From Brand Collaborations to Brand Ownership: India's Creator Economy

Starting a small business through Instagram has been one of the most common ways to earn a side income over the past few years. It is one of the most successful ways for marketing. Even businesses that had absolutely no online presence have built an online presence.

Influencer Marketing is a new industry that was born from this. User-generated content took the front seat for promotions. Creators who made content started landing barter deals and then paid collaborations over time for being a temporary face of the brand. This garnered organic reach, and it made trusting the brands convenient.

Through this, many influencers and creators rose to fame. They not only advertised but also built a niche and consistently built a community that supported and trusted their opinions.  To leverage it more, some creators went bold enough to launch their own brands. They went from brand collaborations to becoming brand owners. 

The transition is definitely not easy, but it is very practical. Let’s have a look at why this happened and what would come after this.

Reasons Why Influencers Are Launching Their Own Brands

Influencers and content creators earn through promotions, events, brand deals and social media. Some go viral overnight. The reason why they launch their own brands despite being busy with these things is because of the following reasons:

Monetisation of Audience Trust

Every good business is dependent on a healthy demand and supply chain. The growth and survival of the majority of businesses depend on repeat customers and lower CAC [Customer Acquisition Cost] for new customers. The influencers and content creators have an advantage there. They already have a strong community of fans that is willing to support them, trust them and help them spread the word. This works more effectively and faster than word-of-mouth publicity. 

Social Media has made it very easy to gather organic reach. All you need is to be driven by a good intention and keep posting new, meaningful content consistently. This community can help you with the initial push required for the brand.

Diversification of Finances

Influencers and content creators have always relied on deals, events and promotions for finances. But all of this is very variable depending on market conditions and often geopolitical conditions. There is a need for a stable income stream. Brand ownership is a long-term financial net that can save the creators in case the deals or events are not happening for any reason. 

Having your own business also allows you to grow and learn different things in life. While content creation in itself is a very creative and intellectual process, it also involves a lot of copying from trends. Having your own business pushes you to test your limits, build a team and expand your career trajectory.

Creative Control

Every brand has its own story, storyteller, and process of storytelling. When the influencers and content creators are promoting a brand, it often comes with a script, a brand positioning and other details that are precisely required. The freedom is negligible. 

Building their own brand gives the content creators creative freedom to use their ideas, set new trends, and to be raw and filterless for their fans and the audience. They can skip spreading misaligned messages, build their own strategies and formulate their own pricing.

Application Of Knowledge

Influencers and content creators are well-versed in technical skills and marketing for any brand. They have a clear understanding of consumer behaviour. With experience, they have an upper hand in knowing what might or might not work in their particular niche.

The difference between success and failure is execution. The years of learning and being consistent make it easier for them to start their own brand because it is the execution of every plan that they thought would work out better, for every ad they wanted to do better and for every script that they wanted to rewrite. 

5 Influencers Who Launched Their Own Brands

Bhuvan Bam - House Of Sarkar

India’s most successful digital creator, Bhuvan Bam owns not just one but two brands. He is a co-founder of House Of Sarkar [Fragrance Brand], launched in 2026 and Youthiapa [Clothing Brand], launched in 2017. He also owns BB Ki Vines Productions.

The talented man, Bhuvan, has been working for more than a decade. He is not just a great artist, but a very strategic investor too. He has invested in multiple brands, all actively growing. He is also a songwriter, singer, actor, producer, and comedian. His work has garnered a lot of praise from industry experts.  His achievements also include playing 10 different characters in a story by himself in videos on YouTube. It is his most popular work. 

Rida Tharana - Nari

Rida Tharana has been working as a host, emcee, model and motivational speaker. She has built a strong social media presence over the years with her exceptional storytelling skills. She speaks on mental wellness, self-confidence, women's empowerment and relationships. She launched her brand Nari in 2026.

Nari has a co-founder, Navya Varma. The brand offers everyday sarees with light fabrics that are produced in small batches. It is limited edition. Adding to it, they named each saree after a woman. Rida has also invested money in various other brands. She is the brand ambassador for Inde Wild. She has appeared in multiple ads and campaigns. 

Kusha Kapila - Underneat

Kusha Kapila made fun videos on Instagram. Everyone who has followed her work knows this. She worked in a lot of shows. In 2025, she extended her entrepreneurial qualities by co-founding Underneat. 

Underneat is popularised by her own marketing, as the face of the brand. She makes real-time videos based on genuine problems faced by different body types. The brand focuses on making shapewear accessible and comfortable for all women. They secured 25000 customers within the first 100 days of launching. The brand gets a massive push through Kusha’s NIFT background. 

She used her social media following, spoke to a 1000 women to find the pain points and then created this brand. Her skills and knowledge have garnered praise and profit bought. 

Parul Gulati - Nish Hair

Parul Gulati, also popularly known as Nish Hair ki Malkin, is an actor. She was always auditioning, shooting and trying to make it big. After establishing herself well in Punjabi Cinema, she ventured into Hindi television and films. Alongside, she kept building her online presence. 

Her personal problem of not being able to find the right kind of hair extensions led her to become the founder of Nish Hair, a name derived from her nickname at home. She started in 2017 with her mom’s sewing machine at home, and now earns ₹35 crore as revenue annually. 

Alongside social media and content creation as a main marketing gimmick for her own brand, she also has a place in Goa for renting. She appeared on Shark Tank for funding Nish Hair. She has offline stores and workshops for the same.

Kritika Khurana - Kritika Khurana Jewels

Kritika Khurana has been a fashion influencer for more than a decade; she has millions of followers. She made YouTube videos based on boho vibes, and this year she took advantage of all these years of experience to launch her own jewellery brand. 

She ventured into this business as the face of the brand. Her sister Deeksha also did the same when she launched her clothing line. The brand covered 100 orders within 3 hours of going live. It features easy-to-style accessories aligning perfectly with Kritika’s own personality.

The Future

There are hundreds of thousands of influencers and creators who are building their own brands and businesses to apply the creative energy and knowledge that they have mastered. It is very difficult to find a community of like-minded people who follow you, trust you and look up to you.

By building such communities, creators have won half the battle. If you have a talent or a niche, you can fast-track it to become your profession by building your online presence. It builds consumer trust, bridges the demand-supply gap, and gives you a community that can spread the word quickly.