by our retail partners. We have seen a strong upliftment from the secondary sales as well. Our products are constantly being reordered showing us that the products are relevant to the market and they are being appreciated. We are currently doing a 6 crore turnover for the first part of the year. However we are expecting the numbers to grow 300% in the next financial year.

Q.: What is the insight that you have about this market, which no one else has? Uniqueness about your Startup.
Ans: We have a decade long experience in the Sports Nutrition industry which we are using to our advantage in terms of product development, marketing initiatives, and distribution. These attributes help us to have a strong footing in this industry.

Q.: List all the names of the core Team Members, along with their Designated Roles – How you see them evolving over time. What would be each of their Skillsets? – Elaborate also if any of the team members has a specific domain expertise.
Ans: Sure:

• Lalit Adhikari National Sales Head
• Aaron Simon Operations Head
• Viraj Bane Digital and Marketing Strategist
• Hemendra Hazare Operations Executive
• Snehal Surve Brand marketing associate

Q.: Who do You Perceive as Your Competition? How do you differentiate yourself with them?
Ans: There are many companies that have occupied category positions in this industry. Some of the names like Optimum Nutrition, Muscletech, and Muscle Blaze are such companies that we go after. On a price to value comparison across the products, we have a strong belief that we deliver better value than these competitors and will continue to us technological innovations in all our products.

Q.: What would be your goal to accomplish in the next six months?
Ans: There are many product gaps that we feel are not served by the competition. Our goals are to expand our product range so we can provide solutions to our customers in those product categories

Q.: What message do you want to convey to fellow entrepreneurs?
Ans: Being an entrepreneur is long enduring journey. There are no shortcuts to hard work and as long as you continue the grind, you will see result from your venture.

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Thanks Ravi. Best wishes.