With the widely anticipated oil & gas-powered growth in the Guyana economy having already realised evidence of efforts to step up standards in some sectors of the Guyana economy, local cosmetologist and massage therapist, Marcia Trotz, is determined that her own enterprise will not get left behind.
Modfin Salon Spa and Beauty School, which is currently in its thirty-first year, was established in 1989 by her mother, Monica, who currently resides in the United States.
Last week Marcia sat down with the Stabroek Business to share her plans to ‘raise her game’ in an effort to respond to what she anticipates is likely to be an expanded market for the range of services that the entity offers.
Eyeing possible investor buy-ins into her enterprise, Marcia’s growth plan is nothing if not ambitious. Her expansion initiative envisages both a consolidation of those services which she has traditionally offered as well as excursions into new areas which she believes can complement her already existing line of services.
Marcia told Stabroek Business that some of the new areas into which she hopes to venture include clothing, costume jewellery, shoes and a much broader range of services for fashion-conscious females. But the expansion plan does not stop there. She is also hoping to create a snackette specifically for health and wellness enthusiasts.
Afterwards she turns to what she calls the “softer side” of the enterprise. In a nutshell, this involves re-inventing the Salon and Spa aspects of her business. Here, she says, it is as much a matter of both upgrading her fixtures, fittings and equipment and “shopping around” for a broader range of skilled workers in order to enhance efficiency and raise service standards. In this regard, her aim, she says, is to create a feeling of “softness” and an enhanced sense of “relaxation” around the service side of her business. At the same time, while she believes that the services that she offers are “going great,” her plans for expansion could conceivably include offering a home service for customers seeking that service.
Her primary challenge, she says, is space. Integral to her expansion plans is what she envisages as “creating more room” in which to operate and, she sagely points out, “space is costly.”
Ultimately, Marcia is aware that all of this will have to be sandwiched within the confines of a feasible business plan. That, she says, is “in the making.” She presses forward, she says, knowing only too well that her plans could stand or fall depending on the availability or otherwise of investors. “I am planning but I cannot, as yet, say where all of the investment is coming from. I am thinking in the long term and I am prepared for the long haul,” she adds.
Some progress, she says, has already been made, Marcia says. Afterwards, she strikes a distinct note of caution as she discloses that “outside investors” have already expressed an interest in a joint venture initiative in areas that include weddings and spa parties. On this issue she declines to say anything further save and except that she is “considering options.”
Marcia has already completed more than twenty-five years in the industry. Apart from having worked in Trinidad and Tobago, she has, she says, participated in several beauty-related Trade Fairs. These days, she and her daughter Makayla Bovell, work together to ensure that Modfin continues to give service to its customers.
Like so many other local business owners, Marcia believes that the anticipated transformation of the Guyana economy represents what is likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the significant growth of her own business. It is not an opportunity that she intends to let slip by.
