Everything about Sanket Shah is well crafted, researched and rehearsed. And slick. It starts with his hair, dark and settled. Mention it to him and he waxes eloquent on its before-and-after story.
Shah lost his hair in his early 20s while he was studying in Melbourne. With his hair gone, he lost his confidence too. “I didn’t like the fact that girls were not looking at me,” he says. But, then, he had the next best thing: Money. And he decided to put it to good use. He went to Advanced Hair Studio (AHS), the Australia-based $2.3 billion hair replacement company that claims to be the largest in this business, for cosmetic treatment. They grew his hair and his self-confidence.
Aware that no before-and-after story is effective without photographs, Shah pulls out his iPad, the modern technological accessory of the travelling salesman. “See, that’s me before the procedure,” he says. The guy in the picture—dull, partly bald, somewhat tragic—looks nothing like Shah. “You can make out from the nose. See?” he urges. Of course it is him. You are suitably impressed.
Happy with the impact of his pitch, Shah keeps going, sharing before-and-after pictures of his clients: Bald, uncertain-looking men and women who transform into smart, confident people with a full head of hair.
Shah, too, is an example of this makeover. CEO of AHS in India, he looks like a man who has assembled his clothing from a fashion catalogue. There is the jacket, the expensive watch and shiny, pointy shoes. There is also the BMW convertible which he drives to work every day in Delhi. At 38, life is good for Shah.
From There to Hair
But despite the fancy trappings, the route to success hasn’t been smooth. Originally from Ahmedabad, Shah was expected to take over the family textile business, but he refused to live in his “father’s shadow”. Instead, he branched out on his own and started Planet Education in 1999. That business is largely on auto-pilot now. In fact, since the Mumbai studio opened in 2008, he has devoted 80 percent of his time to AHS. The reason for this shift in focus is simple: “Hair is like money. It’s never enough.”
He adds: “Make no mistake, we are for classes not masses—our target segments include the upper middle class and the wealthy.” He is clear that he doesn’t want to open multiple small outlets. His strategy has been to target the top end of the market through a small number of large (around 15,000 sq feet) state-of-the-art showrooms and generate big returns through after-sales service.
Shah went from consumer to seller in 2007, when he convinced AHS to grant him a master franchise for the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East. The company has successfully managed to leverage its global expertise to sell post-treatment products like hair fibres. Customers use two to three cans (each costing Rs 2,500) each month, which means AHS makes an average of Rs 75,000 each year even after the procedure.
Over the last five years, AHS India has grown to six outlets and 200 employees across the country. With 200 consultations a day (25 percent of them opt for treatment), and hair transplants costing from Rs 50,000 to over Rs 1 lakh, AHS in India says it has a turnover of about Rs 100 crore. It would be fair to say that he has done well.
Shah underlines the case for this business using statistics (from AHS’s own research) that paint a big, bald world. Between the 1970s and early 1990s, he points out, 33 percent of men and 6 to 7 percent of women were losing hair; 75 percent of people visiting AHS outlets across the world were aged between 40 and 60. Cut to the present and the numbers stand at 70 percent for men and 40 percent for women, with 80 percent of clients, even in India, aged between 20 and 40. “The reason I brought AHS to India is because I lost my own hair,” he says, “I speak to clients with first-hand experience.” This is his impact message: I understand your pain. But I can help you. You could look just like me.
Age-Old Problem
Combine this with high expectations of patients and you can understand why things can go awry. Take, for instance, AHS’s advanced laser therapy. While it claims it can help hair growth, others in the industry believe it to be a marketing tool. “A laser treatment is nothing but a hypothetical exercise, its central idea being it will increase some blood flow in the cells. But it doesn’t work,” says Sethi. While basic laser treatment has proved harmless, there is not a single scientific study which proves it can help grow back hair, says Sheth.
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(This story appears in the 06 September, 2013 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
AHS is bull***. They only grab your money. They are selling stuff that costs pennies but and charging lakhs for it. They implant few follicles and charge for double the number. Sue Shah.
on Apr 27, 2015i tried them and was a complete failure. now deciding on the next step.
on Mar 8, 2015Need to contact Sanket Shah on urgent basis.Kindly e-mail his contact address /mobile number.Will be obliged.My mobile no is 9810922363.
on Jul 8, 2014Guy\'s it\'s just a fraud studio.
on Jul 4, 2014Shame on publishing such an article... All it does is market and sell AHS.. To really know what AHS is about talk to their customers, ex employees and read consumer forum reviews. You will be AMAZED...
on Nov 12, 2013I hope,what appears to me, is not true.Your article looks like an advertisement of the AHS,India and reminds me of the essay"How free is the Press" by Dorothy Sayers that i read in my school days .The simple reason is:it neither presents any honest comparisons between other treatments on different parameters like effectiveness,price,risks etc nor does it present a comprehensive and incisive analysis of the claims made by AHS promoters. We don't expect such sub-standard articles in your magazine.
on Oct 10, 2013Quite an informative article certainly and does boost confidence in the system. I would request a contact number, if I may have for business enquires with Advanced Hair Studios.
on Aug 27, 2013This article is basically mix of information and publicity. Hair loss treatment industry is one of the biggest money spinner industry in India today. One serious issue with this segment is that 90% of the customers who come to such outlets are not aware what exactly they want, thus leading to a situation where they dream of something and end-up getting something else. Every 3rd person claims to be curing hair loss issues, thus finding the best one becomes even more tricky. Personally I feel if one has deep pockets then Hair transplant is the best option to go for. If not, then obviously one can go for non-surgical ways like hair weaving etc. But best option is that self-realization of the fact that it\'s not your mistake that you are suffering from hair loss, and its not end of the world, I seriously feel pity for people who have created this myth that hair loss leads to low self esteem, low confidence etc it\'s all rubbish. It\'s all in our mind. Just make sure that you are living a health life style and rest everything will be taken care off. PS: I am also suffering from hair loss, and currently my age is 29 years..at times I do think about it, but then I have realized that thinking doesn\'t help either, and trust me no where my hair loss decides my personality or effects my confidence, neither I have felt that girls ignore you or stuff like that..it\'s all about the fact that how you shape your personality.
on Aug 26, 2013As a reader and someone suffering from Hair-loss, I would have appreciated, if Forbes had done a case-study or comparison chart of the various companies and their performance, both results-wise and business-wise. Alas,this looks more like a PR-plug peppered with a few quotes(I hope that is not the case)
on Aug 26, 2013AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!!!!!! wow... i really dont know what to say ...... but yes proud to be a part of his kingdom and hats off to sanket sir....the journey is commendable... need to learn more more from him... if this is the pace.. im sure you will reach sooper heights.... i wish you all the very best in your future endeavors.... cheers....!!!
on Aug 26, 2013AHS is doing a great job. Being a blogger, I even received an invitation from their PR agency a while ago for a launch when Shane Warne was in town. They are leaps and bounds ahead of their competition from marketing point of view, and have greased their PR machinery well (articles in Forbes is a testimony to that).
on Aug 24, 2013No case studies? How does one trust him?
on Aug 24, 2013Hi Independentobserver, There are several case studies (customer reviews) around. Both positive and negative.
on Aug 24, 2013What I meant is if there were case studies (both positive and negative) in the story, then it becomes a balanced story. Otherwise, just a plain report based on what Advanced Hair Studio is saying, no?
on Aug 26, 2013Writer, congratulations to you. What would man do without hair? No girl will look at him. How sad is that? And yeah, man loses all his confidence if he loses his hair. Mans Kryptonite is his hair. The place where all his powers are stored. Amazing article for a company which aggressively makes its customers feel low on their self esteem and leeches on to their complex and makes money for a living. The world is going the right way with writers like you.
on Apr 20, 2014This is one of the best resources I have found in quite some time. Nicely written and great info. I really cannot thank you enough for sharing. If you are looking for best hair replacement
on Jul 23, 2019