Tech Burner, Mumbiker Nikhil, Chef Sanjyot Keer And More: Creators And Their Businesses They're everywhere. On Instagram, YouTube and Facebook when we're scrolling through reels. In our friends whatsapp groups with a comic take on the latest trend or with an informed opinion on the current news story.

They're everywhere. On Instagram, YouTube and Facebook when we're scrolling through reels. In our friends whatsapp groups with a comic take on the latest trend or with an informed opinion on the current news story. At parties when discussions turn to their latest meme worthy content, controversy or podcast. Influencers are fast replacing our Bollywood celebrities as conversation starters. And over the last years like their movie industry counterparts, they have been venturing into entrepreneurship.

Every week sees an announcement of a certain actor launching their own skincare product, health app or becoming the brand ambassador for a food delivery platform. The same pace seems to be catching up with the content creators, with certain specific favouites ofcourse. With millions of followers on their social media accounts, over time they realised that marketing and reaching out to people would not be a challenge, and getting into some form of business would significantly aid to their revenue and get them started on the path to entrepreneurship. Fashion seems to be the common ground where they all meet, and then ofcourse there are other businesses.

Fashion Street

Take for example, motovlogger Nikhil Sharma aka Mumbiker Nikhil, who along with his wife, digital content creator Shanice Shrestha started Shanz and Nikz, specializing in both ethnic wear for men and women. Shanz and Nikz operates as a Business to Consumer (B2C) model. An interesting aspect of their business is that they have embraced the principle of 'vocal for local,' making a strategic decision to engage numerous local tailors in and around their areas, offering them full-time employment.

Then we have widely known tech influencer Shlok Srivastava aka Tech Burner, who started Overlays, a clothing and apparel brand in 2021. Till date they've experienced a traffic of over 4 million sessions on the website and have catered to over 20,000 orders, with a base of +1.4 lakh customers. In November 2022, they curated their biggest winter launch with a traffic of 1 million people on the website and sold 7,900+ orders within 24 hours of the launch.

But what did Srivastava learn about the business since he started it?

"Through this journey we've learned that successful entrepreneurship involves more than just creating and selling products. Connecting with people and creating products that make a positive impact are crucial aspects of fulfillment and success. Building strong relationships with customers, understanding their needs, market gaps and incorporating their feedback has been instrumental," he told us.

Similarily, entrepreneur and digital content creators Yashi Tank and Suraj Pal Singh who started Suyash Fashion in 2023 didn't have any idea of how to run a business, whether it was making a website, a brand logo, how to run ads, how to plan production but now have understood them all.

Childhood Dreams

However, there are some who have always had the dream of starting their own companies, and the fact they became successful content creators, aided in that journey. Take DRI by HIMADRI, for instance. Himadri had always been fond of fashion since childhood. "I grew up seeing my grandmother and mother getting ready every morning for work, and the way they draped their sarees or wore their ethnic wear pieces used to fascinate me. As I started my career as a content creator, I focused on producing content around Indian wear. The positive response from my audience encouraged me to create something of my own. That's when DRI by HIMADRI came into being," she explained.

Another example is influencer Shivani Kapila who started Little Glove Gurukul in 2023, a primary school. Located in Morabhagal, Surat, it was founded by Shivani and her mother. Starting a brand had been her childhood dream, when walking in malls she used to think- 'what if my name was here' but opening a school as a brand was unexpected. "I believe that education is the building block of our society. From a true "influencer" I hold moral and social commitment to give something back to the society," Shivani said.

Hot From The Oven

Another business away from apparels is by Chef Sanjyot Keer, called YFL Home, which allows home chefs to transform kitchens into stunning spaces. The whole idea to build Your Food Lab - YFL Home was that how could he could disrupt the content space back where there was a big requirement for new age food content. "I believe to build a brand there always has to be a motive, a mission and with YFL home I want to try and innovate space where thinking about ways with how we can make cooking more fun, how can people cook easily at home, how does that process become easier for them and through using YFL," he said.

End Game

The longevity of these creator businesses is something that we will gain more clarity on once the years roll by, but one thing is for sure, just as it had become a standard practice for beauty pageant winners to venture into Bollywood, creative businesses too could become a normal byproduct of the influencer journey, unless ofcourse it already has.

The author can be reached at bkabir@entrepreneurindia.com and Instagram.com/kabirsinghbhandari