An on-demand booking platform that connects businesses in the beauty & wellness industry with customers anytime anywhere to sell and distribute products and offer professional services.
Current Status
- MVP ready - 312 service providers registered - 1200 customer downloads - Grant Fund from the UNDP for youth employment received
Market
7370 businesses are employing theses skills making 5.12% of the total 144 thousand growing employers in South Africa. This industry is worth $29 billion in MEA and SA alone is $ 4.5 billion. Online searches are increasing and we are seeing the majority are between 25 & 34, the majority are women, 43% between 35 & 44. The demand for this user-profile is going up and opportunities to scale are enormous at very low marginal cost. A McKenzie survey also revealed that this is one of the industries that was hard hit but will recover quickly post the COVID-19 pandemic.
Problem or Opportunity
1. End-customers are looking for a platform that offers flexible, convenient treatment bookings and for beauty product purchasing. 2. Entrepreneurs do not have the flexibility to manage their schedules, pricing models, and some do not have available space to work from. 3. Salons/spas have under-utilised premises and can maximise profits. 4. Corporates need to support SMEs and encourage employee wellness.
Solution (product or service)
An on-demand booking platform that connects businesses in the beauty & wellness industry with customers anytime anywhere to sell and distribute products and offer professional services.
The platform is providing job opportunities for beauty and wellness entrepreneurs to advertise, create schedules and price their products and services. They will now be trained to educate clients and be able to sell and distribute hygienic products to earn a living.
Competitors
1. Traditional salons 2. Other platforms from outside the country who do not understand the local markets 3. Local small platforms not yet fully established
Advantages or differentiators
Our competition is traditional salons where a customer is expected to travel to them and sometimes wait to start the treatments and sometimes delays in making payments. The Covid-19 pandemic is making it difficult for customers to trust these establishments. Platforms from outside the continent not passionate about building local businesses The other on-demand booking platforms like Dyme and GoBeauty are taking a high percentage (5-15% more) as commission and are not flexible in terms of pricing and scheduling. Individuals managing their bookings have a challenge in getting bookings, methods of payments as well as the lack of the sense of belonging to a community. We have access to a large number of salon owners, therapists and hairdressers wanting to work full-time as well as other occupations like makeup artists, salon managers, educators and trainers wanting to work part-time to supplement their income.
Finance
Commission on services and product sales Subscriptions to corporates
Business model
B2B2C The key metric is completed transactions
Money will be spent on
1. Business Development for establishing new partnerships 2. Sales and Marketing for B2B2C 3. AI Technology for predictive scheduling and dynamic pricing 4. Training and upskilling our community
The Covid-19 pandemic which can be dealt with as we have to find alternatives to leave with the virus by taking safe services and products to where the customer is.
Incubation/Acceleration programs accomplishment
1. Solution Space with the UCT GSB in partnership with MTN 2. Bon Billo with Startupbootcamp 3. UNDP Youth Entrepreneurship Action Hub 4. BMF Innovation Inventors Programme 5. FounderTribes
Won the competition and other awards
1. Seedstars GIZ best female entrepreneur (2019) 2. Solution Space with the UCT GSB in partnership with MTN (2020) 3. Finalist in Women In Africa 54 (2020) 4. Top 20 Fem-In-Tech (2020) 5. Top 10 BMF Innovation Inventors Programme (2020)