Women and Entrepreneurship

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The turning point in her business came when she represented India at the Festival of India in 1980. Her team was given a counter in the perfumery section of Selfridges in London. She managed to sell her entire consignment in three days and also broke the store's record for cosmetics sales for the year. As a result, she was offered a permanent counter in Selfridges. Shahnaz Husain was also the first Asian whose products were retailed in the Galeries Lafayette in Paris and to be featured in the 18-foot shop window of the store. Although it was not easy to enter the highly competitive western markets and especially difficult to attract attention to the Indian system of ayurveda, she was able to gain a firm foothold in the markets. Shahnaz Husain products were carried by many prestigious stores across the world, such as Harrods and Selfridges in London, the Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Bloomingdales in New York, the Seiyu chain in Japan, Sultan Stores in the Middle East and other exclusive outlets in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Shahnaz Husain operated on the principle of natural care and cure. Her company formulated and marketed over 400 ayurvedic products for various health and beauty problems. Ayurvedic products became popular across the world because they were natural, well suited to the human skin, and were non toxic.

Shahnaz Husain claimed that her products were completely pure and were formulated in strict accordance with ayurvedic principles. They were environment friendly and were not tested on animals. All products went through strict quality control before they were marketed. Her products captured the imagination of the world with their promise of beauty in a natural and harmless way. Shahnaz Husain used natural ingredients like fruits, flowers, vegetables, herbs, honey, etc., which soothe and heal without causing any harm. The group had two R&D units and a herb and flower farm near Delhi. Strict quality control was exercised at every stage of product development, right from the raw material stage to the final product. This ensured that the final product lived up to the promise Shahnaz Husain made of quality and purity. Shahnaz Husain did not believe in advertising; instead, she relied entirely on word-of-mouth publicity for her products. She believed that a satisfied customer was the best form of advertising. Before Shahnaz Husain entered the retail market, her clinics were the only outlets for her products. By the 1990s, the range and popularity of Shahnaz Husain's products had increased so much that her products were retailed in most of the big retail stores in India and abroad. She was able to achieve growth of this magnitude due to the quality of her products and the result oriented treatments she offered. She commented, "I have relied only on clientele feedback, based on clinical treatments and this is what has made the ranges truly unique and result oriented."¹⁸ In 1977, when she had set up a parlor at her home in New Delhi, she had put up a banner with her qualifications on it. Within days she was booked six months ahead. She said, "I removed the banner and since then I have never advertised. I have let my products speak for themselves."¹⁹ By 2000, Shahnaz Husain had over 650 salons in 104 countries around the world. Using the franchising mode to expand in India and abroad, she built up a large network of over 600 franchisee and associate clinics around the world. All the franchisees were required to undergo training in specialized treatments at Shahnaz Husain’s school of beauty therapy. After training, all franchisees obtained the right to use the Shahnaz Husain name and specialized treatments and were given a 30% profit margin on the sale of products.

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18] www.theasianoutlook.com
19] HindustanTimes.com

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