Meet Nandita Bhagwandin | Small Business Owner, Full Time College Student

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nandita Bhagwandin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nandita, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The success of my brand comes from me, being a dedicated and determined individual. I think about how I had this impulse to research and try out new things and I am so thankful that I created my business. The success stems from my personal beliefs as a business owner. I am a people person, I strive to make people happy. Having a product that so many people love and enjoy brings me nothing but happiness. My business was never about the money, but building a genuine connection with individuals and seeing that makeup and skincare can be made simply at home. I love having a business to where I have the final and only say. Everything is run by me, down to inventory and finances. That’s where the success really is, by managing myself and the path of my business. I have been doing this for 3 years now, and I have seen nothing but success. It’s still a learning process and there is always room for improvement, given that I started from nothing, I definitely think that I am educating myself on how to be as successful as possible with my business. It’s also teaching me how to make my business stand out, and how to embrace my business concept that intertwines my love for cosmetics and my culture. I think that my business will continue to grow at its own rate and continue to be successful.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business was started in 2020, during lockdown. I was sent home from college with this idea of a business. I started brainstorming around January/ February time and by March, I was sent home with nothing but time. I decided to clean out my savings and take that leap of faith, and it was the best decision I ever made. Fast forward 3 years, I am now doing pop ups, at least twice a month, responding to articles, and shipping worldwide. My business is different from most in the sense of the concept. I decided to intertwine my culture and my love for makeup together. Having a niche is the hardest part, but once I settled on the idea, I continued with it and figured out how to tie the idea of makeup and Indo-Caribbean culture together. I am most proud of the idea of bringing a piece of my culture to people, that I am able to poke fun with my culture and be creative with colors and names and just overall feel represented in the beauty world. Where I am at now was not an easy journey. Starting during a pandemic while every place was closed was extremely hard. I am also not as active on social media, so being strictly online was hard. There were months of no orders, no productiveness, no motivation. At the end of the day, I kept pushing forward. I kept brainstorming and kept thinking how to make my business even better, more me. Most of the issues I encountered involved finances. Once I learned how to budget and manage money for my business, I saw a spike in orders as well as popup opportunities. Since then, I have had a steady amount of orders monthly, as well as pop ups. I want the world to know that being a business owner isn’t hard, it should be fun. It should be something you’re genuinely passionate about. If money is the only thing holding you back, definitely so some research and start small. Starting small leaves lots of room to grow into something even bigger and not a lot of people understand that. I want the world to recognize my business and see a strong, independent, passionate creator who wants everyone to enjoy her products. To see that this is a business for everyone, wanting everyone to have a piece of Indo-Caribbean culture in their hands and discover a natural based cosmetics line.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I don’t spend as much time in ATL as I should, but I would definitely do some of the more touristy things first. We’d go to the aquarium, the zoo, the World of Coke. Definitely check out any local events, like pop ups or little markets. We’d go to Ponce City Market, we’d explore Atlanta together. We would be tourists together. I would bring my friend to my home town of Tyrone, we’d eat at Nikko’s one night. Definitely go shopping, hit a few different malls.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to my family. My parents have been nothing but supportive, they watched me make my plan, order supplies, gave me some more space to grow in our at-home office. They’ve been to every popup, helped set up and break down, brought me lunch and snacks while I sold products. I’m so lucky to have such a strong support system behind me. I also definitely think my friends, everyone who has seen me post on my personal social media and shown up have a very special place in my heart. It shows you who your true friends and supporters are; they want to watch you grow and thrive and be there for you in your moments of success.

Website: https://indocaribbeanlotusbeauty.bigcartel.com/

Instagram: @i.c._lotus_beauty