Adding beauty to business

Following their motto of ‘Customer Service Is Our Worship’, a beauty services brand from late 70’s Meghna Beauty Parlour, founded and nurtured by Vijay Kumar Goel along with his wife Kusum, is ready to take of, as franchise brand. Manish Goel, actor cum entrepreneur, Marketing and Franchising Head, Meghna Beauty Parlour, shares the brand’s growth and success.

Abha Garyali (AG): Share with us the inception; growth and success of Meghna Beauty Parlour. How has been your entrepreneurial journey so far?

Manish Goel (MG): Meghna Beauty Parlour was set up in 1978 by Vijay Kumar Goel. The parlour is named after Goel’s daughter Meghna. Even with no prior experience in the field Goel along with his wife Kusum, managed to make the parlour a big hit in the area, as a result of their sincerity, quality services, affordable prices and urge to learn.       
Kusum Goel became a name to reckon with in the field of Mehandi and Make up and had Raj Babbar & Rakesh Roshan as her clients during their marriage. Goel redefined the ‘Rags to Riches story’ in his own words. Meghna in its 35th year today, is a brand in itself with clients from all over India.

AG: What inspired the brand to take the franchise route? When did it opt for the franchise route?

MG: Meghna as a brand never felt the need for franchising till Franchise India Holdings Limited (FIHL) stepped in. Though franchise inquires had always been there but Goel had always believed that franchising might lead to the dilution of the brand.

Recently, when FIHL team offered us the platform, the logistics and the business model called franchising. Since our association with FIHL , our company’s outlook towards franchising has completely changed.

AG: What is the USP of Meghna Beauty Parlour?

MG: Meghna believes in ‘Customer Service Is Our Worship’ and has followed it religiously for last 35 years and will continue to do so in years to come.

Providing service stands for personal relationship which the proprietor shares with almost all his clients. We make sure that Customer can directly approach us for any queries they have and will be taken care of with immediate effect, and our Prices set us apart from any other Parlour.  Our prices are low, yet competitive with no compromise on quality of products.

AG: What are your aspirations from the year 2012?

MG: Meghna has not set any targets ever, it has grown with the flow. In fact, Meghna has set targets for other salons. Meghna aspires to serve more and more people in times to come and completing 50 years will be an honor, a blessing and a moment to celebrate and cherish.

AG: What strategies the brand has adopted to deal with competition from other brands?

MG: Strategies are planned and implemented when you compete with others. Meghna competes with itself. The only strategy Meghna applies is to listen and understand our customer needs from time to time and fulfill them at our best. Success of any salon or any business largely depends on its consumers. So, the best strategy is to keep your consumers happy in terms of services, prices and update them with the latest and the best in beauty market, be it for hair, skin or body.

AG: How many franchise outlets does the brand presently has?

MG: Meghna has no franchises as of now. FIHL is our first step towards franchising to achieve the vision we have set for franchising.

AG: What according to you is the scope for aspiring franchisees in this business? Is the future bright in the years to come?

MG: Beauty business is a booming market and an industry in itself. There is no limit to success one can achieve in this business. From a teenager to a senior citizen everyone wants to look good. For the sake of better looks people do not have any qualms in spending some extra bucks. From business point of view, the margin of profit is limitless and once you establish yourself as a brand in beauty business, franchising will take you to newer heights.

AG: What are the qualities and qualifications that you seek for in your franchisees? How much investment is required by aspiring franchisees?

MG: Franchisees in other words are those people who are complete strangers to you, as long as you have the same wavelength, understanding and trust each other, other things fall in place. Qualification would be an added advantage if the franchisee has done some professional course in beauty or has experience of working in some salon. In fact, this would help the franchisee more than us as it will help him/her to overcome the initial teething problems and challenges. Any kind of knowledge, background, training or qualification is always welcome. However a person with passion in beauty business but no experience can also become our franchisee as we at Meghna will give them a crash course to run a salon. We have three set of plans to achieve the vision we have set for the future.

AG: Share with us the challenges that can be faced by your franchisees?

MG: Challenges can come in any form from your quality of services, staff, pricing, infrastructure, products used in the salon to many more. The Ideal way to tackle these is to note down every feedback or complaint a client has and work towards it with the help of staff and management. It is very important to strike a right balance between workers and clients as they are largely responsible to give you a successful business in any field. A good PR skill can resolve some challenges while a good background in beauty can resolve other challenges.