NewsX was recently joined by Arushi Jain, founder of Stayhappi Pharmacy, for an exclusive conversation as a part of its special series, NewsX A-List. Talking about the reason she started Stayhappi Pharmacy, Arushi said, “When we started it, I wanted to utilise the resources that I had, to be able to do something better and good for the people of our country. Since we had been into pharma manufacturing, we already had the capabilities to manufacture quality medicines. So, I wanted to launch these medicines at really, really affordable prices and get them accessible across the country”.
Speaking about her family already being in pharma and taking this decision with some help from them, Arushi said, “What happens when your family is in the same industry is, it helps you in many ways. How it helped me was, one, to connect to the right people at the right time. Two, you get the respect in the industry, which you don’t get as a startup, because people know your family business. That again helps you in meeting the right people. So, this really helps you in the starting”.
Talking about the two years since her startup, and her choice between being a salaried employee and the boss, Arushi said, “The shift has been really challenging, but it is truly rewarding. So, as an entrepreneur, the job is very demanding. Every face of your startup, there’s a different demand that you have to fulfil as an entrepreneur, there’s a different skill that you have to learn. So, you’re constantly out of your comfort zone. I really enjoy being an entrepreneur as compared to a salaried employee”.
Speaking about the hardships that entrepreneurs face, she said, “As a young entrepreneur especially, one of the problems that you face is that you don’t know everything. You don’t know a lot of things but you still have to learn them along the way and have to learn them quickly and then work accordingly.”
Sharing her thoughts about starting Stayhappi Pharmacy and how successful her aim of providing good quality medicines at affordable prices to people was, over the past two years, Arushi said, “In the last two years, starting from one pharmacy we now have crossed the benchmark of 500+ pharmacies across the country, in more than 60 cities. So, we have a range of more than 500 medicines across different therapies, chronic as well as acute. So, a patient can really choose any medicine that they want and through Stayhappi medicines, they can save a lot on their monthly medicine bills. So, if a person or a family is spending Rs 5,000-6,000 on their monthly medicines, they can reduce it up to Rs 1,500-2,500.”
Talking about the medicines of Stayhappi, their quality and prices, Arushi explained, “There are two very important aspects—quality and price. The quality of our medicines is the same as that of any trusted big manufacturers, big pharma companies that we know, because it is manufactured in the same facility. So, the quality is the same; the price, however, is lower. What we’ve done is that we’ve reduced our MR fees, so that wherever in the country our medicine is going, be it Jammu or Kanyakumari, or the Northeast, the MRP is the same.”
Speaking about the trust factor in this industry and how sometimes people spend more than they can afford to, Arushi said, “That’s very important. The trust that companies have taken 20-30 years to build, we cannot build that in a very short span of time. But we tried and explained to people the concept and how and where it’s being manufactured. So, each and every strip of medicine is bar coded and they can scan the barcode and see the quality certificate behind it.”
Talking about the pandemic and how Stayhappi medicines helped people out in the lockdown, Arushi said, “One, we had to take care of our staff and its safety. There were a lot of safety precautions around and we started doing a lot of home delivery, even in the red zones. People used to come out to where the barricades were to take the medicines. So, there was a lot of safe home delivery that we started during the pandemic.”
Talking about being a young entrepreneur, the ‘Make in India’ scheme and the ease of doing business in India, Arushi said, “As far as ‘Make in India’ is concerned, we have been very strong as a nation. However, the consumers were not very supportive but this year and after PM Modi highlighted, I’ve seen a lot of people around me, appreciating ‘Make in India’ products, specifically finding ‘Make in India’ products. So, this is very nice and will boost our economy in the long run. I think it’s a very welcome change.”
Speaking on the dos and don’ts in her business, Arushi said, “For the dos, first, believe in your gut feeling. Second, to have a very, very good core team around you with the required skill sets. Third, to have one or two mentors around you, who are there to guide you through the process because it’s definitely not very easy. For the don’ts, a lot of entrepreneurs and founders like to do a lot of work themselves because of our obsession of perfection. So, it’s important to delegate. Do not think that you should not delegate, it’s very important to delegate so that you are able to invest your time in the right things and grow your business.”
Talking about the vision ahead for Stayhappi Pharmacy, Arushi said, “I think India has immense potential when it comes to healthcare and medicines. So, I want to open a Stayhappi Pharmacy in every district and town in the next three years and be able to impact the 100-crore population.”