AfroVeda needs help

[SimJam]

why is she starting a new business initiative without first making sure her bread and butter (afroveda) is taken care of? How can she run this new venture if it's free and she won't be making any money from it? How will she sustain herself? Something don't sound right.

 

[JerriBlank]

She has only raised $50 in 19 hours. That sucks. I am sure that once word gets out, she will be fine.

 

[LaBelleLL]

Not surprising to me at all. When you act like you don't need your customers, they tend to listen. (Mainly talking about Hairitage Hydration. I've never ordered from Afroveda, just heard about the stupid long shipping times).

She has only raised $50 in 19 hours. That sucks. I am sure that once word gets out, she will be fine.

at least afroveda beat HH. HH has only raised $8 out of the $1200 they need within 15 months

 

[oneastrocurlie]

why is she starting a new business initiative without first making sure her bread and butter (afroveda) is taken care of? How can she run this new venture if it's free and she won't be making any money from it? How will she sustain herself? Something don't sound right.

This is what threw me off. Starting a venture with another venture in trouble? There was a subscription box service that did or tried to do something similar. Can't remember the name.

 

[BostonMaria]

at least afroveda beat HH.

HH has only raised $8 out of the $1200 they need in 15 months

Ouch!

Hairitage Hydration needs $1200 in 15 months? That's only $80 a month. I'm very surprised that they can't raise that much money just by cutting out something like cable or no take out. Anyway what do I know. I have never heard of HH.

I hope that the owner of Afroveda at least reads these posts and takes some of the free advice people are giving. $7500 is alot of money and if I'm going to donate I want to know exactly what that money is for. And what will happen if she only gets $3000? Will she just take our money and run? She's better off creating accounts on different forums (or maybe creating a YouTube account) and showing us her human side.

 

[JaneBond007]

I feel really sorry. But I'm wondering if she isn't in a prime position to sell the business or merge with another who would jump at the chance to revamp her product, assuming she would have artistic license to keep producing them or something.

 

[lux10023]

i want to know where the money went ? to my knowledge her line was big business at one point...

and the amount she is asking for is a bit low...interesting.

i wish her all the best.

 

[LaBelleLL]

Ouch! Hairitage Hydration needs $1200 in 15 months? That's only $80 a month. I'm very surprised that they can't raise that much money just by cutting out something like cable or no take out. Anyway what do I know. I have never heard of HH. I hope that the owner of Afroveda at least reads these posts and takes some of the free advice people are giving. $7500 is alot of money and if I'm going to donate I want to know exactly what that money is for. And what will happen if she only gets $3000? Will she just take our money and run? She's better off creating accounts on different forums (or maybe creating a YouTube account) and showing us her human side.

Oops I meant to write within. I corrected my post.

So they only raised $8 within 15 months.

 

[felic1]

She needs $7,520 by the first week of August.

She went through divorce, ran her credit up and made some bad business decisions.

The she goes on to talk about a new business venture The Gourmet Hair Cafe which will focus on homeless women who are re entering the workforce.

@Frisky How will she make money by starting a line to benefit the homeless? I have nothing against assisting the homeless. If they are homeless, they have no money to invest. Even if the products are free they still need a place to stay and funding for all of life's needs. Will this give them an incentive to purchase from her in the future? The money contributed to such a venture sounds like it is doomed to fail. Thoughts?

 

[felic1]

I have never bought any of her products. They sounded interesting. The amounts were small and the prices high. Are she and the owner of Hairveda actually related? I read a lot of comments that shipping times for these two companies are lengthy. I remember buying something one time from Marie Dean. Something I ordered had not properly thickened yet and she indicated that my order will ship as soon as the consistency was uniform. She informed me about the delay. There was no thought process that it will arrive when ever I am finished and they better be happy I have it. It seems too many vendors take their client base for granted.

 

[Kurlee]

why doesn't she just revamp afroveda and get that working smoothly (shipping times and efficacy) and once that is running smoothly, then expand? Starting a new line that isn't guaranteed to work without a sustainable income generation plan is silly. I really want her to do well, but this seems like a lack common sense, irresponsible, and unrealistic. Work on getting your orders out and products consistently made rather than starting something new on the side. No money from me.

 

[Kurlee]

@Frisky How will she make money by starting a line to benefit the homeless? I have nothing against assisting the homeless. If they are homeless, they have no money to invest. Even if the products are free they still need a place to stay and funding for all of life's needs. Will this give them an incentive to purchase from her in the future? The money contributed to such a venture sounds like it is doomed to fail. Thoughts?

it is doomed to fail. There is nothing wrong with the idea, except where is the sponsorship? How can you afford to pay for all of this when you can't afford to make and ship the products for paying customers? You do their hair and then what? You're giving stuff away for free, but then how do you at least break even?

 

[BostonMaria]

I have never bought any of her products. They sounded interesting. The amounts were small and the prices high. Are she and the owner of Hairveda actually related? I read a lot of comments that shipping times for these two companies are lengthy. I remember buying something one time from Marie Dean. Something I ordered had not properly thickened yet and she indicated that my order will ship as soon as the consistency was uniform. She informed me about the delay. There was no thought process that it will arrive when ever I am finished and they better be happy I have it. It seems too many vendors take their client base for granted.

They're not related to each other. Hairveda has horrible customer service when it comes to shipping. That's why I stopped buying from Hairveda years ago. They do have good products though. I'd rather just run to Target and buy a minority owned hair product that I can return if I don't like it.

@Frisky How will she make money by starting a line to benefit the homeless? I have nothing against assisting the homeless. If they are homeless, they have no money to invest. Even if the products are free they still need a place to stay and funding for all of life's needs. Will this give them an incentive to purchase from her in the future? The money contributed to such a venture sounds like it is doomed to fail. Thoughts?

felic1 I know you didn't ask me, but just wanted to chime in anyway LOL I think Mala (owner of Afroveda) is going to use part of the donations towards the help for homeless women. Not sure how this will work since a portion of the money is going towards not only hair products, but rental space. This may be too much for her to take on right now.

Please help me help others and take this to the next level. There is also an oportunity to work with homeless women who are re-entering the workforce. This would be the next level for AfroVeda. The Gourmet Hair Cafe™ would provide free hair care services for women on the day (or day before) their job interview to help augment the core services provided through One-Stop Career Centers. The money that you donate will also go towards purchasing some of the necessary supplies for the free services, as well as raw materials for the products and rental space for the pop-up shops.

Oops I meant to write within. I corrected my post.

So they only raised $8 within 15 months.

LaBelleLL Oh man that's even worse

 

[Starbucks]

The money that you donate will also go towards purchasing some of the necessary supplies for the free services, as well as raw materials for the products and rental space for the pop-up shops.

People are going to suspect she's saying this to make them feel better about donating...

Businesses exist to provide a service and make money in return, so it is strange to donate money to it. It's not like you're an investor who gets a share in the company. It's also not really clear what she's going to do with it.

Good luck.

 

[BostonMaria]

People are going to suspect she's saying this to make them feel better about donating...

Businesses exist to provide a service and make money in return, so it is strange to donate money to it. It's not like you're an investor who gets a share in the company. It's also not really clear what she's going to do with it.

Good luck.

I was just thinking the same thing. I think I may have to bow out of this one. I donate to alot of different causes and I support minority owned businesses but I have a feeling my money is not going to be used wisely

 

[*Frisky*]

@Frisky How will she make money by starting a line to benefit the homeless? I have nothing against assisting the homeless. If they are homeless, they have no money to invest. Even if the products are free they still need a place to stay and funding for all of life's needs. Will this give them an incentive to purchase from her in the future? The money contributed to such a venture sounds like it is doomed to fail. Thoughts?

Girl I have no clue. I was just sharing the link

I think she is in a bad place with her customers and won't receive the help she is asking for.

Puff Cuff is asking for donations to fund their efforts in making smaller size cuffs so companies are definitley jumping on the bandwagon with this.

 

[LaBelleLL]

why doesn't she just revamp afroveda and get that working smoothly (shipping times and efficacy) and once that is running smoothly, then expand? Starting a new line that isn't guaranteed to work without a sustainable income generation plan is silly. I really want her to do well, but this seems like a lack common sense, irresponsible, and unrealistic. Work on getting your orders out and products consistently made rather than starting something new on the side. No money from me.

it's so absurd in the business sense, i think that there is something untrue about what she says she will use the money for.

 

[OhTall1]

Hairitage Hydration needs $1200 in 15 months? That's only $80 a month. I'm very surprised that they can't raise that much money just by cutting out something like cable or no take out. Anyway what do I know. I have never heard of HH.

 

[JaneBond007]

why doesn't she just revamp afroveda and get that working smoothly (shipping times and efficacy) and once that is running smoothly, then expand? Starting a new line that isn't guaranteed to work without a sustainable income generation plan is silly. I really want her to do well, but this seems like a lack common sense, irresponsible, and unrealistic. Work on getting your orders out and products consistently made rather than starting something new on the side. No money from me.

That's one reason why I didn't start something myself. I want to make sure all my other responsibilities are taken care of and that I can stand to lose a lot of money and sustain the business anyway until things get better. I get the feeling folks just quit their day jobs and go full-time into this without a sound plan. Her stuff sounds nice but I didn't like that she has/had something like Amla hair oil and put a creme base to it. I was going to order her products. Hell, I can mix my own stuff at home if that's the case. Call me crazy, but those folks on Etsy don't seem to have a problem.

 

[LdyKamz]

it is doomed to fail. There is nothing wrong with the idea, except where is the sponsorship? How can you afford to pay for all of this when you can't afford to make and ship the products for paying customers? You do their hair and then what? You're giving stuff away for free, but then how do you at least break even?

I can't help but to think she's going to try to spin this new venture with a non profit angle. Perhaps she's already received her grant money from this venture and used it to pay down some debt which is why she's only asking for $7500? That's the only thing I can think of. Because how does she barely have money for materials to fulfill pending orders but starting something new where she won't make money? Unless she already got her gov't grant.

Furthermore I can't figure out how her debt isn't higher, why her online store is still open and how this new venture already has wheels in motion. It doesn't add up.

I want to donate if she's really in a bad way but I have a bad feeling about this and don't like being taken advantage of.

 

[SimJam]

Please don't mistake Hairveda for Afroveda ... I stan for hairveda

her shipping time has improved DRASTICALLY even during high volume sale periods

her product quality is consistent

her prices are awesome !

her product offering remained the same for very long, then she gradually introduced new lines

.... don't get me started on my love for HV

 

[Transformer]

Her venture sounds underfunded.

 

[Honey Bee]

People are going to suspect she's saying this to make them feel better about donating...

Businesses exist to provide a service and make money in return, so it is strange to donate money to it. It's not like you're an investor who gets a share in the company. It's also not really clear what she's going to do with it.

Good luck.

I was considering the custom product , but if her business is in shambles like y'all describing, why do so many people recommend it? Real question, cuz this is the first I'm hearing about afroveda-related drama and I check in on the hair side regularly.

 

[MommyDaze]

I'm coming out of lurker mode just to caution you to be careful supporting this vendor. I placed an order (just under $60) from Afroveda on February 20th and despite promises directly from Mala on March 31st, that she would personally pull the order the next day, I have never received a thing. Mala has a lot of excuses and a nice song and dance about why she's run into trouble, but at the end of the day, it boils down to the fact that she has been lying to her customers and taking money for products she knows she can't deliver. If that's not fraud, then I don't know what is. I really wanted to support her, and waited way too long to try and get my money back, so Paypal denied my claim and I'm out of luck. If you google Better Business Bureau and Afroveda, you can see some if the complaints against the company, and get a better picture of the scope of her practices. She has blocked most of us from posting on her Facebook page, and promptly deletes negative comments, so the BBB page is about the only place you can find info about the current situation. I'm not telling anyone not to support her (I should probably be encouraging you to give her money; then maybe I'll get my stuff) I just want you to make an informed decision and know who you're dealing with.

 

[Bette Davis Eyes]

I feel bad for saying something because years ago I told myself I would let it go.

Afroveda had a great concept and baseline of products. Then she reformulated everything. Not once but three to four times.

I was with her in the very beginning. Then, she did the drastic upping of prices, changes all the butters and added a slew of products. Then came the outing of bases ( so google said).

She did get someone to look at her business and tell her what needed to be done in order to grow the company ( business consultation was found online)... Needless to say the least Afroveda hasnt been stable since she did all of that.

its sad because I havent found a company yet thats ayurvedic from head to toe. I wish her well and hope she can figure something out but I havent and wont be back.


ETA, I did go back in 2013.

 

[Nightingale]

I won't be donating to Mala/Afroveda.

She has already proven that she isn't a trustworthy or responsible business woman. Just because she is black doesn't mean she deserves unconditional financial support from other black people. She had her chance, became popular, and blew it by being shady. The end.

 

[lux10023]

what!!!!!??????



it burns me up when someone works for their hard earned money and then makes a purchase all to receive nothing--

nothing!!!! can. not. believe. it.

she dont deserve to be in business...no!!!! and she is gonna mess with the wrong one- one day!!!

I'm coming out of lurker mode just to caution you to be careful supporting this vendor. I placed an order (just under $60) from Afroveda on February 20th and despite promises directly from Mala on March 31st, that she would personally pull the order the next day, I have never received a thing. Mala has a lot of excuses and a nice song and dance about why she's run into trouble, but at the end of the day, it boils down to the fact that she has been lying to her customers and taking money for products she knows she can't deliver. If that's not fraud, then I don't know what is. I really wanted to support her, and waited way too long to try and get my money back, so Paypal denied my claim and I'm out of luck. If you google Better Business Bureau and Afroveda, you can see some if the complaints against the company, and get a better picture of the scope of her practices. She has blocked most of us from posting on her Facebook page, and promptly deletes negative comments, so the BBB page is about the only place you can find info about the current situation. I'm not telling anyone not to support her (I should probably be encouraging you to give her money; then maybe I'll get my stuff) I just want you to make an informed decision and know who you're dealing with.

 

[FoxxyLocs]

Ooooh, guess I'll keep my donation then.

 

[LaBelleLL]

I was considering the custom product , but if her business is in shambles like y'all describing, why do so many people recommend it? Real question, cuz this is the first I'm hearing about afroveda-related drama and I check in on the hair side regularly.

You missed the scandal. It was here in the forum and it seemed to be on several other sites. I feel like she was even outed on another site, if not her own website. I was here for it on the tail end and so I had to put the pieces together.

Some people don't mind waiting for products or using bases if their hair agrees with it.

 

[divachyk]

Please don't mistake Hairveda for Afroveda ... I stan for hairveda

her shipping time has improved DRASTICALLY even during high volume sale periods

her product quality is consistent

her prices are awesome !

her product offering remained the same for very long, then she gradually introduced new lines

.... don't get me started on my love for HV

SimJam, I love HV also. I have been purchasing HV for years but only during a sale so all I knew was long wait times. About a month ago now, I was forced to purchase a few staples that I foolishly ran out of because there was no sale on the horizon. Get this, the shipping was mega fast. So, she's capable of shipping fast...who knew.