Akanksha Vishnoi On Yes Madam’s Operating Model And Path To Profitability |
The rush of city mornings, work pressure throughout the day and evening fatigue leave little room for self-care. For new-age women, juggling home, office and social commitments, commuting to crowded salons, and waiting for hours are increasingly becoming luxuries they cannot afford. This mix of time scarcity and growing aspirations has driven the beauty economy towards at-home convenience.
Market data confirms this shift. India’s home services market — a sprawling ecosystem from plumbing to beauty care — reached $60 Bn in FY25. On the other hand, the broader beauty salon sector, worth $11.6 Bn in 2024, is projected to reach $23 Bn by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 7.8%.
Although granular data on home salon services, a subset of the broader salon market, remains scarce, global patterns provide a useful proxy. Together, mobile and at-home salon services account for roughly 10% of the worldwide salon market. In India, this combined segment could have been worth $1.2 Bn in 2024 and may double by 2033.
It is in this rapidly growing landscape that Yes Madam has carved out a profitable, high-trust niche by focussing on solving the most fundamental flaws – the absence of transparency and hygiene.
Furthermore, the company’s financials tell a hypergrowth story compressed into two years. Its revenue more than tripled from INR 28.33 Cr in FY23 to INR 94.4 Cr in FY25.
To decode the mechanisms of this hypergrowth segment, understand the challenges of standardising a fragmented industry and learn how the startup is redefining the career path for India’s gig workers, Inc42 caught up with Akanksha Vishnoi, cofounder and CMO of Yes Madam. In an interaction, she delved into the platform’s value propositions, marketing strategy, growth trajectory and the road ahead.
Here are the edited excerpts…
Inc42: What was the biggest gap that led to the foundation of Yes Madam? As cofounder and CMO, how did you translate that insight into the brand’s core focus?
Akanksha Vishnoi: It was trust, or more specifically, the absence of safety and hygiene standards and pricing transparency. Before Yes Madam, customers rarely knew which products were being used, how hygienic they were or why prices varied so sharply from one salon to another. Billing was opaque; hygiene standards were inconsistent, and the overall experience needed vast improvements.
We have introduced transparent, per-minute prices starting at INR 6, with rates varying by service partner’s category. Itemised billing separates product and service costs. Our single-use, sealed and mono-dose products remove all contamination risks, setting a new hygiene standard. The brand’s trained and verified professionals maintain consistent service quality across all locations.
As a cofounder, my role is to ensure that our philosophy and values are embedded in every campaign, message and customer touchpoint, reinforcing what we stand for. Wearing my CMO hat, I have brought in heavy-hitters like Ekta Kapoor, Sakshi Tanwar, Divyanka Tripathi and more television icons. Their endorsement gave us a massive credibility boost right away. It all ties back to our original mission of wiping out customer doubts and friction.
Inc42: Mandating single-use, tamper-proof product kits and introducing per-minute pricing were clear breaks from industry norms. What convinced the team that transparency at all levels could drive a viable operating model?
Akanksha Vishnoi: We were not the first to offer at-home salon services, but that worked to our advantage. It allowed us to speak directly to users on other platforms and understand, first-hand, what wasn’t working.
Back then, most players were selling convenience, not care. In contrast, we were the first brand to disrupt the salon ecosystem by introducing mono-dose products.
There wasn’t any formal data, but what we saw was concerning. Beauty professionals often carried half-empty boxes from one home to another, with multiple customers using the same products. It could lead to skin irritation and other health issues. These insights drove us to single-use, mono-dose products, ensuring hygiene and safety for every customer.
Secondly, more than half of customers felt they were being overcharged because prices were bundled and billing was not clear. Those insights helped us reframe the problems and find solutions.
Hygiene and price transparency addressed structural gaps that had long been normalised in the category. Once pilots showed higher repeat rates and stronger advocacy, these decisions became operating defaults rather than positioning choices.
The internal debate stopped the moment we ran pilots. Our net........