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"If you really love an idea, wait for at least 30 days, if you still love it after that, it's probably worth pursuing"
- by Mr. Shivansh Verma : An easily excitable person
Espruce was a startup idea that I pursued for 2+ years, through highs and lows, we launched the product in the market, gathered our first 15 salons and our first 100 customers. If this is something you'd like to explore, scroll below
The Context
2023
User Experience Design, System Design | Founder
Espruce | The dream Startup
Audio Summary Coming Soon
My Role
The Impact
As the founder I spearheaded the idea from the ground up with a successful market launch and reaching our first 100 customers
Reached our first 100 customers in 4 months
Led a team of two, designed and successfully executed and implemented th
Partnered with 20+ salons across Goa and Delhi in 4 months
Implemented our designs and pushed the app to the market in 8 months
It was important for us to validate our assumptions, so we started by market research and talking with multiple salons across Goa and Delhi.
Average time to revisit a salon is longer for males as compared to females
Men contribute less to the salon revenue
Validated Assumptions
Average Female ticket size is much higher than male ticket size
Invalidated Assumptions
People go to salon only when they need to - No they don't, there are a number of reasons like taking a break, pampering yourself, etc.
Exploring new salons is a common practice - To my surprise this was the complete opposite, poeple preferred going to the same place and even having the same hairstylist because they trusted the service of that salon and trying something new can mean a disaster for their looks. TRUST was extremely important
The Research
01
48 People
Sample Size
20 Salons
Sample Size
The insights
02
The research across Delhi and Goa helped me put together the data and analyse it to find insights that helped me design the solution for the problem
Hygeine is extremely important when it comes to personal grooming practices
Grooming services have a direct impact on how you look which makes trust on the brand and the service provideran extremely imortant
The salon industry in India is still unorganized which gives an opportunity to standardize the industry
TRUST
HYGEINE
UNORGANIZED
Three key areas identified that could provide an area of expertise
We had a lot of unanswered questions, and coming from a design background did not help with that. So after a lot of reading, learning, and a lot of help from experienced folks I was able to come up with some answers.
Crunching Numbers
03
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Total Addressable Market (TAM)
Served Available Market (SAM)
Served Obtainable Market (SOM)
Urban population across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Goa that falls under middle class and above economical status ranging from 15-54 years in age.
Urban population that falls under middle class and above economical status, availing beauty services across India.
Population that falls under middle class and above economical status
How much funding we will need?
How much runway can the funding give us?
What is Month on month expected growth?
What is the expected revenue?
$150k
2yrs
16%
$19M
After spending a good amount of time conducting market research, we were able to classify our target users into 3 main segments
Understanding users and their problems
Segment A
Segment B
Segment C
Age - 18-26 Years
Stuying/Recent Graduates
Budget Spending
Up to date with trends
Age - 27-40 Years
Working Professionals
Have a family
Looking for breather, pamper themselves, like to stay sharp
Comfort over everything else
Have a family
Working Professionals
Age - 40+ Years
PAIN POINTS
PAIN POINTS
PAIN POINTS
Difficulty in building trust with new salons/stylists
Always on budget
Long waiting lines over the weekends
Time Crunch - Only available during the weekends
Time Crunch - Only available during the weekends
Not getting appointments with their preferred stylists
Defining the personas
Today, while exploring any salon salon service people go through several obstacles to make an informed choice
User pain points
Lack of information and reviews
Lack of information and reviews
Waiting time and not getting preferred stylist
No info available about the stylists
04
The solution
05
Our focus was to reach the market fast and learn about the feedback of our product as fast as possible
The user journey
As a founder, a finish line does not exist and it can get very easy to get lost in the idea of perfecting your product before even testing it in the market. We decided to move swiftly and efficiently to test our product in the market
We narrowed down our main functionalities to be implemented and moved forward with it. Over the course of 3 months we were ready to take our MVP to the market
Talking to our customers
06
After our soft lauch we spoke to our customers to gather feedback for our product and
32 People
Sample Size
25/32
People preferred having the option to book stylists
6/32
Preferred waiting in the salon itself instead of pre booking their appointments
32/32
Majority of our users unanimously admitted that having review system helps increasing trust in the salons
24/32
Preferred the option of booking the stylist for a home visit
24/32
Preferred the option of booking the stylist for a home visit
18/32
Found the appointment booking facility helpful for their daily use
28/32
Loved the idea of being able to track their stylists availability
28/32
Loved the idea of being able to track their stylists availability
Insights and the journey ahead
07
This was not a UX project, it was a long journey to give it all to building an idea from the ground up and take it to the market. The learning curve was steep and helped me grow in areas other than design. This helped me develop qualities which are essential to grow in your career and as person.
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Almost everything can be figured out if you're willing to ask the right questions until you get the answer.
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Knowledge is free, especially in today's world, basics of most things can be figured out by watching a few youtube videos.
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Your intent, prioritization and planning is what will get things running, NOBODY can do all the work alone.
Due to lack of funding and a short runway, we had to pause and reflect on our progress. But, it is not over until it is over
Designing Trust
04 | Next
A deep dive in decoding factors that go behind building trust using systems thinking
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