By Jordan French

Beauty founder Alsu Sharafutdinova has unveiled insights into building profitable beauty brands through self-funding and customer loyalty.

While many startups chase fast growth and investor funding, some founders take a different route by building their businesses slowly, focusing on customer loyalty and financial stability. In the beauty industry, this more measured approach is gaining ground, showing that it’s possible to succeed without significant outside investments or rapid expansion.

Growing gradually and focusing on customer relationships, Alsu Sharafutdinova believes, builds a stronger foundation for business. She prioritises long-term stability over quick financial wins, a view shaped by hands-on experience rather than theory. The Effect Brow Bar salon chain founder and Yash Natural Skincare, a cosmetics brand showcased at Orlando Fashion Week 2025 alongside global names like Macy’s, has been widely recognized for her contributions to the industry.

In 2024, Sharafutdinova was named Best Entrepreneur in the Beauty Industry at the Best Talents competition. Then she got the title of Leader of the Year in Beauty at the Creative Industries Awards and Best Entrepreneur in Beauty at The Medical Stars & Beauty Awards. Her work also gained international attention when she received the International Best Beauty Entrepreneur award at the International Beauty Fashion Awards 2025. In 2024, she joined the Best for Beauty Award jury, underscoring her growing role as an expert and mentor in the industry.

It’s worth considering the strategy behind her salons and product brand to understand how she built a profitable, scalable business without investors.

Building on Loyalty

In the beauty industry, fast growth is often linked to big marketing budgets, influencer partnerships, and paid promotions. However, Alsu took a more practical path, focusing on service quality and building steady client relationships. For many small business owners, this kind of consistency creates real staying power.

She opened her first salon in 2017, with no prior business experience. She had a strong work ethic and a clear idea of how she wanted her clients to feel. “We focused on high customer loyalty and perfect service,” she says. “Even without advertising, our clients came back — and brought others with them.”

That first salon became profitable in just three months, which is rare in the industry. Encouraged by the response, she gradually opened two more locations, including one in Moscow.

As the business grew, she faced traditional challenges: hiring professionals, keeping quality high, and organizing daily operations. Instead of rushing to expand, she stayed involved and built systems step by step. “We trained our own brow artists, developed systems, and kept improving. It was a slow build, but one that helped her avoid many common missteps,” she notes.

From Studio to Shelf: Creating a Product Brand

For many service-based businesses, product lines are a natural next step. But only when there’s a clear need. In the beauty industry, that need often comes from clients who want to take the salon experience home.

Alsu noticed that. As her salon business grew, more and more clients began asking about the skincare used during appointments. In 2021, she decided to fill that gap and launched Yash Natural Skincare, a brand focused on simple, effective, and natural formulas that matched the values of her service business.

What started as a response to client requests gradually became a stand-alone product line. By 2025, Yash was featured at Orlando Fashion Week, where models used the products behind the scenes before going on stage, a milestone that exposed the brand beyond salon walls.

That same year, her brow artists first took place at the International Eurasian Beauty Competition, a win highlighting the team’s skill. They helped reinforce the quality standard behind both the services and the products. “Then I understood that slow, steady growth can still lead to standout moments on bigger stages,” she remembers.

Why Turning Down Investors Is a Good Idea

For many small business owners, outside investment is the fastest way to grow. But it often comes with strings like pressure to scale quickly, give up decision-making power, or shift focus away from quality and long-term goals.

That’s why Alsu Sharafutdinova chose a different route. Although she received several investor offers, she decided to grow without them. “Staying self-funded allowed me to set my own pace, maintain full control over operations, and stay close to what mattered most — the customer experience,” she explains.

Instead of pushing for rapid expansion, she focused on refining her services, building a loyal client base, and gradually reinvesting profits. That slower, more intentional approach helped her avoid the common traps of overextending or diluting her brand.

So, turning down investors became a business advantage, allowing her to protect the values behind her brand and make decisions with long-term stability in mind.

Focusing on quality, listening to customers, and growing at a steady pace can be a practical alternative to high-speed expansion. In industries like beauty, where trust and consistency matter, this approach helps maintain control, protect brand values, and build long-term stability, even without outside funding. Sharafutdinova’s experience shows that even in industries experimenting with digital innovations like blockchain-enabled logistics, traditional customer-focused growth remains highly effective.

This industry announcement article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.