• Women Entrepreneur

“I don’t sell a brand. I sell a 3,000-year-old civilization in a jar. I sell a way of life,” quips Shahnaz Husain in her trademark deep-seated alto voice. Seated on a plush couch in her palatial bungalow in the affluent residential area of Greater Kailash I in New Delhi, you can see why she is called the princess of Ayurveda. Her 12-bedroom home is a reflection of the lady herself. Done up almost entirely in hues of white and gold, it is at once opulent and warm—with an army of personal staff at her beck and call.

Born in Samarkhand, Pakistan, to Chief Justice N.U. Beg and his wife, Husain had a privileged childhood. Her late father, whom she worships to date, imbibed in her a love for poetry and literature. Although fortunate enough to get a modern education, Husain was married when she was only 15 years old.

From becoming a mother at 16 to being considered a pioneer of ayurvedic beauty products in the world, Husain’s entrepreneurial journey has been equal parts fascinating, turbulent and exhilarating. After marriage, she moved to Tehran with her husband, Nasir Husain who was the Chief General Manager of the State Trading Corporation of India. Husain was soon bored by the drudgery of endless routine. She was convinced that if she was highly qualified in her chosen field—beauty—she could have the world at her feet. The gifted writer then started writing articles for the Iran Tribune to fund her way to leading institutions like Helena Rubinstein, Swarzkopf and Lancome, among others, where she trained in cosmetic therapy as well as cosmetic chemistry.

While studying in London, she was troubled by various reported cases of damage caused by chemical treatments. Husain says this changed the course of her life and career. “I wanted to find a natural alternative that was safe and without risks. And I was convinced that Ayurveda could offer the ideal answers to modern cosmetic-care,” she adds.

Returning to India after her training in 1971, she set up her first herbal salon in the verandah of her home in New Delhi, with an investment of Rs.35,000. Rejecting chemical treatments, she began to formulate her own products using plant ingredients and natural substances. Soon, word spread and Husain’s quaint little parlor was booked out. “At a time when the demand for the product is sustained through commercial advertising, I never relied on it. It wasn’t a conscious business decision. I simply relied on word-of-mouth and the fact that a satisfied client was the best advertisement,” recalls Husain.

There may have been no high-profile celebrity endorsers but the Shahnaz Husain Group’s name instantly evokes a picture of the lady herself. “My image is directly related to the brand because it has been built up unknowingly, in a very personal way. Very early in my career, I made it a point to reply personally to letters seeking solutions to skin and hair problems,” says Husain. Four decades later, she continues the practice.

The biggest challenge for Husain also turned out to be the turning point for the company. At the behest of Indira Gandhi, a close friend, Husain participated in the Festival of India held at Selfridges, London in 1980. Despite fierce international competition and financial constraints, the group sold out its consignment in three days, smashing the year’s cosmetic sales records.

Selfridges was suitably impressed and gave the company a permanent counter at the store. This was soon followed by Harrods in London, Galeries Lafayette in Paris and the Seibu chain in Japan. Shahnaz Husain had arrived on the global beauty scene.

Even as the international media started going gaga over her, Husain went on a crusade to popularize India’s herbal heritage. “My aim was to get India on the world beauty map. During the early years, I held seminars, spoke on Ayurveda and attended countless international beauty congresses,” she says.

Interestingly, Husain did not enter the Indian market till 1985. Her products were available at the Cottage Emporium and in her franchise salons. Husain says this was as a result of her being both anti-publicity and anti-shops.

Taking a leaf out of her own book of experience, Husain has also been encouraging housewives to open salons in their own homes to gain financial independence. After providing them with training, she gave them the Shahnaz Husain franchise and made it a point to attend all the openings. This move proved to be extremely successful and it was soon seen as a part of the brand image.

The franchise system, which originated thus, is now the basis for all ventures of the group; be it shops, beauty schools or spas. Operational in more than 100 countries worldwide, it’s no surprise then that Husain considers the franchise system to be at the core of the brand’s success. The Shahnaz Husain Group has over 500 franchise ventures in India and abroad. It has over 1,000 employees on its payroll and sees a 20 percent growth year on year. In all this, she is ably supported by her daughter Nelofar, who is the President of the company. Husain calls her “my best friend, counsellor and guide.” “I think early motherhood has its advantages. Nelofar and I grew up together, like two sisters,” she relates.

So what or whom does Shahnaz Husain consider her biggest threat? “The only threat is the problem of fake Shahnaz products being marketed by unscrupulous people,” she states. In order to retain its exclusivity, the group introduced sealed packaging and holograms.

It was and remains a hectic lifestyle but Husain is not complaining. If anything, she seems to revel in all of it. After all, she has managed to prove her detractors wrong over and over again. “That’s the beauty of entrepreneurs. They are focused and do what they have set their minds on regardless of walls that crop up,” she says. But she has no plans to rest on her laurels. In addition to extending the salons and spas on the franchise system, the Shahnaz Husain Group’s plans also include concentrated international branding.

With so much going on, does she get to take time off for herself? “I love to unwind by spending evenings with my family. Just getting out of the household and relaxing at a Barista, sipping cold coffee with muffins, are fine for me,” she says. And if time permits, the feisty and often child-like Husain expresses her thoughts by painting and writing poetry. “Deterrents come up in life but I have tried to meet them as challenges. If you never stop trying, you can’t fail,” signs off Husain. Words to live by indeed.

THE FACE OF AYURVEDA
* Shahnaz Husain represented India for the first time in the CIDESCO beauty congress in the late 1970s

* She became the first Asian to have her products retailed in western markets, by stores like Galeries Lafayette in Paris, the Seibu chain in Japan and Bloomingdales in New York

* She was invited early last year by U.S. President Barack Obama to attend the President’s Entrepreneurship Summit in Washington D.C.

* Harvard Business School invited her early last year to lecture on “How to create an international brand without commercial advertising or publicity”

* She received the prestigious “World’s Greatest Entrepreneur” award from Success magazine, becoming the first and only woman to win the award in 105 years

* As part of her corporate commitment to the physically-challenged, her institute provides free training courses to deaf, mute and blind underprivileged people

©Entrepreneur January 2011

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beauty industry, Shahnaz Husain