Founders of SUGAR Cosmetics, Kaushik Mukherjee and Vineeta Singh, had a similar example recently when their entrepreneurial journey became a case study at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) Case Centre.
Taking to LinkedIn to announce the news, the Sugar COO said that he never thought in his ‘wildest dreams’ that the story of building SUGAR will be worthy of being an official case study.
The couple-turned-business partners met at IIM-A for the Master of Business Administration degree 16 years ago. “We met in business school 16 years back. Planned a lot of plans, and schemed a lot of schemes. Over a decade and half of building and being together, some dreams came true – others didn’t,” his post began.
He said that he was excited to see the case study be registered and uploaded on the website of the alma mater that gave the duo so much.
Mukherjee went on to thank the ‘sharpest minds in the academia’ Prof Saral Mukherjee and Prof Akshaya Vijayalakshmi for painstakingly dedicating endless hours to speak with the couple, colleagues, beauty advisors at the store to understand the journey of Sugar.
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During the Covid-induced lockdown in 2020, the couple faced a rough patch when things appeared upside down. Surrounded by hard decisions and unforeseen dilemmas, the duo navigated their way through choppy waters.
“It’s… I just choke up,” he wrote remembering those difficult times.
Alongside a decade-old picture of the couple from the IIM-A campus, Mukherjee concluded his post, “Our hearts are truly full and there’s nothing else… But a fleeting sense of what completeness could feel like and endless gratitude. Thank you.”
Last month, Mukherjee and Singh celebrated their 10th anniversary of building Sugar.
In 2012, the couple made the big decision of starting up again, when their other businesses had failed to scale.
When Vellvette Lifestyle, the company under which SUGAR Cosmetics was launched, was struggling to stay afloat, the duo launched the cosmetic brand in 2012. After that, they dedicated their first three years to come up with a plan with help from everything they had learnt.
Sharing a heartwarming note, Mukherjee posted an inspirational message for all aspiring entrepreneurs.
“You’re never really ready… And you’re never really not ready. But as long as you’re willing to put your heart into something, you feel strongly about – at least you’ll have the calming peace of knowing that you tried,” his post read.
He also concluded his post by saying that the body and mind can get tired, but the heart won’t stop knowing or caring.
The business partners often share their learning and advice on social media with their followers.
