ABC (Advanced beauty and cosmetic) Clinic was founded by Saran Vel, Thirumal Raj, Madhu Saran & Laxmi Raj in July 2015 in Chennai. The brand was launched by Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu. It has 3 corporate owned clinics in the city.
Sujata Sangwan Interacts With Thirumal Raj, Founder & CEO, ABC Clinic And Spoke To Him What is your Product or Service / Offerings to Customer?The major aesthetic concerns in the Indian and international market are limited to Hair, Skin and Slimming treatments. We offer the internationally acclaimed treatments in India. Our services are unique compared to other players. It provides complete transformation to customers under one roof. ABC Clinic provides treatments for hair, skin and body slimming. We customize lot of treatments as per the individual’s requirements. Hair Loss Treatment is a Buzzword and clinically each hair loss problems could be treated based on the Baldness Pattern and Level of Hair Loss. In Advanced GroHair, our Trichologist initially analyses the Hair loss and recommends treatment to regain the hair. We are the only clinic having solution to all Hair Loss problems with instant results.
We also provide complete wedding makeover for the brides. The demand for Wedding Makeover is growing and the brides indulge in various preparatory skin & body care treatments packages before the marriage .Treatments like PhotoFacials, full body Laser Hair Removal, Acne, Pigmentation and Dark Circle Treatments are extremely popular among the Indians. The latest treatment for instant skin glow like Glutathione is a rage among the customers.
At Minus Cosmetic we treat customers for Fat reduction using Advanced Cryolipolysis technology to eliminate unwanted fats. This is a non surgical procedure and worldwide customers are accepting it.
What were the challenges while setting up this startup?We did not face any challenges before setting up this new business. As serial entrepreneurs we travelled across the globe to understand the global market & the technology used in beauty and wellness industry. We took considerable time to understand the customer demand in our country. We researched and launched the perfect solution for hair,skin and body slimming treatments.
Who are your competitors?ABC Clinic as an organisation has different service brands and each catering to specific segments. The individual service brand has decent number of competitors but ABC Clinic as a brand is a one stop solution for a beauty and cosmetic procedures for both men and women and we don’t compete with any brands.
How is your business model different from the existing ones?We follow a Clinical based treatments and our doctors are very well trained and certified from International Aesthetic bodies. Each problem is analyzed by eminent doctor and treatments are recommended as per customer’s requirement.
Who are your clients? How do you look at expanding?Our Clients range from 18 years to 65 years. We are planning to expand our network through franchise model and looking forward to open 20 clinics within next year.
Your Marketing Plans so that world know youWe use all sort of marketing Communications to reach our customers. We have tied up with national Print media for daily advertisements. We have our own in house Social Media Experts for all online marketing. We also promote the Video Commercials in television channels.
What’s your plans for funding?We receive at least 3 enquiries every week for funding and are looking for better option to seal the deal.
What is the next big thing in pipeline?We are planning to launch services for Dental Aesthetic and more advanced non invasive treatments.
What is the reason behind tapping the franchise model for expansion and why do you think, it is the apt model for expansion?
The market size and the demand are growing day by day. The franchise model is one of the best models to expand our footprints in various other cities. The model will help to grow fast and reach local customer base. The resident franchise partner will understand the local customer and will help to provide the best services in the city.
What kind of training and business support do you provide to the franchisees? Elaborate about the same?We provide training and business support in three areas namely Marketing, technology, staffs and operations. The marketing initiatives help in bringing customers to the clinic. ABC Clinic is a technology driven Clinic. The technology is used right from sales leads to Customer retention. We used Virtual Cloud telephony system to map all our business leads and a Cloud based Clinic Management software to control the various process of the clinic including inventory of our consumables product. All potential partners are trained vigorously about our business.
Skill development is the other business of our group company. We work with the Government of India and train people on various skill sets. Post the training we help recruiting these trained staffs with the other players in the same industry.
What is the market size and market opportunity?Today every individual is concerned about their appearance. I understand the aesthetic market in 2 different categories .In the first category, the customers look for Hair Loss Treatments, Skin Rejuvenation Treatments and Weight Loss treatments and in the second category, the customers look purely for various surgical procedures for body corrections. In India, the beauty and wellness market is growing. The market is pegged at 1, 00,000 crore by 2017. As per the global study, 1 in 4 men within the age of 30 suffer from baldness. Today’s youth are aware of various treatments available in the market. The delay in any treatment can result to further hair loss. The cosmetic treatments are the ultimate solution for the hair loss.
Non surgical procedures to reduce weight are extremely popular in India. The customers from the beauty salons are migrating from Product based solutions to Clinical solutions. Each customer is treated by Dermatologist. The doctor analyzes the skin and recommends treatments as per the requirements.
