How this Unisex salon-at-home company provides 100% transparency, safety and affordable beauty services?

New Delhi : Born and brought up in a business family, Mayank Arya left his well paid job and co-founded Yes Madam – an app-based salon at home in December 2016 with his brother Aditya Arya. The application caters the need to register and get beauty services at the door-step and layout services such as make-up, beauty regimes, massage, slimming, etc.

The brothers introduced a unique per-minute pricing model to bring more transparency in the services with an aim for customers to know what they are paying for. The gender-neutral beauty services assure safety protocols as all their experts are vaccinated against Covid-19 and provide services with a new set of full PPE kit, disposable masks, gloves, etc.

In an interaction with News Heads, Mayank Arya, Co-founder & CEO shared his views on the trends in the salon industry and his journey into it – 

1. What was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur? 

- Having been born and raised in a Business family, I have grown up watching my family always being involved in running their own set-up, probably those were the seeds of the business induced in me. Since the beginning of my career, I have had that incurable itch of entrepreneurship that I feel I have inherited from my father. After completing education I sailed on high seas for about 10 years and was second in command after the captain of the ship. As I used to travel around the globe, In 2009 I spotted a profound business opportunity in Liberia, West Africa and took the first risk of my life by quitting my highly paid job, taking the plunge into entrepreneurship. And that’s where my business journey starts from. 

2. What inspired you both to establish Yes Madam Salon-at-home services? What was the market gap you saw in this industry? 

- With Yes Madam, our aim has always been to empower the professionals who partner with us. We have noticed that the beauty industry lacks the ability to cherish these experts who provide their services and we knew we would turn that upside down. In addition to that, Yes Madam has introduced transparency and a per-minute service model that has never existed in the game before! With Yes Madam, you can book a service and pay according to the minutes involved in the service and also choose to eliminate the product cost. 

3. In the beauty industry, a business has to keep up their services with the latest styles and trends, how Yes Madam is ensuring providing services with the beauty and fashion vogues? 

- Whatever new enters the market, we make it a point to add it into our list of services. Currently, we are providing all essential and trending services. You name it and we have got it. From RICA Roll on waxing to Body Polishing to Keratin treatment to Spa treatments, All and more is covered under our services. All YM services are operational even during the lockdown period with a deep focus on safety and hygiene. Amid the pandemic, we have taken certain measures in the procedure of services to ensure safety, such as mouthless/contactless threading, roll-on waxing, and so on. Testing times require innovative minds and we at YM have tried our best to keep our services operational without compromising the safety of our clients and partners. The pricing of the services remains similar with the addition of a safety & hygiene kit that comes with every service. This kit includes disposable items such as masks, gloves, sanitiser, towels, etc. The safety & hygiene kit ensures quality service at affordable prices. 

4. What separates you from your competitors? 

- The beauty industry often exploits its clientele with high pricing and incomplete disclosure, Yes Madam is here to change that. We offer 100% transparency in all our services and products so that our customers know exactly what they are paying for. Along with that, we have a per-minute service policy where the customer can pay according to the duration of their service. We also offer the customers the choice to choose from the product to be used, they have a choice to eliminate the product cost by giving their own products. 

5. How do you ensure the safety of your customers and Beauticians amidst Covid19? 

- In times like these, we are very particular about the safety protocols. All our experts are completely vaccinated, they provide services with a new set of full PPE kits, disposable masks, gloves, etc. All the tools and equipment required for the service are completely sanitized before use, mono doses are used to ensure complete safety and transparency, their temperature is monitored on a daily basis, and 13-safety protocols are followed to ensure maximum safety.

 6. How stay-at-home circumstances have pushed the demand for at-home salon services? Explain in terms of pre and at the time of the pandemic? 

- Before COVID-19, a majority of people were unsure about calling someone home to get services and the idea didn’t quite settle with them. Going out to the salon for taking services used to be normal but the terms of normal have changed ever since the virus has hit us. With lockdowns placed in almost every area and being unable to get your regular services done, home services did become the ‘New Normal’. And gradually people are getting comfortable with them considering the safety precautions taken. We do believe that the pandemic has highlighted the benefits of home services and many people prefer them. Especially since the situation demanded everything to be done at home, it is apparent that grooming at home and other home services also saw a sharp rise. 

7. What are your views on the beauty and personal health sector industry? How Covid-19 has impacted this segment?  

- The addition of COVID in our lives has made us rethink the way we live. During the lockdown, many people started focusing on their health and wellbeing. The focus was diverted from personal health in the pre-COVID world, but sitting at home made us realize how precious our health is and we must take care of it. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been majorly on our lifestyle and we are ready to make changes in it. With this, the beauty and personal health sector will only grow for the betterment of people. 

8. What should be the Government's necessary steps to revive the salon industry? 

- We understand that going out and accessing services offline at the salons can definitely add to the hassle and thus, we support the Government's decision of gradually unlocking the lockdown restrictions. However, the promotion of at-home services, with safety & hygiene would not only highlight safety but also help revive the salon-at-home industry. We have gotten all our professionals vaccinated to make sure that the utmost safety standards are maintained. Such safety standards are mandatory to ensure safety and the government should promote them.