One of India’s best-known hair stylists, Jawed Habib, is all set to launch beauty parlours across suburban and rural India on a 100 per cent franchisee model.
“To train these budding hair stylists of Jawed Habib Gramin Beauty Parlours, we will set up hair academies in districts,” , he told BusinessLine here on Wednesday.”
As part of the Centre’s Skill India Mission, Jawed Habib Hair and Beauty Ltd has tied up with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to train youth in the business of beauty and hair styling. “To start with, we will train 50,000 youngsters in West Bengal, 5,500 in Bihar and 20,000 in Uttar Pradesh this year. Training in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra will start next year. In all, we will train 3,00,000 people.”
This move is expected to increase the company’s market share from 5 per cent at present to 20-25 per cent in three years, Habib said.
The group is also working on plans to set up a hair recycling facility this year, at a cost of ₹10 crore, to produce an absorbent used during oil spills. Human hair is seen as the best oil absorbent.
At ₹3,000 crore per annum, India is the world leader in exporting human hair and wigs. Every second wig used in the world is made from Indian hair.
The country has an estimated 10 lakh hair saloons providing jobs to nearly 20 lakh people, 99 per cent of them in the unorganised sector.
Recession-free sector “It is a timeless, recession-free industry. In the beauty parlour industry, about 90 per cent of revenue comes from cosmetics and only the rest from hand skills. In contrast, the hair-styling business is basically based on human skill. Our returns on investment require less than a year as we need little space to set up shop, and rentals and overhead expenditures are low,” said Habib.
His group has 570 saloons across 111 cities in 24 States and is expected to add another 250 in a year. and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25 per cent, he added. The group accounts for 2 lakh haircuts annually and claims to be India’s only national hair styling brand.
It currently has seven brands — one of which, Hair Studio, opened its latest outlet here on Wednesday.