My Story: 'People Called Me Insane For Leaving My Stable Job, But I Wanted To Do Something Of My Own'

• I am an entrepreneur running a brand called 'Smoodies'. I pursued my MBA from IIM Calcutta, and a BSc (Hons) Economics degree from the London School of Economics. Prior to running Smoodies, I worked as a Management Consultant and Investment Banker, in Mumbai and London, respectively. It was a typical 9-5 job and while working there, I led a very unhealthy lifestyle. So one day, I decided to call it quits and start my own venture.

While I had been living the unhealthy way all this while, I thought to look for something healthy. That is how 'Smoodies' was born. It is a clean label beverages brand, built on the ethos of delivering honest nutrition in a convenient packaged format to its consumers. It is different from the other products as it contains no added sugars, preservatives, or any additives. All our formulations celebrate the natural texture of the fruit, creating a variety of juicy, pulpy and varied flavours and textures, making us unique from others in the market.

Fruit In A Bottle

Initially, I started from a home kitchen as the savings were not much. But eventually, I started a factory within one year of launching the brand. Now, we deliver our services on Amazon also.

The brand houses two product ranges, a range of fruit smoothies, and a range of juices. All our products are all-natural, and all flavour comes from the natural fruit itself.

You will find 'Smoodies' across supermarkets, e-commerce platforms such as BigBasket, Swiggy and Zomato, in offices, at restaurants and in leisure and sports centers, which gives me immense pleasure and satisfaction. Seeing your brand grow is the such a proud feeling.

Due to COVID, we focused more on online channels. Now we sell through our own website, as well as Amazon and other e-commerce platforms, this has transformed our business and allowed us to sell pan India!

Now I want my company to hit a 100 crore in annual revenues. Over the years, more consumers across income groups are now making healthier choices. I believe the brand has strong potential to venture into new categories and geographies, to build a diversified portfolio of clean-label food products.

When I left my job, people crticised me for my decision. They would call me stupid and insane for leaving such a good job. But today, I feel happy and contended about not listening to anyone. It is always important to follow your heart than to care about people and society.

If you too have an inspiring story to tell the world, send us your story at mystory@thelogicalindian.com