Shahnaz Husain

A Successful Indian Woman

Entrepreneur
 "I do not sell products. I sell an entire civilization in a jar."
- Shahnaz Husain
 Products by Shahnaz Husain
 Shahnaz shaface (herbal facial skin conditioner).
 Shahnaz shafair (vitaminized whitening cream)
 Shahnaz hussain fair one
 Shahnaz hussain shaglow
 Shahnaz Shalife (Vitaminized Nourishing Cream)
 Shahnaz Shamask-1 (Precious Herbs Face Mask)
 Shahnaz Shayouth (Precious Herb Mask)
 Shahnaz Shasmooth (Almond Under eye Cream)
 Shahnaz Shabase (Sandalwood Protective Cream)
 Shahnaz Oxygen Skin Treatment Cream
 Shahnaz Oxygen Skin Beautifying Mask
 Introduction
 One of India's most successful women
entrepreneurs.
 Her company, Shahnaz Husain Herbals is one of the
largest manufacturers of herbal products in the
world.
 Shahnaz Husain Group, based in New Delhi, worth
$100 million.
 Employed about 4200 people in 650 salons spread
across 104 countries.
 The average growth rate in the initial years (late
1970s to the early 1980s) was 15-20%.
 In the 1990s the average growth rate was 19.4%.
 Awards
 "The Arch of Europe Gold Star for Quality"
 "One of the Leading Women Entrepreneurs
of the World"
 "The 2000 Millennium Medal of Honor"
 "Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award“
 “Padma Shree (2006)”
The Making of an Entrepreneur

 Belongs to a royal Muslim family

 Migrated from Samarkhand to India
 Later held high positions in the
princely kingdoms of Bhopal and
Hyderabad before India's
independence.
 Schooling in an Irish convent
 Developed a love for poetry and
English Literature.
 The Making of an Entrepreneur
(cont’d..)
 Advantage of growing up in a traditional family
and receiving a modern education.
 Married at the age of 15 and was a mother by
the next year.
 Husband was posted in Teheran, Iran
 She developed an interest in beauty treatments
and decided to study cosmetology.
 To support the expenses of the training
financially, she wrote articles for the Iran Tribune
on various topics under different names.
 The Making of an Entrepreneur
(cont’d..)
 In the course of her studies, she learnt of the
harmful effects of chemicals on the human body.
 Consequently, she turned her attention to
Ayurveda.
 After leaving Teheran, she trained extensively in
cosmetic therapy for 10 years in some of the
leading institutes of London, Paris, New York
and Copenhagen.
 Return to India
 In 1977.
 Set up her own salon at her house in
Delhi.
 Initial investment of Rs 35000.
 In contrast to salons offering chemical
treatments, Shahnaz offered Ayurvedic
products.
Entrepreneurship-The Shahnaz Husain Way

• Uses the Ayurvedic method of treatment.

• Pioneer and leader of Ayurvedic beauty products in the

world offering "Natural Care and Cure".

• Shahnaz Husain Group offers exclusive salon treatments

as well as a number of commercial formulations for the
treatment of specific problems like acne, pimples,
pigmentation, dehydration, alopecia (hair loss), etc.

• The Group's sophisticated R&D units develop the products

• Put them through stringent quality control tests.

Entrepreneurship-The Shahnaz Husain Way
(Cont’d)

 Products are environment friendly and no

testing is done on animals.
 The products offered by the group are
entirely natural and carry the guarantee of
purity and safety.
 Offers a wide variety of over 400 products
for all age groups and for a variety of
problems.
 Entrepreneurship-The Shahnaz Husain Way
(Cont’d)

 Uses natural ingredients - fruits, flowers, herbs,

vegetables, honey, - as the base for most of her
products.
 More complicated and exclusive treatments using gold
and pearls have also been developed.
 All the procedures are carried out in accordance with the
Ayurvedic system.
 Shahnaz Husain has never advertised.
 Relied entirely on word-of-mouth publicity to make her
products known to customers.
 She believes that a satisfied customer is the best form of
advertisement.
 Entrepreneurship-The Shahnaz Husain Way
(Cont’d)

 Before entering the retail market, her

clinics were the only outlets for her
products.
 By the 1990s, the range and popularity of
Shahnaz products had increased so much
that her products were carried by most of
the big retail stores in India and abroad.
 The Success Mantra
 Achieve growth due to the quality of her
products and the result-oriented
treatments she offers.
 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."
 And the success…
 In 1977, when she returned to India,
she set up a parlor at her home in
New Delhi.
 She had then put up a banner with
her qualifications on it.
 Within days she was booked for the
next 6 months.
 She removed the banner and since
then she never advertised. She let
her products speak for themselves.
 Aim
 “It was my aim to get
India on the world
beauty map as I felt
terrible about the fact
that India was never
represented at any world
beauty congress”.
- Shahnaz Husain
 And the corridor to her AIM…
 She represented the country
for the first time in the
CIDESCO beauty congress in
the late 1970s.

 She was appointed President

for the day's proceedings at the
congress.

 She used this opportunity to

focus the world's attention on
Ayurveda.
 The Turning Point
 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 3
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.
 The Turning Point
(Cont’d)
First Asian whose goods were retailed in western
markets by:
 The Galeries Lafayette in Paris
 Harrods and Selfridges in London
 The Galeries Lafayette in Paris
 Bloomingdales in New York
 The Seibu chain in Japan
 Sultan Stores in the Middle East
 Also carried by other exclusive outlets in the Middle
East, Asia and Africa.
 Business Mode

 Shahnaz Husain has used the franchising

mode to expand her business in India and
abroad.

 A large network of over 600 franchises and

associate clinics around the world.

 In 2002, the Shahnaz Husain Group

obtained distributor rights for Australia, New
Zealand and the Fiji Islands.
 In India
 The Shahnaz Husain Group has about 40 distributors
and more than 600 sub distributors all over India.
 The Group sells not only in the cities but also in the
small towns.
 In addition, the Group owns about 20 clinics and
outlets in New Delhi.
 All other outlets are run on the franchise system.
 The Group does not make any financial investment
in its franchises, nor does it have any share in their
profits.
 Diversification

 The Group has diversified into Ayurvedic centers

for Panchkarma, Dhara and Kerala massage.
 Two Shahnaz Husain Ayurvedic Health Resorts,
one near Delhi and another in collaboration with
the Hyakumata group of Japan in the US island
of Saipan.
 A line of herbal drinks under the brand name
Fitness Fiesta Shadrink. These drinks are low
calorie, cooling drinks to be consumed in the
summer.
 A special range of ayurvedic products for pets –
Shapet.
 Future Plans
 Has started work on formulations that
astronauts could carry with them in their
extraterrestrial sojourns to protect their
skin from the ravages of space travel and
slow down the ageing process.
 Sent National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) free samples of her
moisturizers
Lessons on Entrepreneurship
 Shahnaz Husain has acquired worldwide
recognition.

 Her dedication and persistent hard work have paid

off and she heads a Group which is the largest of its
kind in the world.

 Shahnaz believes that a true entrepreneur is a

person who has independence of spirit.

 Shahnaz says that to succeed, one must never give up

and never stop trying.

 She puts in 18 hours of work and diverts all her energies

into her company.
 Her business sharpness and determined efforts
combined with excellent products she creates have
made the Shahnaz Husain Group the undisputed leader
in the market for Beauty Products and Natural
Remedies.
 "She lives, sleeps, breathes her business.
She is consumed with building a
successful company which she has done."
- Janine Sharell, Correspondent, CNN
 Born: in 1950
Place: Samarkhand, Pakistan