When Zandrex dela Cruz stopped working as a hairstylist in Vienna, Austria to return to the Philippines (when he no longer had to regularly send home remittances to send his siblings to school), his initial plan was actually to “still return overseas, where I’ve worked for over six years,” he recalls.  While here in 2004 though, and even as he was then temporarily running a salon in Mandaluyong in Metro Manila, “the chance to open up (my) own business came up – and I grabbed that chance.”

That chance came in the form of Azgenda Salon, a beauty parlor cum spa center that “not only offers a salon experience inspired by the bests in Europe, but one that is truly personalized,” says Dela Cruz, who invested “some P200,000, plus another P200,000 from a business partner.” 

While starting was no walk in a park, since “we only had three people working for us then, so I had to do most of everything – not just haircutting, as the job description (entailed), but buying the stocks to be used in the salon, bookkeeping, et cetera,” Dela Cruz says, it only took a year for Azgenda Salon to start paying off.  “In a year, we started getting (the) return of investment (RoI),” Dela Cruz says. 

This, he added, “is actually easy to achieve in the (beauty) industry, mainly because (beautifying is a ‘need,’ more than just being a ‘want’).  Guys, for example, need to get a haircut at least once a month.  That’s a market that will always be there.  If you know how to tap that market, as I believe Azgenda does, then you’re sure to succeed.”

In the same year, Dela Cruz’s partner sold his share to Lolita Javier, now his business partner, even as the business continued to be successful.  The company went into franchising in 2005, “a move businesses always look forward to doing to grow,” Dela Cruz says.

An Azgenda franchise costs from P400,000 to P1 million, depending on such variables as the venue/location where the franchise will be opened, support needed from the franchisor, et cetera.  No matter these variables, however, one things is standard: “We always provide the training needed (to put into practice) what Azgenda is known for: quality personalized service,” Dela Cruz says.  This is because, he adds, the industry is “flooded by salons, so that in almost every street corner in the Philippines, there are salons.  The way to set yourself apart – in our case at least – is to be true to offering personalized service.”

In this respect, Dela Cruz doesn’t see a difference from GLBTQ businesses to those not own and/or run by GLBTQs.  “In business, you thrive because of word of mouth (advertising).  People happy with your service tell others about it, so you grow your market that way.  In the same way, the news from those unhappy with your service also spread the same way,” he says.  Thus, “we cater to client needs on a very personal level.  Meaning, even before we accept you as a client, we discuss with you your hair’s condition, for example.  We need to know the treatments you’ve had before, and if the treatment you now want to do is advisable to be done to you considering what your hair already experienced in the past.  We really care what happens to your hair – this is not just lip service.”

And Dela Cruz should know, considering “I’ve been in this industry for over 15 years now,” he says.  Dela Cruz has won, among others, the top plum in Hair Asia (women’s cut), HACAP (men’s cut), Matrix (women’s cut and color), and was given the honorable mention in Fil-Hair (avante garde and teen’s cut) – all prestigious awards in the industry.

There are now four Azgenda outlets – two company-owned, and two franchises.  Two more are slated to be opened in the first half of 2008, one in Iloilo City, and another in Bacolod City.  “I’ve stopped (working overseas), even if I continue to believe in traveling overseas (to know the trends and practices you can get there to apply here),” Dela Cruz says.  “But I have no regrets (giving up working overseas).  Dito, kung tututukan mo lang ang pinaghirapan mo (Here, if you pay close attention to your business), you are certain to succeed.”

To know more about Azgenda Salon, contact Zandrex dela Cruz at Unit 120 Vito Cruz Towers, P. Ocampo St., Malate, Manila; or call 5241644 or 09206233269.