In about 13 year’s time since Shakuntala Siwakoti opened her Marigold Beauty Parlor in the area, the number has soared from four to almost 40. The “business is profitable,” and it makes women “self-sufficient,” shared Siwakoti who entered the profession at 23.
In a small room on the second floor of a four-storey building, Siwakoti runs her beauty parlor with her business partners Saraswoti Regmi and Basundhara Khatri. On a slow afternoon, the partners sit, chat and even hop out for their personal works. They also train students who come for beauty lessons.
“It’s our own office,” Siwakoti said. “We have our own schedules and don’t have to fear supervisors or managers.”
But this isn’t the reason that these women decided to go beyond their household duties and become independent.
For Siwakoti, raising a family of five in the capital on her husband’s salary was difficult. She said the income from her job helped the family financially.
Regmi and Khatri agreed.
“We don’t have to ask our husbands for petty expenses and we can contribute to the family also,” Regmi said.
For them, it was also a good opportunity to use their spare time at home since their children would be at school during the day. So Regmi started her training classes at a local beauty school in Kathmandu and Khatri at Marigold a year ago.
But Siwakoti’s story is different. She took her training at the classes offered by the Ministry of Labour’s Vocational and Skill Development Training Center. After a six-month course, the mother of three continued the course at other institutions before opening up her own.
“It’s a very good opportunity for women,” she said speaking of the free training sessions.
The Vocational and Skill Development Training Center at Bhaisepati offers various six-month vocational and technical courses for men and women, twice a year. In a single session, about 15 to 20, most of them women, graduate from the beautician training, said Shakuntala Rajbhandari, a section officer who supervises the training section at the department.
“Training here helps them establish themselves in the market,” Rajbhandari said. “They develop skills and there are more job opportunities in this field.” Siwakoti also stressed on the skill-building aspect of this profession. She mentioned the number of young women coming for classes at Marigold, some who have opened their own parlors, and mentioned about the increasing trend of learning the skills among women who go abroad.
“This is a skill you have. So you can go anywhere and work,” she said.
Sabita Rai and Pramila Khadka, both in their 20s, have also joined the beauty bandwagon to be “self-sufficient and skilled.”
“The current generation of women wants to look beautiful,” Khadka said, referring to the thriving scope of this profession in cities as well as small towns. “And also to earn some money,” she added.
Siwakoti, talking of her own experiences, said this profession has a “good profit with small investment.”
In mid-1997, with a small capital, she said she generated Rs 16,000; and currently, even though there is competition, they still make up to Rs 50,000 a month. But in today’s market rate, the investment and return on investment would differ, but she affirmed that the business might not go into a loss. A beauty parlor with a basic setup would cost around Rs 200,000 and an advanced, full-fledged parlor could cost around Rs one million.
This in turn has increased the number of parlors prompting women to learn the skills. Regmi said even women with less education can get into this profession. The educational criterion for the Ministry’s training program is a candidate’s successful completion of their eighth grade.
This has also contributed the trend in women for taking beautician classes. The rise of beauty parlors and the number of women in this profession are an example. But the scene wasn’t so when Siwakoti started. She recalled the situation when there used to be a constant flow of customers in their parlor.
“The competition is tougher today,” she said.
“But you need to be good,” Khatri chimed in. “You have to be able to satisfy your customers. That’s how you build up your clientele and their loyalty.” Though beauty parlors are mushrooming, it doesn’t mean people should compromise with quality, Siwakoti said, adding that like every other profession, there should be dedication and hard work.
“There’s a lot of potential and demand,” she said. “No one wants to look bad. Everyone wants to look beautiful.”
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