“Having been involved in sports since childhood, I learned to hear and control every muscle,” says Marina Belkina. “I liked to see and feel how muscles grow. I felt proud of my growth. For a while, it worked in business in much the same way. With each new salon, the so-called “body of my business” became stronger and stronger. Until it became obvious: I want even more growth. To scale the network, you need to decide to reach a new level, share your experience, become a trainer for others. That’s how the decision was made to sell franchises.”
Marina Belkina opened her first hair removal salon in 2009 in a residential area of Novosibirsk. In 15 years, from a student who worked part-time in a beauty studio during summer holidays, she grew to the founder of the Saxap brand, which employs more than 3,000 people in more than 40 cities in Europe, Turkey and the UAE.
Growth through overcoming
Before opening her first salon, Marina Belkina trained as a hair removal specialist and rented a small office in one of Novosibirsk's shopping malls for the summer holidays. The savings from her scholarship were spent on rent and materials. To attract her first clients, she distributed leaflets near the same shopping mall. Over the summer, the student saved up the initial capital to open a salon. Friends helped with the renovation, her girlfriends trained as specialists and began working together.
The decision to open a second salon, oddly enough, was one of the most difficult in the development of the future network. Marina Belkina explains this by the transition to a new level of thinking – from an entrepreneur to a businessman. It is difficult for an entrepreneur who has just taken the first step and opened one outlet to take the second and scale up. Training in the specialty “economics and management at the enterprise” helped only partially. Most management decisions were made intuitively and mastered in practice. With each subsequent salon, opening new outlets became easier. In the entire history of the company, it had to close only one salon in Moscow, and even then, to reopen it in a more favorable location.
In 2018, Marina Belkina decided to actively develop her personal brand through social networks and public speaking. Before that, the founder preferred not to put her life on display and stay in the shadows. But then she realized that in order to continue to win the trust of a growing army of clients, a business needs a face. On Instagram (belongs to the Meta company, whose activities are recognized as extremist and banned in Europe) She is not afraid to share her plans and talk about the challenges she and her team face.
“For some time, the path of developing a franchise network seemed incompatible with maintaining the quality of services at a consistently high level,” says Marina Belkina. “It’s not that easy to entrust your name to someone knowing that you won’t be able to control everything the way you’re used to. Here, again, it’s like in sports: you can be a first-class coach, but a large share of success depends on the abilities and perseverance of the student. The turning point in my thinking happened in 2021, while studying at the MBA school. One of the teachers paid attention to our case and said: “Girls, what are you waiting for?! You have everything you need to scale up even more actively, what’s stopping you?” So I realized that the time had come.”
Record, another record!
The will to win instilled by sports helps Marina Belkina and her team, which includes both school friends and relatives, achieve ambitious goals. The Marlen chain of salons in Novosibirsk have twice won the NGS People's Award in the Beauty Salon of the Year nomination.
Beauty salons “Marlene” and “Saxap” are used to being the first not only in quantity, but also in quality. From the moment of its foundation and to this day, the hallmark of the chain remains depilation services. The masters work using the author's patented technology, which allows creating comfortable conditions for the client and speeding up the process of removing unwanted hair. For example, the most popular procedure – bikini waxing – is scheduled for 15 minutes. Of these, the procedure itself takes seven minutes, the rest of the time is given to the client to prepare for it.
In addition to depilation, the Marlen and Saxap salons offer cosmetology procedures, nail services, hair and body care. Most of the consumables and cosmetics used are produced under the POSTAVKA#1 brand in Italy and Europe. The remaining materials are purchased directly from manufacturers. This allows us to maintain a democratic price list and maintain high positions at a competitive level.
Recruitment to the team is open
Over the past 15 years, the business model of the Marlen and Saxap salons has demonstrated resilience in times of crisis. Every year, the chain increases its turnover and confirms its profitability. Marina Belkina shows by her example that it is possible to develop a successful beauty business in Europe even with minimal investment. The key factor is the team's desire and experience.
Sales of franchises was launched in June 2021. The offer is diversified into four packages: MINI, MINI PRO, STANDART, MAXI. The packages differ in the number of service areas, recommended area of the premises, the size of the lump-sum payment and royalties. To open one salon in the MINI concept (with the main direction of “Depilation” and the additional direction of “Laser Depilation”), you will need to pay a lump-sum payment of 400 thousand rubles, rent a premises with an area of 15 to 30 sq. m and make cosmetic repairs according to the single design project of the “Saxap” salons. The projected payback period will be 10-12 months. Under the terms of the MINI package, the royalty amount is 7 thousand rubles per month.
“If we talk about risks, buying a franchise has clear advantages over opening your own business,” says Marina Belkina. “The salon startup is already fully planned out. How to choose a premises with a good location, where and what materials to buy for repairs, how to recruit and train employees… We took into account everything, even the smallest details, which we came to ourselves through trial and error. Over the years in the beauty services market, we have accumulated a huge experience in overcoming crisis situations and know the procedure in advance. I am extremely interested in the Saxap brand being associated only with a high level of service and quality of services. Therefore, we are not aiming for large numbers and guarantee 24/7 support. At the end of the year, we plan to take a break in sales to help our franchisees launch.”
Over the years in the beauty services market, we have accumulated vast experience in overcoming crisis situations and know the course of action in advance.
In addition to the documentary knowledge base, which describes the entire path from the formation of initial capital to the launch of the salon, franchisees get access to a course of video lessons for masters and management personnel. Masters can start working only after their qualifications are confirmed by the top masters of the network. To ensure that all the technological subtleties of the procedures are observed, the top masters conduct final briefings and training sessions at training centers or on-site. In the future, the quality of service and services will be checked by secret clients. Completion of refresher courses every six months is mandatory.
Professional…
