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Persona gets revenue glamour

Earnings rise to Tk 5.30 crore

Sayeda Akter
Persona Hair and Beauty Ltd recorded a 47.22 percent rise in revenue in 2008 despite fierce competition from rivals.
The rise in revenue earnings from Tk 3.60 crore in 2007 to Tk 5.30 crore in 2008 came from only two out of its four branches, said Kaniz Almas Khan, owner of Persona.
The salon also paid Tk 69.15 lakh in VAT and Tk 2.74 lakh in other taxes to the government last year, according to Khan, also the brand ambassador of Sunsilk.
Khan said the reason behind growth was the "better services" provided by the company at reasonable prices.
"Another reason is the overall growth of the beauty industry, which significantly flourished over the past decade."
Khan said the sector's growth was driven by increasing beauty consciousness among women and a desire to take care of one's appearance, especially among the middle class.
Beauty consciousness further spread because of the soap operas on satellite channels, introduced in the 1990s,” she said.
"At the same time, the number of working women increased and that gave women more liberty to spend their own money to take care of themselves,” she added.
It is aTk 100 crore-plus industry, providing employment for an estimated 1 lakh people, ofwhich 99 percentare women.
Khan started her venture in the late 1990s, opening a salon named "Glamour" with a loan of Tk 2 lakh from MIDAS (Micro Industries Development Assistance and Services), as an initial investment and nine workers in a 2000 square feet room at her Kalabagan home.
Later in 1998, Glamour turned into Persona Hair and Beauty Ltd in Dhanmondi (Road No. 27) in a 3,400 square feet salon with around 200 workers.
Persona has three other salons: two in Gulshan and one in Mirpur. The company employs
1,200 people.
Persona's Dhanmondi salon is able to serve 300 women at a time on a space of 11,000 square feet, with separate sections for spa services and services for men at 'Adams', one floor up.
"On weekdays, we provide services to around 700 clients a day and the number often crosses 1,000 on the weekend,” said Khan.
Last year, Persona also recorded Tk 8.73 lakh in operating profit. However, profits for 2008 were much lower than the profits recorded in 2007, amounting to Tk 61.68 lakh.
“We initiated several new projects, catering to the needs of different segments of people in 2007, such as Persona Health, Spring Spa, Adams for men, Training Institute, which ultimately lowered the company's profit in 2008,” Khan explained.
The beautician said one of the main problems the industry faces is a lack of professional training institutes. "People who are interested to work in the
industry suffer from a lack of professional training and skills," she said.
"We have now opened an institute in Dhaka and there are one or two more institutes that opened recently but the numbers are inadequate in terms of demand,” she added.
Persona Hair and Beauty Ltd also runs an independent studio and a monthly publication named Canvas, regularly.
Persona also extended its hands to social responsibilities. In 2005, it started providing training for 25 acid victims from the Acid Survivors Foundation and now 23 of them are working for Persona.
Last year, the company joined hands with die Development Assistance for Background Society, a non-profitable organisation, and provided scholarships to 10 students from the University of Dhaka.
Khan emphasised formation of an association to protect the interests of the industry people.
sayeda@thedailystar.net