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Sorbet founder and serial entrepreneur Ian Fuhr has transformed his salon concept into a national brand across South Africa, launched various brand extensions in the beauty space and is in the process of extending the Sorbet footprint internationally.
The company is now part of Brian Joffe’s Long4Life investment holding company following its acquisition in 2017.
Fuhr recently addressed a Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs) forum, providing tips to aspiring entrepreneurs on creating a successful business from scratch.
Growing the brand
Since its inception in 2005, Sorbet has grown to 200 salons across the country and does 320 000 treatments a month.
Fuhr explained that he set out to create a national beauty salon franchise business after identifying a gap in the market.
“There was no national chain, as it’s very difficult to achieve consistency of service and product across the board.”
The brand proposition of the salons was to focus on a bright and fresh look and feel, and to offer guests a consistently high level of service, delivered with a uniquely positive staff attitude.
With a background in retail, Fuhr also insisted on a full in-store accessible retail offering, traditionally a sideline in salons.
Sorbet now sells R115 million worth of Dermalogica products every year.
Brand extensions now include Sorbet Dry Bar, Sorbet Man and Candi & Co. The company has 15 stores from Dunkeld to Broadacres in Johannesburg, on what it calls “The Sorbet Belt.”
Culture and people
Fuhr believes the brand’s key differentiator has been its focus on people and building a community: He realised early on that the only way to stand out in the competitive beauty salon industry was to create a culture that focused on people first.
“Other salons could try to copy the look and feel of Sorbet, but they couldn’t copy the culture,” he said. The growth and expansion of the Sorbet brand is “a story of people and customers, culture and the spirit of community.”
Fuhr strongly believes that people should approach work as a calling: “You come to work to serve, and if you serve well you will make money. It is not just a job.”
He has personally run the induction training on the Sorbet brand philosophy and culture for all 3000 new staff since launching, with refresher courses every 18 months.
This message of service and culture needs constant reinforcement to achieve scale.
“I share the philosophy directly as I feel it is so important to the future of our business. If you build a strong culture and a strong community, you will have good performance,” he explained.
Sorbet is operated according to a franchise model, and the company receives 40 new franchise applications every week.
“Our franchise partners are crucial to the culture,” he added. “It is about how you nurture people from the bottom up, rather than the traditional management style of driving from the top down. We try to give our staff the tools they need, such as education and support, rather than managing and demanding.”
90% of all Sorbet salon franchise holders are women and are selected on the basis of their “passion.” Many come from a corporate or business background and “are business savvy,” Fuhr said. “We have found that it is easier to train a business person about beauty than trying to train a beautician about business. Their level of competence is very high.”
Lessons for entrepreneurs
Potential entrepreneurs hoping to leave the corporate world to run their own businesses have to move out of their comfort zone.
“You have to be bold and have a plan and a vision. The worst that can happen is that you have to go back, or try something else.”
After having launched five successful companies over a 40-year period, Fuhr said the differentiating characteristics of successful entrepreneurs were courage, intuition and a long-term vision and determination.
“You can’t be afraid to fail, otherwise you won’t be able to make the tough decisions. You have to have a sense that this is right, even if you don’t have the evidence yet to prove it yet.”
What’s next for Sorbet
Since Long4Life’s acquisition of Sorbet last year, Fuhr has been made responsible for growing the group’s health and beauty division through both acquisitions and start-ups.
The tie up means Sorbet has had to undergo a shift from being a family business to a corporate environment, with the associated focus on performance.
Fuhr admits this has been “a challenge” at times.
The popularity of Sorbet’s nail offering, accounting for 65% of all treatments, meant the company “had somewhat morphed into a nail business,” Fuhr said.
The development of a new stand-alone skincare format, which would include Botox and aesthetic treatments, was under way as anticipated spend in the beauty and anti-aging category continues.
Sorbet’s UK business, started three years ago with five stores hasn’t broken even yet, “but things are starting to turn,” Fuhr said.
“The quality of the salons on the high street is not very good. But it is not easy to transport a brand from one country to another. If we can create a national brand there, the opportunities are limitless,” he added.
• City Press is a media partner of the Gibs forums.
