IIT-IIM graduates Anurag Kedia, Arnab Mitra and Saurabh Garg and Sunil Rao hit upon a unique idea: provide high-quality spa therapy.
MUMBAI: The Four Fountain Spa, whose first unit has come up in Pune, is the tale of four young men who knew exactly what to do with the urban consumer who has an abiding interest for indulgence and luxury, at affordable prices.
IIT-IIM graduates Anurag Kedia, Arnab Mitra and Saurabh Garg and Sunil Rao from S P Jain Institute of Management and Research hit upon a unique idea: provide high-quality spa therapy — comparable those of five-star hotels — at reasonable rates and make spa visits a popular trend.
The second Four Fountain Spa will come up in Mumbai in a few months. The company is planning a nationwide rollout over the next few years.
Five-Star spas charge
Rs 1,500-8,000 a session which could last for 1.5-3 hours while these standalone spas will charge Rs 800-2,500.
The Four Fountain Spa will provide services in the range of Rs 400-1,400. It costs Rs 10,000-25,000 for a three-day package at destination spas.
Four Fountain comes under the company called CMYK Health Boutique Pvt Ltd.
Sunil Rao, director, CMYK, said: “All of us had been working closely with consumers in our respective earlier jobs like the skin or personal care segment. Somewhere down the line, we realised the need to do something unique.”
The four chose this business because all of them had been in consumer oriented businesses where they got tremendous exposure to consumer trends and insights and this would be a business where all that knowledge and experience would count.
Also, it would be something unique yet scalable with a great potential for growth. Besides, with the changing lifestyles and increasing consumer income, there is an increasing demand for spas and rejuvenation places, said Rao.
According to the company’s own estimates, the current market size for spas is Rs 100 crore in India but he predicts that this will go up to Rs 4,000 crore within a decade.
The target group would be people in the age group of 25-34 years who will spend more than Rs 500 per month for eating out.
The four got private investors from Chennai to fund health boutiques in about 20 cities which will be rolled out in the next 30 months.
They decided to choose their locations which were conveniently placed in the heart of cities. They made a list of basic, yet most popular, therapies and services and invested carefully in only the required equipment.
And they got diploma holders in various body therapies, facials, body wraps and body polishes.
“We selected Pune as our first located because this city has one of the highest per capita income with maximum concentration of young professionals who are our target customers. Pune has all the advantages of metro such as the consumer lifestyle but the investments costs in real estate and other areas is low” said Rao.
The next TFFS Spa will open in Mumbai in a few months.
The biggest challenge for this group of entrepreneurs will be educating their customers about the benefits of spa services and removing the negative notions about what goes on behind the curtain at spas and massage parlours.
It would also be a challenge since the competitors for TFFS are the spas at already established five star hotels or giant resorts. Yet, the founders are excited, enthusiastic and all set to make this a successful venture.
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