Taking the Neeldavids brand to the international market.

Here is an interview taken with Mr. Neel David Katwal.

Can you tell me about your life and where you started from ?

Many years back, I was blessed with beautiful parents. My mom and dad, who never stopped me from flying towards my dream, were from a small village of Jhapa, district Laxmipur,Nepal.
Our main income source was agriculture, and as for fashion, no one was aware of it.

How did you become attracted to fashion and aim to make a career in fashion?

The school where I studied was Birtamode Jhapa Kankai English School, and my teachers were from various parts of India and Ireland. They were so smartly dressed  and groomed. I was a little bit attracted to their dress sense... but mostly I was inspired by my teacher, Mr. Anil Gurung Sir's dress sense. Grooming living style
I was inspired by Bollywood movies also, but I always dream of being a fashion designer and never dream of being a hair stylist.

How was your journey from a small village to reaching the peak of your hair styling career?

When I moved from my village after I.com passed, I started to live in Kathmandu, which was a huge city for me. A few friends started to study IELTS and started applying to study abroad, but my visa rejection was one to another 7 times. My best friends left for Australia, London, and the USA.
 
I was failure one to another timing but I was hoping better So I met Mr. David Vinall, a British citizen in Kathmandu, so we spent time together and he came into my life as a living God who changed my life, and he moreover cared for me as his own son.

I later travel Delhi to study Fashion desgin but after 18 month studying Fashion designing I feel to go aboard Cyprus and study hotel managment but as I was lost somewhere I felt this was not my career and I wanted to do something in fashion. Once in Singapore, I saw a male hair stylist was styling female hair, and I really felt more into a hair styling career because in Nepal there was no unisex salon run by a Nepali hair stylist and only 1 or 2 unisex salons were there, so I set. My mind is to study for a hairdressing course. This all happened due to my God Father, David Vinall. I was able to study hair dressing courses in various countries like India, Thailand, and the U.K. London... I am certified by the Hollywood Makeup Artist London Academy for film and TV makeup and hair styling.

Was it an easy acceptance as a hairstyling career for you?

No, it was not an easy acceptance. I face many harder times. This trade was not much. Respectful in Nepal every parents want their children either doctor engeenier or big officer ... For me, it's a challenge in society. I was from a Khestriya family where the barbaring trade was not accepted... I was also a bit confused about whether people in my society would accept me or not. Then I take the challenge of going back to Nepal to start my own small salon and give jobs to a few people.

How was your experience about 1st salon till now ??

It was an amazing experience. I was unknown in Kathmandu. I was a bit scared and finally opened a 250 square meter salon in Kathmandu mall, where at that time, very famous actress Bipin Thapa inaugurated my 1st salon and encouraged me. Later, I started to get huge support from Nepali people as well as media personalities, and customers started to like the new concept of hair salons in Kathmandu, so slowly I started to make salons... Never dream to make huge as now

Then I opened one small 300 square foot salon in Siliguri, West Bengal, India. 13 April 
2008.here also from West Bengal people start to love our work and style so slowly we became talk of the town And slowly, we started to introduce the franchise model in 2016 and the 1st outlet was by Mr.Bimal Jain, who trusted us and opened a 2600 sqaure luxurious salon in Durgapur, West Bengal.. Then next came Kolkata Damdama. By Soma Talkudar, then slowly we started to grow in the Indian market.

Was it easy for you to start your model as a franchise in India and Nepal?

It's wasn't easy we try hard many investor turnoff and move to big Brands then we start to focus for solid Franchsie Model for investors 2 Model in salons and 2 jn acadmies ... Then we make sure we will make investors secure ... so we start to take care of quality, marketing, staff supply and management, so we support French owners with better growth for their investment. 
So now many investors want us, so we have nearly 50 outlets in India and almost 30 to 35 in Nepal.

Is it true that Neeldavids salon is coming to Dubai as well ?

Yes recently Fronten global pvt ltd Director Mr. Shrimony Sharma signed for our Brand Neeldavids to open salon in dubai as well coming as Business Development Partner to Eastablished brand Neeldavids in UAE and Gulf countries
I am going to signed soon with Investor from Sydney Australlia for Neeldavids salon from 2024..

So what's your plan for the upcoming days? 

Now I am More in to salon chains Eastablisment and make International Brand 
Furthermore, I look at the technical and creative parts, so I am flying to London for a Creative Cut and Colour course where I can train my staff and students and make Franchsie stronger.

Then I am planning to open Hitec Academy of Hair, Beauty, and Makeup 1st in Siliguri, West Bengal, in 2023 March and next in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2023 August.
What are your franchise models ?
Now we run 2 models of salons. And 2 models of acadmies.. From Nepal to India, we have business development partners, so we have a strong team for franchise and support system.

Can you brief us about your franchise models and investments?

We have 2 franchise models, 1 700 to 1000 square salon, whose budget will be 20 to 25 lakhs.. The second premium range by Neeldavids is the Salon Lounge 1200 plus, which starts from Rs. 25 lakhs onwards.

We run 2 model 800 square hair and beauty academies, which invest around 12 to 15 lakhs each, and one 1500 to 2500 square foot hair and makeup academy, whose budget is 15 to 25 lakhs.

How do you support investors?

Our team will connect as a team goal, so from scratch to finish, our team will support you with things like location finalization, marketing, digital page and promotion, product and equipment checklist, as well as our team will do the staff management and supply hair stylist, Beautican, and makeup artist to run a business successfully.

Does anyone want to take Neel Davids' salon and franchise? How can they ?

Investors can connect with our Business Development teams at Neeldavids via email, phone, or social sites. aswell can connect through website www.neeldavidsind.com