10 years into aesthetics, Clinic Dermatech now looks for franchisees

Recently we have seen a lot of global skin care brands entering the Indian market. BelleWave Cosmetics Pte. Ltd. (a VLCC Group Company), a premium Switzerland-based skincare brand, launched a range of products for top 1000 salons, covering 10 metro cities in India.

In a casual chat with Franchise India, Daphne Danielson, Training Manager, Regional, BelleWave Cosmetics speaks that beauty and healthcare go hand in hand.

Immediate Results

Daphne began her career as a beautician, after which she took up courses to enhance her skills and gradually she became a trainer. With over 24 years of experience as an aesthetician and trainer, Daphne has observed the industry’s growth closely.

Daphne believes that people these days are very restless and want an immediate result, which is why the aesthetic found its market. She says, “People want fast, immediate results and they don’t mind spending a large sum of money for that. At the end of the day, they don’t think of the side effects that some may have, which is making beauty industry a bit tougher with the aesthetic.”

Beauty and Healthcare

For a long time, beauty and healthcare were treated as two different entities, but the technology and development have made them come under one roof.

Daphne says, “I see that the beauty industry is merging with aesthetic doctors. So, they are working hand in hand. There are certain skin ailments which beauticians cannot treat, they refer to their partner doctors to do the job and then they come back to the beautician for maintenance and prevention.”

She adds, “The skin is a living organ, it produces cells and cells do age and die off. We are not doctors with Ph.D. that we will be able to diagnose ailments in depth. So, these are the times when we will need a doctor’s expertise in this.”

Indian Customers vs Global Brands

Daphne believes that Indian customers are more attracted to herbal, ayurvedic and natural products, whereas global brands use chemicals and natural products in synchronization and align the qualities as per the skin’s demand.

Daphne says, “Indian brands and Indian customer are very fond of herbal and natural products, which is good but these days the pollutants have increased in the atmosphere, that’s why global brands like BelleWave use chemicals to extract the pure quality of the natural products and enhances the function of the products.”

Watch the video interview here:

Technology is slowly and gradually gripping the roots of everyday life. Our dependence on technology especially in our day to day life has made technology stronger, which is why one can witness the penetration of technology in almost every industry possible on the face of the planet, Earth.

The "Global Medical Aesthetics Industry: Injectables, Energy-Based Devices, Cosmeceuticals, Cosmetic Surgery, Facial Aesthetics, Implants, Cosmetic Tourism. Market Analysis & Forecast to 2022" report analysis indicates that the current medical aesthetic industry is worth $53.3 billion for both service and product revenue. Over the next five years, a CAGR of 5.5% is expected and the market will hit $73.6 billion in 2022.

Currently, invasive aesthetic procedures generate revenues of over $27.8 billion, annually. The analysis indicates that by 2022, invasive aesthetic procedures will grow at a CAGR of 4.3%. Non-invasive procedures generate approximately $16.7 billion per annum and will grow at a CAGR of 4.5% over the coming five years. Cosmetic surgery products generated $8.8 billion in 2016 and have the potential to reach $15.3 billion in 2022.

Here are some of the factors responsible for the growth of the Indian wellness market:

Medical Benefits:

The medical aesthetic surgeries have proved to be boon for the medical benefits. Earlier when people were unable to remove deadly carcinogenic cells, tumors, and overgrown body features, or when the procedures used were painful, people were scared of using it.

Now when the technological advances have made these procedures painless, wearable and affordable, which is one of the reasons why a lot of Indians have accepted the revolution wholeheartedly.

Breaking Myths:

When the aesthetics and laser technology was new, people were scared of the side effects. Now after seeing many celebrities using it and leading a normal life, the myth has been busted.

“The awareness among people about laser technology is increasing. There were a phase and time in India when people were scared of the side-effects of laser therapy of any kinds, be it for cancer, eyes, hair removal or hair loss. But, all those things have changed a lot. The kind of technology which is developed in different fields, I believe that the future of laser treatment is looking so much better,” said Sanket Shah, CEO and Owner, Advance Hair Studio Indian Subcontinent and Middle Eastern Region.

Awareness:

“The driving factors have increased awareness and made options available for permanent self-beautification. Celebrities and socialite openness about procedures, they have done, has increased desires of women, men to look young, attractive and fit. The rising social pressures to look perfect and high disposable income has added to the factors as well,” suggests American Celebrity Dermatologist, Dr.Kiran Lohia, Medical Director and MD at Lumiere Dermatology, New Delhi.

When people witnessed a surprising transformation in the looks of celebrities, it opened bought the confidence of people on Indian aestheticians.

Fascination:

We are all obsessed with perfect skin tone, perfect body features and everything perfect from the tip of the hair to the end of the toe; more or less what we see on magazine covers or television screen and this obsession is where the aesthetic market grows.

This fascination has made people depend upon the aesthetic surgeons, which is why medical spas and clinics are thriving on this fascination of people.

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Technology is slowly and gradually gripping the roots of everyday life. Our dependence on technology especially in our day to day life has made technology stronger, which is why one can witness the penetration of technology in almost every industry possible on the face of planet, Earth.

The "Global Medical Aesthetics Industry: Injectables, Energy-Based Devices, Cosmeceuticals, Cosmetic Surgery, Facial Aesthetics, Implants, Cosmetic Tourism. Market Analysis & Forecast to 2022" report analysis indicates that the current medical aesthetic industry is worth $53.3 billion for both service and product revenue. Over the next five years a CAGR of 5.5% is expected and the market will hit $73.6 billion in 2022.

Currently, invasive aesthetic procedures generate revenues of over $27.8 billion, annually. The analysis indicates that by 2022, invasive aesthetic procedures will grow at a CAGR of 4.3%. Non-invasive procedures generate approximately $16.7 billion per annum and will grow at a CAGR of 4.5% over the coming five years. Cosmetic surgery products generated $8.8 billion in 2016 and have the potential to reach $15.3 billion in 2022.

Here are some of the reasons as why aesthetics industry has successfully created a revolution in the Indian wellness market:

Medical Benefits:

The medical aesthetic surgeries have proved to be boon for the medical benefits. Earlier when people were unable to remove deadly carcinogenic cells, tumors and overgrown body features, or when the procedures used were painful, people were scared of using it.

Now when the technological advances have made these procedures painless, wearable and affordable, which is one of the reasons why a lot of Indians have accepted the revolution wholeheartedly.

Breaking Myths:

When the aesthetics and laser technology was new, people were scared of the side effects. Now after seeing many celebrities using it and leading a normal life, the myth has been busted.

“The awareness among people about laser technology is increasing. There was a phase and time in India when people were scared of the side-effects of laser therapy of any kinds, be it for cancer, eyes, hair removal or hair loss. But, all those things have changed a lot. The kind of technology which is developed in different fields, I believe that the future of laser treatment is looking so much better,” said Sanket Shah, CEO and Owner, Advance Hair Studio Indian Subcontinent and Middle Eastern Region.

Awareness:

“The driving factors have increased awareness and made options available for permanent self-beautification. Celebrities and socialite openness about procedures, they have done, has increased desires of women, men to look young, attractive and fit. The rising social pressures to look perfect and high disposable income have added into the factors as well,” suggests American Celebrity Dermatologist, Dr Kiran Lohia, Medical Director and MD at Lumiere Dermatology, New Delhi.

When people witnessed surprising transformation in the looks of celebrities, it opened bought the confidence of people on Indian aestheticians.

Fascination:

We are all obsessed with perfect skin tone, perfect body features and everything perfect from tip of the hair to the end of the toe; more or less what we see on magazine covers or television screen and this obsession is where the aesthetic market grows.

This fascination has made people depend upon the aesthetic surgeons, which is why medical spas and clinics are thriving on this fascination of people.

The world of aesthetics has a lot to it than it shows. The dimensions are many and so are the opportunities. In a conversation with Dr Apoorv Shah, Owner, Richfeel Trichology Centre, we get to know how to grab success with your business and the way to be extraordinary among the ordinary.

What are the basic pieces of advice to be followed by an aesthetician to do well in the aesthetics business?
An aesthetician is somebody who understands the final aspect of beauty. We used to have beauticians but now we have aestheticians. It’s very important for an aesthetician that to be successful, they must have the cutting edge and that can come through technology, the people you have and through the experts. People can run away but technology and experts cannot. So, it is very important that a beautician or esthetician has to be somebody different from others. They must get in technology and experts.

What innovative steps are you taking to outshine other brands in this business?
We at Richfeel are now pioneering work to get associated with beauticians to open Trichology centres inside a beauty salon. The beauty salon will have the best opportunity for their clients to be treated by a Trichologist. When a customer walks in in your beauty salon, they will have the services of an expert, medically professional trichologist to treat their hair and skull problems. It would also be a win-win situation for both the sides. So, this is one type of innovation we would like to bring in the beauty industry.

Which points are more important to focus on in order to achieve more in the wellness industry?
We always keep wondering ways to make our beauty parlour business or aesthetics business grow and stand out. Entrepreneurs in the wellness industry emphasise more on achieving growth and success in their business as the competition is very high. One can achieve a lot by getting the right experts and great innovations as they are the key to success.

Amid so much competition, what keeps your spark to attain success going?
Brands keep on increasing, the customer base is getting larger, and competition keeps on happening. Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest holds true as you have to innovate and have to be extraordinary. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the ‘extra’. You have to have that extra for people to come to you otherwise there are so many options available to people that they do not know how to differentiate. The x-factor that you are going to give to your client is what will make you successful. Whether it is in terms of products, services or expertise, these are the only reasons that will take you through.

According to you, does customer centric approach works well or having a business-centric approach goes down well?
Customer centric approach always works well. Delighting customers is the way to go forward. You give customers an experience to remember, the customer is with you for life.

With the average Indian become more aware and conscious and with disposable incomes going up, the demand for skin, hair and beauty treatments is growing. Aesthetics is no more just a market for celebrities, but also the average Indian now. Laser treatments, anti-ageing treatments and those alike are gaining significance as the demand for beauty goes up.

Seeing the opportunity, stand-alone aesthetics brands are upping their game, planning pan-India expansion and even going global. One such brand is Tapovan Wellness. Tapovan offers treatments for anti-ageing, beauty etc and is aggressively looking at pan-India expansion starting this year. Wellness India spoke to Abhimanyu Suri, Marketing Director, Tapovan Wellness about the brand and its expansion plans. Here are excerpts from the interview.

Tell us about Tapovan.

Tapovan is a wellness clinic. We have signature treatments of wellness, anti-ageing and beauty. Our tagline is Shubhanga Karnam, which means complete body-part transformation. And, we believe that through the right kind of lifestyle guidance provided by us, along with using the state of the art technology that we have consolidated after exhaustive research, a person can achieve complete metamorphosis and become a beautiful individual by the end of the treatments.

These are machine-guided treatments, but all are FDA approved. The best brands in the industry manufacture our equipment.

How old is the brand?

We’ve been operating since the past 4 years. We’re looking for pan-India expansion from this year. We’ll be launching a 10,000 square feet facility in Greater Kailash Part 1 in Delhi.

Are you looking out for franchising? Tell us about your franchising model?

We are absolutely looking out for franchisees. Our franchising model consists of an investment of about Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore, we also have another model, which is a little below Rs 1 crore. The payback window is 2 to 2.5 years with the area requirement being around 1,000 sq ft.

Is there a particular quality that you’re looking for in your franchisees?

We obviously would like to be partners with like-minded individuals who have a passion for wellness and who share the same ethos in terms of wellness. We would want to hand our brand out to individuals who will deliver because protecting the brand is also important.

Is this a self-funded venture?

Yes, it is self-funded by us. We come from another sort of a business background. My mother is the lead doctor of the brand. She has had a passion for aesthetics and preventive medicine for a very long time. She has a background in gynaecology. However, after a certain period of time she wanted to follow her passion for aesthetic medicine and went into a fellowship to States and Germany and introduce the preventive model to the medical fraternity here. Because right now, most medicine is focused around being curative, whereas if you see in the West, a lot of medicine is preventive. That’s what we try and bring out in the market, to enable individuals to safeguard their health and become healthier individuals.

What kind of growth are you seeing for Tapovan in the next five years?

This is the year that we are taking things aggressively and head on. So we’re looking to become a pan-India brand and potentially even have global presence. We’re looking to open at least 10-15 clinics per year in the coming five years.

How do you see the Indian wellness industry?

I see it booming rather. I feel that as people have become more exposed and more aware of their health and with the rise of disposable incomes, people are bound to spend more on themselves. So, I feel the wellness industry is at a very exciting stage in India.

But I also feel, it’s misguided. There is not enough professionalism in the industry. So that’s why mainstream doctors are taking wellness seriously and bringing it out in the market.

What role do you think the policymakers need to play to organise the industry?

I feel there obviously need to be check-backs to make sure the treatments offered are safe. They have to make sure that anything which has a slight amount of risk is not put out there. There must be enough regulations to make sure that cheap machines are not used.

How easy/difficult is it to run a wellness brand in India?

It comes with its share of challenges. But I think now, especially in the major cities, people are very well informed and realise the need of keeping themselves healthy. Hence, I feel the market for wellness is already established, we need to be offering some sort of a signature service for the brand to be placed well in the market.

What’s your pricing strategy?

Most of our treatments have an average ticket price of around Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000. But, when somebody buys a bulk package, there are discounts. We do come out with offers on and off based on the seasonal trend.

How do you go about marketing the brand?

We have used print media, we’ve used social media. We’ve got the maximum response through social media because more young people are now more aware of the need for wellness.

India’s wellness industry in one word?

Booming.

Tapovan in one word?

Unique.