The Four Fountains Spa launches ‘Flexi-Hours’ Career Programme for Women Entrepreneurs

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India’s first chain of affordable health spas develops a unique opportunity to address growing need among women for a better work-life balance after starting a family.

2 April 2011
Mumbai

With an increasing number of women struggling to balance their career aspirations with their family’s needs, The Four Fountains Spa has launched a ‘Flexi-Hours’ career opportunity for women entrepreneurs.

Commenting on this unique proposition, Mr. Anurag Kedia, Head of Franchising said “Women have proven themselves to be as successful, if not more, as men at demanding jobs. However, given the additional responsibilities they shoulder on the home front, they often end up sacrificing their own career aspirations. If only women had some flexibility at the workplace they would manage both effectively. However, women in corporate jobs in India don’t get such flexibility today. Hence The Four Fountains Spa has taken the lead to launch ‘flexi-hours’ career opportunities for entrepreneurial women.”

The opportunity involves becoming a franchisee of The Four Fountains Spa and running the entire show for a spa. As a franchisee of The Four Fountains Spa, a woman entrepreneur can look forward to a healthy work-life balance and a challenging career at the same time.

Running a spa offers a woman entrepreneur rich, cross-functional exposure to all aspects of running her business viz. marketing, operations, HR and finance. She would need to invest just 6-8 hours of her time everyday to oversee the business. Flexible timings and the convenience of being located close to home ensure that she gets enough time for herself and her family without compromising on her career.

But why spas and not any other business? “With the alarming rise in stress-levels in most cities and towns, more and more people are turning to spa therapies like massages to de-stress themselves. As a result the spa market in India is growing at a scorching pace of 30-40% annually,” says Mr. Kedia. The Four Fountains Spa, professionally managed by 3 MBAs from IIM Ahmedabad and SP Jain, offers quality spa services like massages at almost half the prices of other comparable spas.
Elaborating on the benefits for its women franchisees, Mr. Kedia said, “Given our professional management backgrounds we have systems that offer our franchisees tremendous support. Our dedicated training academy and recruitment team ensures a regular supply of trained manpower and keeps franchisees free from manpower training and attrition issues. We also provide a 360 degree marketing support through a dedicated team that works along with franchisees for localized marketing. Comprehensive standard operating procedures and audits ensure uniform, high quality service and well-defined HR policies are instrumental in employee motivation and retention. We also have a franchisee training module and provide regular developmental visits to coach and train our franchisees in effective spa management.”

Any woman who has an entrepreneurial mindset and wants an exciting but flexible career can apply to be part of this programme. Graduates with full-time work experience and good people skills are preferred. Women franchisees would be required to commit 8 hours a day in the first year and 4-6 hours a day thereafter.
“The investment required is in the region of Rs. 30-35 lacs along with a leased property of 1000 square feet. The returns are expected to be in the region of 40-50% per year. The company provides assistance in obtaining bank loans too. In the immediate term, we are looking for women entrepreneurs from Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune to join our team that’s spreading this wave of wellness across India,” adds Mr. Kedia.

Contact: Anurag Kedia, Head of Franchising | Mobile: 9967553215 | E-mail:anurag@thefourfountains.in