Tapping The Market Of Flavours
Despite the setbacks the startup ecosystem is facing at the moment, Stonefield Flavours, a flavour manufacturing startup, has witnessed an impressive growth phase, wherein the company not only met its targets but exceeded them with a 45 per cent growth compared to the previous year.
Talking about what the company did differently to stay afloat, Sandeep Devgan, CEO, Stonefield Flavours, says, "We have been successful because we embraced change quickly, especially during Covid-19. We had one of the best years in 2022-23. We stayed true to our vision which is inspiring change, delighting lives".
The company said that keeping innovation as its core strength, it focused on its people by encouraging open communication, flexibility, recognition and opportunities to grow, which helped Stonefield achieve its targets.
Cashflow: The King
Talking about the importance of maintaining cash flow, Devgan said, "We are conservative in our financial projections. We maintained healthy reserves and secured multiple sources of funding, including bootstrapping, debt and equity. The key takeaway from our growth story would be to keep your ears to the ground and listen...Don't just sell products to customers, instead, solve their problems."
Discussing how the last financial year panned out for Stonefield, Devgan said, "This was our biggest growth since our inception. As a company, we are currently in a strong financial position and have sufficient cash to fund our growth plans for the foreseeable future."
As far as its long-term strategy is concerned, Stonefield is looking for opportunities to collaborate with like-minded investors and partners who can help the company achieve its goals and accelerate growth.
Roadblocks
Enlisting the challenges the company faced during its initial stages, Devgan said, "The availability and prices of raw materials due to global challenges such as Covid-19 was a huge challenge. This impacted our supply chain and production, and we had to adapt quickly to keep up with demand." Additionally, the competition from mass market players has always been a challenge.
Speaking about the company’s plans for 2023, Devgan said, "We will continue to foster a culture of innovation and encourage our employees to come up with new ideas that can drive growth. We plan to invest in new flavour delivery systems to meet changing customer needs and preferences."
Stonefield is also eyeing to expand into new markets abroad and experiment with new business ideas and products quickly, with a focus on improving its margins through cost reduction initiatives, strategic pricing, etc.
