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 promoter score reflected strong brand advocacy; repeat rates increased, and customers appreciated knowing which products they were using and paying for. 

Inc42: India’s services industry is highly fragmented. What were the biggest challenges you faced while building a standardised service brand from the ground up? 

Akanksha Vishnoi: The biggest issue was uneven skill levels. Professionals had varied training backgrounds, and the service quality was patchy. We fixed it fast, with mandatory, centralised training and ironclad SOPs. 

Second, last-mile delivery of products and kits across thousands of homes required a robust tech backbone. We built systems that allow professionals to place orders through the partner app, track deliveries in real time, and receive inventory on schedule.

We also found a significant gap in soft skills. We realised that professional skills alone did not guarantee a good experience. Grooming, communication and customer handling mattered just as much. That led us to invest deeply in soft skills training to improve customer experience.

Hygiene and product authenticity proved to be major trust barriers. We solved this with tamper-proof mono-dose kits and QR-coded products that must be scanned before every service. This eliminated contamination risks and immediately reassured customers.

Finally, trust had to be built. In the early days, many professionals hesitated to join a new brand. So, we introduced a zero-commission offer for the first year, allowing them to keep 100% of their earnings. That decision built trust quickly and helped us attract a strong talent pool from the beginning.

Inc42: What differentiates Yes Madam from the rest? Have you built a sustainable, competitive moat for long-term dominance over larger, venture-backed players?

Akanksha Vishnoi: Our biggest strength is our trained, high-performance professional network. Every partner undergoes mandatory training and operates under strict SOPs, allowing us to deliver consistent service quality at scale. That is how we have built a network of more than 12K beauty professionals across 60+ Indian cities.

Our commission structure reinforces this advantage. We offer the highest earnings in the industry, and our top professionals pay zero commission. That creates stability and long-term loyalty, which competitors find difficult to replicate at scale.

Overall, we have four core differentiators:

• Transparent pricing: We separated product and service costs, removing billing confusion and building immediate trust.
• Mono-dose, tamper-proof product kits: These single-use kits set a hygiene benchmark that the industry did not offer at the time.
• Standard operating procedures [SOPs]: To ensure that every service, in every city, follows the same standards without fail.
• Low-churn professional network: Higher earnings and predictable income keep our partners loyal.

A VC-backed competitor can burn capital to gain visibility, but it cannot bypass the work required to build trained talent, SOP discipline or a hygiene-first culture. Those are developed patiently, over years of execution, and that is where our advantage lies.

Inc42: Bootstrapping demands a clear path to profitability. How did that discipline shape your operations? What proved most critical in achieving positive unit economics across 60+ operating cities?

Akanksha Vishnoi: Bootstrapping imposed early cost discipline, pushing us towards automation, in-house execution, and controlled expansion from the outset.

We adopted a tech-first approach early on. We automated inventories, created a dedicated app for our 12K+ professionals, enabled in-app order placement, featured training updates and ensured real-time tracking. Automation replaced large teams and allowed us to scale without letting costs spiral.

After Covid-19, we realised that we could not run the company as before. It led to some of our most defining shifts like introduction of different disposable kits for different services, sanitising the space, introduction of a convenience fee, margin expansion through our in-house product line and eventually, a zero-commission model for our top-performing professionals. These changes strengthened our unit economics, further driven by our exceptionally high repeat rate. 

The biggest shift, one that truly transformed the business, was moving to a standardised service model powered by mono-dose product kits, most of which came from our own products. This allowed us to control costs, quality, hygiene and waste even as we scaled.

We also opened training centres across cities, kept critical functions in-house and stayed away from outsourcing. Those decisions allowed us to remain bootstrapped while building a profitable, resilient business from the start.

Inc42: Yes Madam’s revenue jumped 233% between FY23 and FY25. Apart from pan-India expansion, which strategic levers triggered this hypergrowth? 

Akanksha Vishnoi: I will be honest. We started with a transactional focus but made a deliberate shift towards brand building. We onboarded Bollywood actor Shraddha Kapoor and other celebrities and influencers. And, just as importantly, we chose to make the most of the momentum we gained from Shark Tank India [we were there in Season 3] rather than let it fizzle out.      

We also noticed a clear pattern. Whenever I appeared in our campaigns, customer acquisition costs [CACs] fell and click-through rates [CTRs] improved. 

Beyond branding, growth was supported by a highly engaged base of repeat customers. We also keep service commissions among the lowest in the gig economy and reward professionals when customers choose to rebook the same expert. This practice builds trust, improves service consistency and fuels word-of-mouth customer acquisitions.

Meanwhile, we introduced a small convenience fee (to ensure smooth operations and provide hassle-free app experience), a nominal amount paid by our end users. It directly contributes to revenue without affecting conversion or customer satisfaction. It does not matter much at the individual order level, but it makes a real difference as volume scales up. 

Inc42: Your first profit came in FY24. What was the most crucial structural shift that helped you reach positive unit economics across major operating cities?

Akanksha Vishnoi: Yes, we recorded a profit of INR 94 Lakh that year. What mattered most was building a meticulously standardised, high-efficiency operating model that improved both service quality and partner economics across all major cities.

This reduced rework, improved customer satisfaction and significantly increased repeat bookings. During this time, we improved our product quality, spent wisely on our target audience, gave partners incentive for repeat customers and eventually, we introduced a zero-commission model for our top-performing service partners. That shift made earnings more predictable, reduced churn and ensured better availability of staff.

These changes created a compounding effect. Happier partners delivered better service; customers returned more often and repeat rates rose sharply. That consistency drove higher utilisation and ultimately helped us achieve positive unit economics across every operating city. 

Inc42: Digital tech has simplified things, but scale has its own challenges. How do you use AI/ML and data-led insights to optimise logistics, anticipate demand and strengthen training and quality across a 12K+ network? 

Akanksha Vishnoi: Yes Madam runs on a data- and AI-led operations engine built on years of customer and service-behaviour insights. This backbone powers logistics, demand forecasting and quality control across our network of professionals.

Yes Madam uses in-house AI models to forecast demand, plan inventory, and monitor service quality. These systems anticipate seasonal spikes, optimise stock movement, and flag performance issues in real time, reducing cancellations, wastage, and service variance.

Finally, real-time quality monitoring tracks service ratings, complaint trends, repeat bookings, and customer feedback on an ongoing basis. Any performance dip is flagged immediately for corrective action or retraining. Professionals also upload arrival photos, enabling AI-led checks on grooming and presentation, while punctuality and transit time are tracked to maintain a consistent quality profile across services.

From a future perspective, we will also integrate AI into training to strengthen assessment and consistency, as training is the backbone of our business model.

Inc42: Yes Madam has introduced a zero-commission model for top performers, allowing them to retain 100% of their earnings. How does it help? 

Akanksha Vishnoi: We are trying to shift the industry away from a purely gig-based, uncertain earnings model to one in which service professionals operate as independent business owners within our ecosystem. Our philosophy is simple: When our partners grow, the platform grows with them. 

Currently, the brand earns commission on service charges and on product costs. But our zero-commission payment model for top performers, introduced in 2025, is already changing how our partners view their career paths. For many professionals, Yes Madam has shifted from being a stopgap or side income to a stable, long-term career with predictable earnings and clear progression. 

This shift is being executed in phases. A section of professionals has already moved to zero commission, while others operate on reduced commission bands (typically around 8%) linked to measurable factors such as service quality, reliability, and booking volume. The transition is deliberate rather than instantaneous. Over time, the objective is to enable professionals to retain the full value of their earnings, repositioning them from platform-dependent gig workers to independent micro-entrepreneurs.

Financial and social security also play a key role in this career transition. Every professional is covered for up to INR 5 Lakh, bringing dignity and stability, something that is still rare in the gig economy, and gives families the confidence to see beauty and wellness as a legitimate, long-term career choice.

We also extend educational support to the next generation by providing financial assistance for our partners’ children. This is all about upward mobility across generations. 

By redesigning partner economics and engagement, we are shifting away from a purely gig-led model. The focus is on more predictable earnings, reduced leakage, and clearer progression pathways, supported by training and operational systems that prioritise long-term sustainability over short-term utilisation.

Inc42: How did you create a culture of trust, safety and hygiene among the early cohort of beauty professionals? How do you maintain them at scale?

Akanksha Vishnoi: At Yes Madam, building that culture has been a priority from the beginning. Our partners are the backbone of the brand. So, the operating model is designed to support and empower them rather than penalise them.

For instance, every professional undergoes 15 days of initial training, followed by multiple rounds of technical and grooming sessions. After that, they must clear an assessment before taking customer appointments. Even after onboarding, we monitor ratings and service feedback closely.

Performance gaps trigger retraining rather than exits, helping maintain consistency while reducing churn.

Safety is another critical pillar. Our partner app includes an SOS button that immediately alerts our internal team, giving them direct access to management. 

For hygiene and product authenticity at scale, we use a mandatory QR code authentication system, which ensures the use of original, approved products every time, preventing cross-contamination.

Inc42: As the CMO of Yes Madam, what core marketing principle has helped you achieve national visibility with minimal spend? Which single metric best captures the depth of consumer trust?

Akanksha Vishnoi: Our marketing mantra is simple — move fast, stay relevant and be consistent, always. Everything we do is rooted in speed, data and cultural intuition, that sense of what will resonate with our audience. We spot those moments quickly, track what people are responding to and place bold bets on personalities who genuinely matter to them. That’s precisely why our collaboration with Ekta Kapoor worked. She is an icon for our core audience, and we were the first brand to tie up with her. That move ensured strong national visibility for our brand at a fraction of the usual marketing cost.

A second pillar is founder-led authenticity. Users trust brands when they can see the people behind them. So, when we partnered with Ekta Kapoor and Sakshi Tanwar, I featured in those campaigns myself. In fact, we lean into this founder-led approach because it creates familiarity, credibility and a direct emotional connection with our users. 

Beyond campaigns, consistent daily presence has been more effective than episodic marketing spikes.

The metric that tells us trust works is our repeat booking rate. For a brand offering at-home services, nothing reflects trust more clearly than this. When customers invite us back again and again, it validates the service quality, the comfort and the confidence they associate with the brand. That trust has been built steadily, one experience at a time.

Inc42: As you scale rapidly, how do you maintain the service quality and hygiene that helped build the brand?

Akanksha Vishnoi: Quality is non-negotiable for us. And it requires robust systems, service standardisation and accountability. Every service follows strict SOPs and uses mono-dose, tamper-proof kits. Those who deliver are trained, certified professionals. We uphold these standards at scale through regular audits, performance tracking, retraining and tech-driven monitoring to ensure compliance.

By embedding quality and hygiene into our operations and work culture, we ensure that every customer receives a reliable, consistent experience regardless of location or service professional.

Inc42: In the next three to five years, what’s the most critical problem Yes Madam must solve to cement its leadership? 

Akanksha Vishnoi: The real challenge is striking the right balance between scale, service standardisation, zero-spillover inventory and controlled spending. As we expand, retaining the same service precision and lean operations will be critical for hitting INR 1K Cr in the annualised revenue run rate.

Our biggest challenge right now is delivering certain high-demand hair and nail services at home, particularly hair colouring and advanced hair treatments. These are the core categories in our beauty ecosystem that draw our target audience. It isn’t easy to home-deliver these services. But we are developing innovative formats and products to bridge the gap.