The founder of personal lifestyle brand ‘MY’ and a hard core educationist, Mr Kavin Kandasamy has been in the field of revolutionizing the education industry since 7 years. The launch of his brand ‘MY’ completely resonates his characteristics envisioning products created for a sustainable future and also promoting Made in India Brand for global Consumption. Heading operations for K3 Management & Edu Services Pvt. Ltd. – India, Kavin has been associated with the firm from the past 6 years. He is also an awardee of the Education Evangelist award from India’s leading business journal Forbes. His diverse Professional background ranges from Retail to Safety & Protection, following one central principle and that is sustainability. Under his leadership, the educational business has extended its footprints over 7 institutions spread across 6 campuses serving over 7000 students every year. The organisation has also grown from over 84 employees in 2013 to over 1000 employees in 2019 because of his care and guidance.
Digitization and Advancements in Technology have changed a lot of perspectives when it comes to the association of customers with a product or brand. We are in a fast-moving world where the market is flooded with options, variants, and choices and the customer is often left in a dilemma as to which to choose and what to reject.
Start-ups, unlike Corporates, are fuelled by Innovation and forward-thinking. With greater momentum, agility, and involvement to access the most recent technological advancements, start-ups facilitate a greater understanding of the Marketplace, build exciting and new products by maximizing the importance of the target audience.
Little did we know that the year 2020 could change all of our long-held beliefs and challenge our very existence of life. No contingency plans or back-ups could bring the world back to normalcy! We started valuing the health and well-being of our family and loved ones like never before. As you are reading this, we have still not been able to recover from the pandemic hit.
Will Institutions and Businesses survive another breakdown? Can vaccines bring our life back to Normal? With all these questions in mind, “Safety and Protection” is the only answer to all our uncertainties and insecurities.
Every half a century we go through major lifestyle upgrades but now this is happening every decade, safety and protection should be our go-to words moving forward in life. We are together fighting the viral battle now and we might soon be thrown in the podium to wrestle with some other disease-causing micro-organism. Hence,
“Staying safe and protecting ourselves is the best way forward!”
Day in and day out we keep hearing about the poor air quality index of various cities like Delhi and the world is not far away from becoming a polluted place for humans to live in. Poor-quality air is also one of the main reasons for various diseases and sadly, this factor is often compromised. While we might have seen many start-ups coming up with air purifiers and air regulators, the best and economical way is to wear a face mask.
Keeping all of this in mind, many start-ups in the Health and Wellness, and Retail sector are coming up with solutions to make safety blend in seamlessly with the everyday lifestyle of people. And the best way to take safety across to people is by complementing it with technology. Technology, by monitoring living standards and taking all the parameters into account, provides a conducive environment for us to live in. This will encapsulate us from another pandemic and thus enhance the safety of our lifestyle.
With 44.69% of the people having access to Smartphones and 81% of the people searching online for a product or service; almost everyone now is brand conscious and interestingly, concerned about the style quotient. Even when it boils down to the most basic safety products like Masks and Sterilizers, people still expect the look and feel of the product to be edgy and to let the customer take pride in carrying them along with their daily gadgets like laptops, mobile phones, etc.
Therefore, startups that are committed to cater to the safety of people are now in a competitive space to design World Class Products that leave no compromise on specifications, efficiency, and most importantly the looks.
If the above has to be conveyed in a nutshell, “All Business have 2 options- to disrupt or be disrupted”.
Like it or not, this is the New Normal which includes startups from all the sectors and domains that are concerned about the safety of the people. Making products is one thing but taking it to the customers such that it blends into their lifestyle is the real challenge for any Start-up trying to weave safety into people’s lifestyle.
If a customer starts using the need of the hour products like Masks and Sanitizers without anybody watching or monitoring out of their personal choices and decision, then that is the success and reach of a start-up that produces safety-conscious products that target customers’ health and well-being. Because the people who buy masks from these Startups are wearing them driven by personal choices and not because of a rule or regime passed or proposed by the Government officials.
“According to the 21- day rule, anything that is followed for 21 days becomes a habit”.
For example, when Mask was introduced initially by the Government as a regime for addressing the safety concerns, all of us were finding this new ritual quite a task to follow but now, even without the supervision of anybody, masks have become a part of our everyday attire so much so that if we don’t wear it, we feel like something in us is missing.
This is the reason why any product that becomes a habit for the customer will be a part of their lifestyle and since the world cannot sustain another breakdown, startups need to come up with solutions that not just make people’s lives better but also safer.
Along with the vision, mission statement, and Brand Goals, innovative and sustainable solutions that startups come up with, will make safety a lifestyle choice that helps people transition smoothly into the New Normal without making the people feeling compelled or forced to adapt to the changes. That is the real success of a start-up transcending past financial achievements, goals, and vision- “To weave safety into the lifestyle of people”.