Older women are hard to find. They have gone into their basements and homes and are likely practicing there, says business owner and franchiser, Julio Philippe. We have to try to bring them out again.

Julio Philippe was inspired to launch PhotoDerma while attending laser conferences throughout the U.S. It was apparent to him that the “beauty” business would only flourish and that the services now offered by small enterprises would become the focus of large corporations; the small mom-and-pop shops would be replaced by la crème de la crème risk-takers of the business world—and PhotoDerma would be one of them.

“For me it was important to have a brand name that was easy to understand, easy to remember. I wanted something that finished in the Latin like ’a.’ It travels well across the world.”

For two years, he tested the technology and prepared. Finally, after extensive research and study of the name, concept and efficiency of the equipment, he set about selling franchises. Since the very start, Philippe had planned for this.

PhotoDerma is at a very important stage right now, says Philippe. “When an industry is young, there are a lot of little shops all over the place. When an industry becomes mature, big businesses install themselves.” In fact, Philippe has opted to focus on one country at a time. By beginning the franchise installation in one area, he has bargaining power with suppliers. “You have money to spend, which is something that you could never do alone.”

PhotoDerma intends on investing $75 000 in the next six months on advertising alone. This, says Phillipe, is thanks to the combined effort of the franchises. “The franchiser collects funds from each of the PhotoDermas and spends that on marketing; Internet, radio ads, billboards.”

In the next 12 months, there will be 10 more Photo-Dermas launched. Ten a year is a good number. It’s a business that’s bound to grow. Philippe elaborates: “Look at young women. I see, now, young women with pigmented lesions, something that you didn’t see not long ago. But now we see it. Why? The sun.” The sun has brought young and old back into the salons, this time for skin laser treatments and photorejuvenation.

“You have the 40-year-old woman who wants to look good. It’s 90% of our business.” The woman 35 to 55 who is working and does not want to have surgery but wants to be beautiful, with the fresh look of uniform skin colour. “That’s a big market for us. I think PhotoDerma is well positioned in the market. The face, the skin...has a lot of potential.”

PhotoDerma primarily uses Intense Pulse Light (IPL) as opposed to the mainstream laser. “The new IPLs have very powerful integrated cooling,” explains Phippe, “they have a lot of energy, something that the old IPL did not have. We can do very efficient treatments. As well, it has been proven scientifically to work for hair removal, for vascular lesions, for the face. We can shut down a vessel, eliminate Rosacea without creating Purpura (intense redness). The laser based technology, when it’s used at short pulse duration, creates Purpura.”

As it stands, this industry absolutely wants older women. If it were not for the challenge of certified, experienced—and age-appropriate human resources, Philippe says he would probably grow more rapidly. “It’s tough to find and put somebody up to speed. I think this will be a big challenge. It’s a challenge for everybody in the industry. Since, in the industry right now, you have a lot of estheticians in their basements, it’s tough to get them back on the market. I find that I’m posting ads for estheticians...we pay well—and they don’t show up. So, it’s very tough to recruit.”

To work with IPLs and laser, one needs to be either an esthetician or nurse. “Since we work with women, I don’t like to have young staff. I prefer to work with 35-year-old women because, first of all, they can relate. I don’t necessarily want a 20-year-old woman to sell this service.

When you walk into a PhotoDerma, it’s beautiful. So, you establish credibility; you’re not walking into a little hole in the wall. You’re walking into a PhotoDerma.” During the consultation, it is common, says Philippe, for a client to inquire about treatments already tested by the esthetician herself. This credibility by shared need and experience is invaluable.