Here's How Falguni Nayar Became The First Female Self-Made Billionaire

A famous saying goes- " There is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise". Presently, the living embodiment of this quote is none other than Nykaa owner, Falguni Nayar.

 There are many instances where simple and ordinary women have done something conventional people would not dare to do. These women prove to be shining examples to those who dream to make it big in this patriarchal society. Falguni Nayar has proven to be a great inspiration for everyone who wants to shatter glass ceilings, not just in the corporate world but in every other aspect of life. 

Falguni Nayar is a businesswoman who launched her online beauty store, Nykaa.com, in April 2012. She recently became a household name after Nykaa had a bumper listing of its IPO on October 28th this year. She became the world's richest female self-made billionaire with a net worth of around $6.5 billion. 

Read on to know more about the Nykaa owner, her rise to fame and what makes Nykaa remain on top of the online beauty market. 

Early life and family of the Nykaa owner 

Born on February 19th 1963, 58-year-old Falguni Nayar hails from a Gujarati family but was brought up in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Her father was a businessman who ran a small bearings company with his mother. 

Her father knew the importance of educating women. He ensured Falguni received the best education. She graduated with a B.com degree from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai. She later went on to study post-graduate diploma in management at the prestigious IIM Ahmedabad. 

In 1987, Falguni married Sanjay Nayar, whom she met at the business school. They later had twins, a son, Anchit Nayar and a daughter, Adwaitha Nayar. 

Falguni Nayar worked for 18 years with Kotak Mahindra Bank as an investment banker. At the same time, she nurtured the dream of doing something by herself before she turned 50. She quit her well-established job to start her dream of an online beauty and makeup products store. 

The birth of Nykaa 

While working as an investment banker, Falguni was inspired by people who would come with the dream of starting their own business. This encouraged her to start her venture before she turned 50. 

She started exploring opportunities when she realised a huge potential for online beauty and makeup stores. Stemming from her experience, she found a huge gap between the supply and demand for beauty products and makeup brands in India. At that time, women would buy beauty and makeup products from a local store, with a minimal supply in terms of products and brands. This was when Falguni realised the need for an online beauty store to make a wide variety of beauty and make up brands accessible to women. 

She started Nykaa.com with $2 million of her own money in 2012. Stocking up all beauty brands that were not available in offline stores, she found her niche. Since then, Nykaa has tied with several brands globally, making luxury and international products accessible to Indian women. 

Nykaa.com became profitable within a few years of its launch. The company was worth 280 crores as of March 2017. (source) 

In October 2021, Nykaa's parent company, FSN e-commerce venture, planned to raise 5,325 crores from its IPO with the issue price per share of Rs 1,085-1,125. However, the IPO had a bumper listing on October 28th, the 1st day of its IPO, when it opened at a whopping Rs 2,001 on BSE, an increase of 77% over its initial value.  (Source) 

The company's market capitalisation crossed the Rs 100,000 mark within minutes of its market debut. Falguni Nayar and her family own 54.25% shares of the company. This made Nykaa owner's net worth rise to $6.5 billion, making her the richest self-made billionaire globally. 

Today, Nykaa.com is a household name for buying premium beauty, makeup and hair care products online. It accounts for over 30% of the online beauty market, making it the largest online personal and beauty retailer in India. 

So what makes Nykaa such a huge success? 

The answer lies in its business strategy. A solid business strategy should be foremost for any brand to become successful.

Let us delve a bit deeper into the business strategies that the Nykaa owner has adopted to make Nykaa a success. 

1) The brand is extremely customer-centric 

Falguni Nayar was quoted as saying in an interview to Bloomberg -" We'd rather sell the right colour of lipstick at full price than the wrong shade at half the cost which in turn would make the buyer unhappy within minutes of wearing it." This is what works for Nykaa. The company understands the importance of putting customers' needs first. A happy customer will not only order again but will also recommend the website to others. Anyone knowing even the basis of marketing knows that word-of-mouth marketing is the best kind of marketing there is. 

2) The brand gives precedence to quality 

Nykaa has tie-ups with several mid-segment and luxury beauty brands around the world. The website proudly displays the authenticity certificate of products on its page. This transparency has helped the brand win people's trust. Customers can be sure of the quality of the products they buy from the website. This has also led to an increase in repeat sales and customer satisfaction. 

3) The brand provides variety to its consumers 

One more important strategy for Nykaa is the wide range of brands available on its portal. It houses almost 1500 brands of skincare, makeup and fashion products under one roof. One will also find several international beauty and makeup brands that are very difficult to source elsewhere. Products of international luxury brands like Bobbi Brown, MAC, L'occitane and Estee Lauder can be easily ordered from their website. Making such rare brands easily accessible to women has worked hugely. Nykaa is also the only retailer in India that sells international brands like e.l.f, Tonymoly, Charlotte Tilbury, Sigma, Limecrime, Becca, Murad, and Dermalogica. 

4) The brand uses an extremely easy inventory led business model 

Having a simplistic business model has worked for this brand. Nykaa follows a remarkably easier business model. All its products are directly sourced from manufacturers and stored in their warehouses in New Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Haryana. This helps the brands provide quality products at affordable prices. A good logistics setup also ensures less shopping time. 

5) The brand uses brilliant marketing strategies 

The main reason behind Nykaa becoming a household name for ordering beauty products online is its brilliant marketing strategy. In a country where women were hesitant to order online, fearing fraud, Nykaa managed to draw its customers to shop online. Its presence can be felt in tier 2 & 3 cities as well. This is because of the hype it created in the market. The brand creates a lot of content online and posts it on different platforms. YouTube videos on makeup tutorials, beauty routines, hair care ideas, etc., help the customers understand the different products available on the portal and encourage sales. It has its own Youtube channel called Nykaa tv. The brand comes up with a lot of creative content online in the form of videos and written format as well. 

Nykaa also regularly collaborates with social media influencers to promote its products, their followers being the perfect target audience. 

The brand actively promotes affiliate marketing as well. Content creators create content on behalf of the brand and post them across various social media platforms. 

Nykaa has tie-ups with events that help them connect better with the audience. It recently hosted the Nykaa Femina Beauty Awards in collaboration with Femina. These events only help the audience build trust around the brand, drawing even naive interest shoppers to the website. 

6) The brand has an offline presence 

Recently, Nykaa has opened up 76 offline stores across the country. This has helped the customers connect with the brand on a personal level. These offline stores are in three formats- Nykaa luxe, Nykaa on-trend and Nykaa beauty kiosks. Nykaa owner, Falguni Nayar, has always stated the importance of an online business having an offline presence. 

7) Nykaa has its in-house beauty brand 

Recently, Nykaa has launched its own beauty label- Nykaa naturals and Makeup brand- Nykaa cosmetics. The products under this label are among the top-selling items on the website. 10% of the revenue from the website comes from its in-house brands. 

It has also ventured into the world of fashion with its label- Nykaa fashion. 

With such a variety of products available under one roof, it is a perfect place for millennial women to shop for everything they need, all delivered right to their doorstep. 

Want to make your brand stand out among the crowd? Reach out to us @Fashinza.com 

The only way to increase your sales is to provide good quality products at attractive prices. We, at Fashinza, provide you with the highest quality products for your garments business, all at extremely competitive prices. Reach out to us to find more.