The success story of the Parivaar brand through Nitin Patel
Parivaar brand boasts a portfolio of over 200 products and a presence across 8 states
Today when we see a successful person, we only see his success. We forget how much effort he made behind it, how many setbacks he faced and how many failures he faced. The story of hard work, dedication and difficulties of a successful person is no less than an interesting and exciting movie. In the incense and fragrance industry, a lot of the people inherit a well-set business. They get the traditional knowledge of business and their product from their ancestors. There are only a few people who have started it from scratch and made their own way. The story of the Incense Parivaar Private Limited is similar. It is a mixture of difficulties, failures and success. Mr Nitin Patel, director of Incense Parivaar Private Limited, founded the company in 2012 and started the production of his brand under the name Parivaar. In an exclusive interview with Sugandh India, Mr Nitin Patel shared the story of his entry into the industry, the struggle and his success. The story is a source of inspiration for many new entrepreneurs.
Mr Nitin Patel shared that when he started this business back in 2012, he did not know anything about the incense industry. Initially, he started making raw incense sticks with the machine and would supply it. Speaking of the brand name “Parivaar”, he informed that initially Kamleshbhai Patel who is his partner and also brother-in-law, his wife, his brother and other family members helped him in running the business and therefore when he started his own brand, he named it “Parivaar” which means Family.
Mr Patel shared that initially, I faced a lot of problems because I was completely new to the incense stick industry, so I started observing the major brands of the industry. I studied their products, packaging and market strategies but soon I realised that I must make products that are unique.
Mr Patel explained that in this industry, no one tells or teaches anyone anything, so the problems were increasing. To understand the incense stick business, I started talking to distributors and shopkeepers. Gradually, I learned everything – packing, raw material, fragrance, quality, distributors’ margin and scheme. A special mention would be Jain Products of Ratlam, they helped me the most in this line and taught us how to decide the fragrance of the product. Even today we have family relations with them.
We learned a lot from the difficulties we faced and people we came across. We also learnt that to survive in the incense industry, we need to bring out new product ranges from time to time. It is similar to the fashion industry. We regularly launch 15 to 20 new products in the market and since 2012 till now more than 200 products of Parivaar brand have been launched.
While sharing his experience in learning the ins and outs of the industry, Mr Patel told that he faced a lot of difficulties, his initial products did not do well in the market and instead of selling them at cheaper rates and further hamper his brand image, he decided to dump the lot. He further informed that initially he also faced setbacks in production, the machines that were initially used were not up to the mark and would break down often. Over the time he learned through all these experiences and improved his brand.
Mr Patel on being asked about Parivaar brands position in Gujarat and other states of the country, he told that Parivaar’s market is being created outside Gujarat as well. Salesmen and distributors have been appointed. All the markets and cities have different demands.
Somewhere there is demand for dhoop, while somewhere for incense sticks, somewhere for masala batti, and somewhere for dry sticks. As the demand is increasing, the company is bringing new ranges. He told that at present the best markets other than Gujarat are Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. He also mentioned that Gujarat market is very trustworthy, especially for new businessmen and the money remains safe. The distributors here are also very loyal. He said that about 95% of the distributors who have been associated with us since the beginning are still working with us. The company has more than 120 distributors and separate wholesalers have been appointed for rural areas.
In response to a question, he said that there are big challenges in the incense industry. The prices of packaging and raw material are increasing and the biggest problem is the scheme. If the price is increased as per the production cost, then the distributors tell that top national brands are giving their products with the scheme at the same rate. In such a situation, we have to agree with them, because the rate cannot be increased. The weight or quantity of incense sticks and other products can be reduced, but the quality cannot be reduced. He said that the second big challenge is the burning issue of incense products. In the rainy season, the complaints of burning of incense sticks and agarbatti increase. On receiving such a complaint, the goods have to be taken back immediately. We are still learning something new every day.
On the bestselling products of Parivaar brand, he said that Kasturi, Blue Ocean, Tilak Chandan, Wood Magic, Pineapple are more popular in Zipper segment. He said that a series of perfumes have been launched, which is doing well. All are in the premium range. Kasturi and Tilak Chandan are also available in Parivaar’s box packaging. Jumbo zippers market above 400gm has also increased a lot in last couple of years. He said that there is a demand for constant changes in fragrance from the market, so we also have to change, whereas the prices of all kinds of fragrances have increased a lot. There is a lot of competition in the market and the price of the products cannot be increased.
In response to a question, he said that a big challenge is from local manufacturers, whose production cost and marketing expenses are very low. Still, we have to compete with them in rates, because consumers compare the price of local products to see how cheap they are.
On new products, Nitin Patel said that new perfume series have launched, foreign series has also been launched last year which is very fast moving as well. New premium boxes have been launched recently and new range is also being launched in 6” dhoop segment. Apart from incense sticks, Parivaar brand’s wet dhoop, dry stick, camphor and Sambrani cup are also available.
In response to a question, he said that the business of incense and agarbatti is like a river, which is never going to end. New players will keep entering this industry. Mr Nitin Patel gave a message to the new entrants in the industry that the demand in the market is increasing. New entrants will have to be careful and dedicated as both hard work and luck are necessary.
In the end he said that even big companies have failed here. Everyone gets success in this industry and all products are successful but for that you need to work hard and offer new products. In this industry, the people who think they can get successful overnight with very little capital and dedication are the ones who fail. One has to put proper capital investment and launch new products to the market every month or two.
