Innovation

Green Gifts started with the small vision of a woman determined to start a business and make her mark in a patriarchal society. From the beginning, Mrs. Pragati Dande was sure about her business approach and created an example of "how profits can be earned without hurting the environment."

The business provides basic gift products produced using innovative approaches. Apart from being eco-friendly, these products offer value for everyday use. At the start of the business, the firm faced losses and cash flow issues, but Mrs. Dande held her ground and worked hard toward achieving her dream. The company had a slow start, but gradually, new innovative products were included, such as Eco365 water savers, khadi products certified by khadi India, etc. All products were produced using natural ingredients that could easily be recycled.

Although Green Gifts did not formally adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and even the founder was not aware of it till the interview, according to our research into their business model, they were following the basic principles along these goals.

For example, they followed SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure by offering innovative products such as Bamboo Toothbrushes, Eco-365 water savers, and compostable bags. They also had a portfolio of khadi products certified by Khadi India.

They followed SDG 12 - Responsible Production & Consumption by implementing the business strategy of marketing sustainable products such as Bamboo Toothbrushes, which reduce CO2 Emissions, Eco-365 water savers that focus on water preservation, and health-focused food products.

They followed SDG 13- Climate action by promoting the consumption of products that benefited the environment. These products were produced by replacing fossil-fuel-based plastic raw materials with sustainable alternatives. Through the production of bamboo toothbrushes, which could easily be recycled, green gifts allowed businesses to function with minimal environmental impact.

Inspiration

Mrs. Pragati Dande was very close to her father. Her father was a dedicated environmental activist and had a green finger. He led the protest demonstrations against the deforestation initiatives in Goa. Mrs. Dande was influenced by her father's ideals and grew up with an inbuilt instinct to help society and protect the environment.

Growing up in India, she had an excellent western education and was well-informed and knowledgeable about current world events and policies. She was sensitive to her surroundings and their impact on the lives of millions of humans. She observed early on that most businesses followed methods that were detrimental to the environment and society. She said, "People discouraged me from following my entrepreneurship dream by stating that a business cannot be profitable if the key focus is on the environment. But my childhood learnings helped me stick to my roots and principles while ignoring unwarranted opinions."

Overall impact

At the onset, the wins for Green Gifts were minimal as the sales were relatively low, and the business struggled with profitability. But gradually, when the demand for such products started to kick in, Mrs. Dande's patience bore fruit as she began earning decent gains on the increased sales. By 2017, in Goa only, Green Gifts booked more than one crore (10 million USD) in sales annually with a profit margin of 20%. The growth since then was steady until Covid happened in 2020. The business had significant cash flow issues during the pandemic but did not lay off a single employee out of the current fifteen employees. As Mrs. Dande described, "It was an adamant time for the retail sector. There were times when there was significant pressure to lay off staff, but we could not do it to our employees."

Over these ten years, the business has benefited both society and the environment by giving livelihood to more than ten people, contributing towards the nation's economy, decreasing plastic usage and Co2 emissions by selling eco-friendly products such as bamboo toothbrushes, promoting khadi clothes certified by khadi India and advocating for environment-friendly fashion trends.

The impact of these contributions might be negligible in the short term, but in the long run, these products, collectively, have a significant effect on our social ecosystem.

Business benefit

Mrs. Pragati Dhande, the owner of Green Gifts, started this business to pursue her dream of owning her firm. In the initial days, the firm had five employees, and it was difficult to pay them while the company suffered huge losses. Gradually, the number of employees went up to 13 in 2016, and the business was reaching new heights due to a sudden increase in awareness about eco-friendly products. In 2017, Green Gifts made an annual sale of 1.6 crores with a profit margin of approximately 20%.

When asked about her employees, Mrs. Dande said, " I consider my team as my family; all of them are dear to me, and all were paid much above the industry standards."

Social and environmental benefit

This innovation helps the environment in various ways, such as:

1) Reducing the usage of fossil-fuel-based plastic materials and C02 emissions by using natural plant-based alternatives.

2) Advocating water conservation by selling Eco365 water savers.

3) Promoting responsible fashion trends by selling khadi products certified by khadi India.

4) Advancing environment-friendly products in the gifting industry by introducing eco-friendly corporate gift hampers.

Interview

Pragati Dande, CEO