Noida-based home salon start-up YesMadam handles over 1.4 lakh monthly bookings and aims to increase this to 5 lakh bookings per month in the next two years
Bengaluru: India’s once fragmented and unorganised salon industry faced unreasonable costs, counterfeit or reused products, and an unskilled or inadequately trained workforce. There was an urgent need for greater transparency and authenticity in the industry, particularly regarding pricing, products, and services offered.
Having identified the gap, brothers Aditya and Mayank Arya launched YesMadam in December 2016 to tackle these challenges. The Noida-based startup enables customers to register and avail beauty and wellness services from the comfort of their homes. They aim to capture a share of India’s salon market, valued at $11.65 billion in 2024 and projected to grow to $22.99 billion by 2033.
Origin of YesMadam
YesMadam began with a story of two brothers’ concern for their wives. In 2017, during a girls’ day in, the co-founders’ wives treated themselves to a pampering session with beauticians.
However, the experience took an unexpected turn when they developed rashes from the facial products used. Investigating further, the brothers discovered that the products used were not genuine, sparking an urge to address this issue on a larger scale.
The brothers launched YesMadam the same year, leaving their jobs and initially investing around Rs 2-3 lakh rupees into the business. Over time, they gradually increased their investment, putting in nearly Rs 15 lakh rupees during the early stages. Today, the investment has gone up to almost Rs 4 crore.
What it offers
YesMadam offers a wide range of services, including salon treatments like waxing, facials, clean-ups, makeup, manicure, pedicure, mehendi, pre-bridal services, female spa treatments, and male grooming services.
The charges levied by the brand are over 50% less compared to both its offline and online competitors.
The home salon startup primarily targets women aged 25 to 40, with services catering to 98% women and 2% men. Its strongest demand is coming from Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Bangalore, where it sees a 10 times growth potential.
Solving hurdles on the way
When the company started, it focused on solving three major problems the home services industry was facing: spurious products, pricing and lack of empowerment.
“Back in those years many brands were focused on offering convenience at home, no one was addressing the core issues of the salon industry—such as duplicate products, high pricing, and the lack of empowerment for salon professionals,” said Mayank Arya.
The founders realised that large product containers often led to product duplication and could easily be replaced. To solve this, the platform tied up with brands in the industry and made use of sealed mono-dose (one-time usage) beauty products that cannot be refilled, duplicated, or tampered with.
To address the pricing challenge, the brand separated the costs into two parts: Service charge and product cost. The service charge was set at Rs 6 per minute, while the product cost was based on the MRP. This structure made its services approximately 60%-70% more affordable than typical prices at salons or on other online platforms.
Moreover, salon workers were earning just around Rs 12,000 and the salon owners were not adding value to the chain. To address this, YesMadam introduced a marketplace model that empowered professionals to run their businesses.
“We have one of the lowest commission rates in the gig economy, just 8%—far lower than platforms like Ola, Uber, or Urban Company. Our vision is to bring this down to 0% in the future,” said Arya.
At present, the company has partnered with more than 3,500 self-made beauty professionals.
“In the initial months, we were getting only about 50 bookings per month. But then, we grew from 50 to 100, then from 100 to 1,000. So, the business really took off after that initial phase,” added Arya.
Today, YesMadam receives over 1,000 bookings daily and around 1,40,000 bookings per month doubling last year’s 70,000, with customer retention rates reaching as high as 72%.
Expanding pan India
YesMadam is currently operational across over 57 Indian cities including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hyderabad, Indore, Pune, Mohali, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jammu, Bareilly, Jalandhar, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Jaipur among others.
The brand strives to expand its reach to over 100 cities within the next 3 years.
Recently, the company opened its first-ever offline outlet in Ghaziabad and plans to launch two more in the coming months.
“The goal is to overcome any limitations in the online space and provide a complete solution to our consumers,” said Arya.
YesMadam is also positive about entering international markets. “Global expansion is definitely on the horizon, with a step-by-step approach,” he added.
Looking ahead
“Our top priority is to ensure that as we grow, our partners grow with us—financially and in knowledge. The goal is continuous growth and delivering 10-fold value to our customers,” said Arya.
Over the next two years, its plan is to increase its current monthly bookings to 5 lakh.
The brand is witnessing a revenue run rate of Rs 120 crores as of now. The constant rise in demand has turned this into a profitable venture not only for the company but also for its franchise partners, with an expected return on investment (ROI) of up to 76%, supported by extensive assistance.
“We are satisfied with our growth so far, and the best part is that we are still profitable. We are confident in our continued growth and are aiming for a revenue of Rs 200 crore next year,” added Arya.
The company also has a month-on-month growth rate of 20%. Moreover at 4.7 stars on Google Play Store, it is the highest-rated beauty application there and has two million downloads till date.
Marketing is crucial for the salon start-up, which allocates about 40% of its revenue to campaigns. Recently, it onboarded Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor for a campaign to boost visibility and expand its user base.
The spokesperson confirmed that more marketing campaigns are planned, though details were not disclosed.
Compared to last year’s festive season, the company is expecting a 40% growth during this period, driven by festive packages, promotions, and enhanced service offerings.
