Boondh: Cupverting India

Abstract

It was December 2021. Sonal Jain looked on pensively, considering the latest sales numbers for menstrual cups sold by Boondh. They were already operating on the thinnest of resources, with just the two co-founders left in the organization. COVID had not been kind for the business, sales were dwindling and the outreach programmes that they did for creating awareness also were reducing due to continuous restrictions because of the virus. Boondh, started in 2016, was a sustainable menstruation pioneer in India. The organization sold menstrual cups through online and brick-and-mortar channels through their Pvt. Ltd. entity and cross-subsidized the costs of their social entity. Even though they had a profitmaking entity, their vision was to create positivity around menst. tion for people from all social and economic backgrounds. The organization focused on "building menstrual life skills, advocating sustainable period products and raising awareness about menstrual disorders." However, multiple challenges beckoned for Boondh. Not only were they trying to sell and educate the masses about a product that was relatively unfamiliar, but it also went up against age old prejudices associated with inserting something in the vagina. They were operating with lean resources, limited finances and a social environment steeped in menstrual taboo. COVID was the last straw, putting a spanner in their expansion plans by disrupting supply chains and lowering revenues. To the founders, the complete halt that COVID wrought to their social activities in education and outreach was even more wrenching. Sonal pondered over these growing challenges on the strategic decisions that Boondh needed to make. What should be the next step that Boondh should take? Should Boondh be a forprofit enterprise, focusing only on cups and other period products, or should it just focus on providing workshops and seminars to corporate and ill-informed regions to create awareness about sustainable menstruation? How should it grow its online sales business?