If you have yet to book a luxury blowout with Vênsette, now’s the time to start. The brainchild of Lauren Remington Platt, the on-demand service—which also offers makeup—has revolutionized the beauty space in a big way since it was founded in 2011. With just a few taps, a professional stylist can be conveniently at your home or office to spruce up your look, and the transformation will take less than one hour. Here, Remington Platt shares some of her savvy business advice for entrepreneurs entering the digital space.
How do you see Vênsette growing in the constantly evolving digital world?
Women have been getting their hair and makeup done for hundreds of years. What I’m really excited about is that Vênsette is simply utilizing technology to mimic behavior that’s always existed. We’re not reinventing the wheel; we’re just using technology to make an experience more seamless. I think as we move into the future, it’s important to continue to push the boundaries in terms of the experience, but also make sure that we’re really listening to our consumers and that we’re utilizing technology to continue to mimic behavior needs that currently exist.
Does that go hand-in-hand with the decision to launch a mobile-based app?
Exactly. Unlike other on-demand services, this is an extremely intimate company. We aren’t just going to your front door and picking you up in a car a la Uber. We’re going inside your home, we’re touching your face and we’re touching your hair. The consumer wants a little bit more information and we’ve responded to that with an informative website. What we found was a number of either repeat bookings or people who have been referred to us through a friend. Their friend had maybe already vetted us, used us and they are then booking through the mobile app. The app has really been phenomenal in terms of responding to the push in mobile.
What is the best piece of business advice you’ve ever received?
It’s important to keep connected and keep in contact, no matter if it’s the candidate you are interviewing or a partnership you really want. It’s important to always keep the door open for communication and keep people in the loop because mobile is changing so quickly, the industry is changing so quickly that there is always potential down the road.
Will we see more services offered on Vênsette, maybe cuts or colorings?
My favorite phrase is no, not never, just no, not now. We really want to be very focused on giving our consumers a seamless styling experience. We’ll be adding one similar type service very shortly, but I’m not sure what the future holds. We’ll see!
