7474 l l ENTREPRENEURENTREPRENEUR l l JJUULY 2019LY 2019
Franchisor
across the country and take
our service to more than 154
cities in a short span of time.
Lakme Salon offers franchise
opportunities to entrepreneurs
from metros right up to Tier III
and IV towns. Franchisees can
choose from different formats- regular, smart and prime
- which are customised as
per the city and the area. The
portfolio, fit-outs and service
standards remain the same
across different formats. We
want to grow at the rate of two
new salons per week.
What kind of day-to-day
support does Lakme Lever
offers to franchisees?
We offer the Lakme Salon 6P
support programme which
handholds the partner across
the entire process to set
up and run their business
successfully. This includes
inputs on place, people,
portfolio, process, promotion
and projection and also covers
site evaluation, selection,
salon design and the launch.
We also help in acquiring
talent. Further, partners
receive central marketing
campaigns as well
as local area marketing
support at all times.How do you ensure
uniformity of skills
across all franchisees?
To ensure the quality of
services remains the same
across all salons, we have an
in-house training team of
50+ educators. Additionally,
they can access our online
training portal to continue
their learning. Further, our
Backstage Heroes Programme
gives the best talent an
opportunity to work
backstage for the prestigious
Lakme Fashion Week. The
operations staff receives
training in customer
management, new processes
and systems to ensure that
consumers have a seamless
experience at any salon.W
ith a strong network of 300 franchise partners in 154
cities, Lakme Salon has grown pillar-to-pillar. Although
the beauty industry is plagued by challenges like lack of
skilled manpower, increasing operational costs, staff
management and customer acquisition and retention,the brand has managed to hold its ground. A lot of this growth can
be credited to Pushkaraj Shenai, CEO, Lakme Lever, who knows how
to work hard to reach a goal. With the recent launch of its FOCO
business model, he has plans to expand Lakme Salon network at the
rate of two salons per week. Excerpts from the interview...
How do you see yourself
contributing for Lakme
Lever’s growth and its
vision for India?
My contribution has largely
been in building a talented
leadership team inspired
by our vision to ‘beautify
the future.’ The team works
relentlessly towards fulfilling
our six core values – people
first, customer obsession,
beauty rules, owner’s
mindset, keep it simple and
one step higher. With this
passion, we have been able to
create value for the company
as well as our stakeholders.
Over these last few years,
we have made significant
progress in our net promoter
score, service innovations
and expansion agenda, thus
building a growing and
profitable enterprise.What are the achievements
of the past 2-3 years?
And what are your recent
franchise initiatives?
We have increased our
presence across the country
with a large, successful
franchising model. Today,
our country-wide footprint
is supported by a network
of more than 300 franchise
partners in 154 cities. Wehave recently introduced the
FOCO model in our network
through which investors
and real estate developers
can be a part of our beauty
business. We use both FOFO
and FOCO models based on
the needs of the market and
the business partners.How is your franchise
model contributing
towards your vision?
To extend our footprint
across the country, we need
the support of a strong
network of partners to grow.
Our franchisee model has
helped us scale up operations