Overcoming challenges

It is very rare to come across successful beauty ventures that specialise in one area such as yours (e.g eyebrows, waxing), as it is more common for beauty professionals to provide more generalist services. What kinds of challenges arose from this and how did you overcome them?

At a dedicated salon, people's expectations are higher, you are expected to be the specialists. We have had to ensure that we are the very best.

To ensure we achieve this we have built infrastructure before launch, this includes a dedicated RND [diploma in beauty therapy) teams and training schools with dedicated technical specialists for all treatments in all salons.

What has been the biggest obstacle you've come across in growing your businesses and how did you overcome it?

Growing the business in nine different cities, has meant that we have to understand the ever-evolving culture of each country and then we have to localise our business to suit this.

Also securing the right teams in these regions is challenging, we have to find the right people.

Global marketing

You have beauty business' in cities all over the world; which did you find the most receptive to your products? Did you tailor your product different in each respective country?

Both London and Hong Kong are incredibly receptive to both our Brazilian waxing and brow treatments. Our treatments have remained the same on all countries but support marketing campaigns have evolved.

Compared with other countries, good beauty salons in the UK are often unaffordable for most women. You can find cheaper, but the experience reflects the price - poor quality products, unhygenic rooms, rushed service etc. Do you think it is possible to start a salon business which offers affordable treatments without sacrificing on the quality of products, service etc.?

Of course, I think that is what we do. The vision when we launched was to give tip top but affordable service, we are able to keep prices low as we have economies of scale.

Out of all the brands you have created, which is your favourite and why?

My favourite has to be Ministry of Waxing as it completely revolutionised how the Asian market perceived body culture.

And now to be able to bring this brand around the world and create international excitement is so rewarding. It is so exciting to be able to compete with larger international brands, just incredible.

Products and design

I am a regular at your London Ministry of Waxing and Browhaus outlets. The salons are unlike any other salon I've been in; they have attitude! Why did you decide to style them this way?

The design is very important in the beauty outlets for us, we want to build a brand which is representational of our attitude and character and what we are passionate about.

In this era beauty salons cannot just be about the service, it must be the whole experience which includes salon design.

How to launch a global business