An Exclusive Interview with Goldy Nagdev, Managing Director – Hari Darshan Group, to know the success story behind “Ghar Ko Mandir Bana De”

Incense Media took this opportunity to meet Goldy Nagdev, Managing Director – Hari Darshan Sevashram Pvt. Ltd. Delhi. Hari Darshan is one of the largest manufacturers of Incense, Spirituals, Aromatherapy Products, Fragrances and other related products in India. The main agenda of discussion was to learn the USP of brand Hari Darshan and story behind their famous tagline “Ghar Ko Mandir Bana De“.

70 years young, Hari Darshan has 11 production units across country and supported by over 1000 strong team members.

In an interactive session, he (Goldy Nagdev) discussed a lot about Brand-Hari Darshan. Here are the excerpts from the discussion.

Deepak Goyal, Editor-Incense Media with Goldy Nagdev, Managing Director-Hari Darshan Group (Left)

Incense Media : What is the core & soul of Hari Darshan?

Goldy Nagdev : Beyond the product that we make the core soul of Hari Darshan brand is the passion, the knowledge and the tradition using which these products are made. Today, Hari Darshan has the widest range of Dhoops, Agarbathies, Cones & Dry sticks. We make Pooja samagri like hawan samagri, chandan tika, camphor, moli, roli & kalawa. Precisely most of things you would need at temple in the home are made by Hari Darshan.

Incense Media : How important is the brand tag line?

Goldy Nagdev : “Ghar Ko Mandir Bana De” (smiles). Well that’s very important and, I would say, deep tag line because we
see it on two different planes. Aspect one is “Ghar ko Mandir Bana de”. Aapke Ghar ke mandir mein jo sabhi samagri lagti hai Dhoop, Agarbatti, other Pooja products; we make all of those. The second aspect which is more closer to me “ghar ko mandir banene ke liye sirf products nahi chahiye hote”, you need positive environment, you need that feeling, that purity, that piousness. Our fragrance and the natural ingredients go a long way in creating that environment “ Wo maahol banana Hari Darshan ki Maharath hai”.

Incense Media : What Quality & Safety Standards do you maintain ?

Goldy Nagdev : Quality in itself is a monotonous and incomplete term. Agar hum dekhe ki final products ka quality check ho gaya, quality ok hai, it’s not like that and its not enough. At Hari Darshan we take an extra step, we go an extra mile. We
believe Quality should be built into every process right from selection of raw material. How is the raw material transported? How is it stored? How we process these? How we make the final product? How is it packed? And more importantly how the final products are delivered to the retail counters and to the consumers. We make sure that quality is given 100% importance in all these processes. That’s why you get your favorite product in perfect condition. Quality is just not enough you got look at safety also these days. Consumers are getting more & more conscious & aware about how safe are the products that they buy and consume, especially families who have little children. I’m happy to say that Hari Darshan has put in a lot of efforts to make sure that the ingredients, the raw material, aromas, fragrances everything that we used they confirm to the safety standard of the highest orders. Our products are safe to be lit and used even around small kids. Use them freely & enjoy the Fragrances

Incense Media : What as per you are Success Factors?

Goldy Nagdev : In the most simple terms I would say it is the Product, Processes & People.

Products we have talked earlier that we have a wide range and we put in a lot of passion & knowledge in making these products.

Processes; You know every process right from manufacturing to making sure that consumers see the product at the retail store, we do it with a lot of exuberance, lot of enthusiasm, lot of excitement. We want to make sure that making these products is a wonderful experience and buying these products is an equally wonderful experience for our customers. The processes takes care of that.

People; I say people make a company, people make a brand, it’s the human touch that’s makes the difference. When I say people I would also like to talk about the concept of Hari Darshan parivar. We see Hari Darshan as an extendent family, a
community not just a brick an mortar company. “wo log jo factories mein isse manufacture karte hai, humare channel partners jo help karte hai is product ko retail or consumer tak pahuchane main, wo consumers jo is products ko use karte hai. There is so much devotion involved at each stage “ banane wala yeh soch ke banata hai ki ye product kahan or kis tarike se use hoga, usko consumer tak pahuchane wale ko is baat ka ye khass khyal hota hai ki usko ache se rakhe kyunki kisi ke mandir mein jayega, jo ise use karta hai wo usse puri Bhawna, pure devotions ke sath use karta hai”. So this attaches a lot of auspiciousness, lot of positivity to the whole process from the factory to the consumer. We recognise this
part and give emphasis to it. This is what makes Hari Darshan not just a successful Brand but also a successful concept.

Incense Media : What is your advice to Start-ups & Young Entrepreneurs in Incense industry?

Goldy Nagdev : It has taken 70 years and 3 generations have put in their efforts to get the brand where it is today. My advise to start ups & entrepreneurs in space of Agarbatti, Dhoop & Pooja product is that
a) It is not to be easy.
b) It is not impossible either
Everything is possible when you believe in yourself. So get up, give your best efforts. Make sure your product is relevant and there is a consumer segment wanting to buy the produc that you are making or planning to make. Ensure that there is a good, strong, solid delivery mechanism for this product. The people who want to buy your product where would they buy it. Ensure the product that you make reaches the right stores so that it can be seen by your target audience so that they can buy it. That’s the basic principle.
And my most sincere advise to young entrepreneurs and start-ups is; don’t take stress. “Stress is a killer”.
Don’t make work your life, in fact get a work life balance. Give time to your health, health of mind, health of body.

Make sure you are always fresh, always be young, carry the youth, carry the exuberance in every business decision that you have to make.

Incense Media : What is your strategy for Growth & Future plans?

Goldy Nagdev : I believe future belongs to ones who want to grow & extend out and get it. To be relevent in future we are definitely looking at ideas, innovation, intelligence, information and most importantly constant improvement. We want to improve our products, our policies, practises and processes to grow. We want to reach out to higher number of consumers and geographies. We want to take our products to every possible praying location. And Never Forget – Be positive, see positive, you shall always receive positive.

Cheers !

Here is the video from the discussion.

Special Video Invite by Goldy Nagdev to attend International Agarbatti & Perfume Expo-2018 (Sponsored by Hari Darshan Group)

Hari Darshan Group India, India’s Best Agarbatti Manufacturer, Incense Media, Delhi Agarbatti & Perfume Expo