(News Trust of India): Starting a business typically requires taking bold actions, which are crucial for achieving one’s entrepreneurial dreams. About six years ago, a powerful pair from Bengaluru started a very impactful journey. Currently, they lead a successful Ayurveda healthcare business, with an astounding yearly income of Rs 17 crore.
The beginning of this amazing journey goes back to 2018 when Prashanth Vastred made an important decision. Leaving his well-paying job at PwC in South Africa after working there for four years, Prashanth came back to India full of enthusiasm to start his own business.
Working along with his wife, Dr. Yamuna, a skilled Ayurvedic practitioner with a successful clinic in Bengaluru, they started Guduchi, a forward-thinking business focused on spreading Ayurvedic healthcare solutions.
Guduchi Ayurveda Private Limited started in 2019 with money saved by the founders. At first, the business started by selling carefully made Ayurvedic treatments by Dr. Yamuna in her clinic, but on a small scale.
At the same time, the pair took over a faltering Ayurvedic production factory in Udupi, Karnataka, which greatly expanded their business.
Yamuna, an alumnus of the reputed Govt Ayurveda Medical College Bengaluru, had been administering her clinic since 2013, producing unique Ayurvedic formulations tailored to her patients’ needs. Reflecting on their modest beginnings, Prashanth recollects, “Our small production plant located in Hennur, Bengaluru, adjacent to the clinic grounds, exclusively retailed our inventions. Aside from our unique formulas, we selected a collection of 30-40 goods from Patanjali.
Fast forward to the present, their production portfolio has burgeoned to comprise 150 generic and 50 customized lifestyle cures, all precisely manufactured within their in-house facility in Udupi.
Noteworthy among their offers are products like Obesidat, Gainit, KM20, Stress-X, NAV-C, PKOD, and Diabex GT, catering fully to an array of health concerns, including diabetes management and ameliorating lifestyle illnesses such as PCOD and obesity.
Prashanth’s trajectory from the rustic surrounds of Karnataka’s Bidar district to co-founding a thriving firm is nothing short of inspirational. Raised amidst limited resources, Prashanth’s formative years were spent amidst the limits of an impoverished household, sustained solely by his father’s little candy business, the family’s sole source of livelihood.
Despite the inherent vicissitudes of such a venture, Prashanth’s hunger for knowledge remained unquenchable. Recalling his embryonic venture into the worlds of English reading, he reminisces, “Observing two peers attending an English-medium school in my proximity, I held an ardent wish to mimic them. However, circumstances hindered such goals.”
Undeterred, in 1999, he went on a quest for linguistic proficiency under the guidance of a local mentor, progressively acquainting himself with the intricacies of the language.
“My linguistic endeavors were met with encouragement and appreciation, even amid the rustic confines of our village,” Prashanth reminisces lovingly. “Every interaction, no matter how mundane, served as a canvas for honing my linguistic acumen.”
Prashanth’s academic pursuits culminated in a matriculation from a Kannada-medium university in 2001, subsequently pursuing a Bachelor’s in Electronics and Communications from Rural Engineering College, Bhalki.
Following his graduation in 2005, Prashanth traveled to Bengaluru, where he co-founded a software training school alongside a close confidant, collecting a meager monthly stipend of Rs 5,000.
Reflecting on the challenges encountered during this period, Prashanth writes, “The familial exhortations to pursue conventional avenues of prosperity often engendered moments of self-doubt.”
In December 2006, Prashanth resolved to sever company with the institute, signifying a transformative juncture in his professional trajectory.
Prashanth’s ascendance gained steam upon adopting the position of a software developer at Subex Pvt. Ltd. in 2007, later transferring to jobs of increasing importance at KPMG and PwC in South Africa, where he played a crucial part in pioneering a new data analytics tool.
The year 2018 was a poignant homecoming for Prashanth, as he rejoined with his spouse, Yamuna, to realize their shared entrepreneurial passion with the inception of Guduchi.
The entrepreneurial trip, however fraught with obstacles, offered varied victories. Initially acquiring a bank loan with the goal of upgrading their clinic’s infrastructure, the pair turned the cash towards significant research and development initiatives, thus building the foundation for their Ayurvedic product line.
A watershed moment came with the unveiling of their maiden offering, a cough syrup lauded for its efficacy in relieving respiratory problems within a span of two days, gaining global acclaim and setting the foundation for their entrepreneurial ascension.
The succeeding year witnessed the opening of the Guduchi website, facilitating direct-to-consumer retail activities. Swiftly diversifying their sales channels to embrace e-commerce behemoths like Amazon, Meesho, Tata 1 MG, Local Option, and Noon.com in the UAE, the duo staged a paradigm change in their market outreach activities.
Presently, the firm lives on a balanced revenue stream coming from both online sales and foot visitation at its flagship clinic in Kammanahalli, Bengaluru.
Dividing their responsibilities prudently, Prashanth presides over production logistics as the Managing Director, while Yamuna assumes the helm of clinical operations and supervises the formulations department.
Guduchi’s rising prosperity finds echo in its burgeoning workforce, which has burgeoned from a modest cadre of three employees in 2019 to a cohort of approximately 50 personnel.
The enterprise’s headquarters, ensconced in Bengaluru’s Kammanahalli area, comprises a rented expanse covering 3000 square feet, complemented by a large manufacturing complex extended across 1.2 acres in Udupi, inclusive of a warehouse facility.
Prashanth’s domestic tableau, underlined by filial relationships and communal living, finds fruition amidst the warmth of his ancestral dwelling, alongside his husband, Dr. Yamuna, and their brilliant son, Raghav, whose propensity for content production reflects in his blossoming YouTube account.
In moments of repose, Prashanth finds solace in the peace of spiritual discourse and quiet reflection, juxtaposed with leisurely journeys alongside his kinfolk, experiencing the numerous intricacies of coffee crafting.
