SKNHEAD Ltd.

Idea

Introduction

SKNHEAD is the new male grooming range brought out by award-winning celebrity hairdresser and serial hairdressing entrepreneur, Adee Phelan.

Since our previous successful round on Seedrs, we exceeded all of our sales expectations to the trade. We launched to the trade, selling through two of the large distributors in the UK. Early sales outstripped our predictions in the original financial model.

Adee is is known for being David Beckham's hairdresser and for cutting his famous mohawk haircut, and for multiple TV appearances, including Channel 4s The Salon, Secret Millionaire, and NBC's hit show, Shear Genius. SKNHEAD is one of the first male grooming range of products to be brought out by a recognised male celebrity hairdresser, in an industry that is worth over £450m in the UK and $21bn globally.

Intended impact

SKNHEAD seeks to be UK and Ireland's most respected luxury male grooming line, which is already sold in more than three countries. Adee has wanted to bring out a male grooming range for a number of years, but only recently has he felt the market is ripe.

Until now, most male grooming lines have been brought out by recognised female haircare and toiletry brands, and some male fashion designers. This has resulted in little innovation because they are often repurposed female products, while we believe men approach grooming in a very different way. SKNHEAD takes Adee's many years of experience in listening to top professionals and high-end customers to build products around the specific needs of men.

This approach is set to revolutionise male grooming, a market that is booming precisely because it's finally providing men with their own identity.

Substantial accomplishments to date

After our successful Seedrs round towards the end of last year, we have launched SKNHEAD to the trade. It has been a huge success, with sales in more than three countries, and exceeding our expectations for the number of trade sales we predicted we would make in the first three months. We have secured two distributors who supply the market for barbers and salons. Our social media accounts have grown massively, achieving over 20k followers on Instagram, 25k on Twitter and over 38k likes on Facebook. We were also invited to speak on the main stage of the Barber Connect conference, a major industry event.

We now need to capitalise on this market opportunity by raising awareness of the brand amongst consumers. We believe the best way to do this is through more marketing and by attending the major trade shows. Additionally, we sell straight to the consumer online which keeps them in our own sales funnel. We hope our plans for effective marketing will increase our direct to consumer sales. We have also signed up a number of celebrity affiliates who have agreed to promote SKNHEAD products. Many of these celebrities normally only take payment up front, anything from £5,000+, but given Adee's credibility they are willing to promote our products on commission only. This is interesting for us as it removes the potential of future marketing budget bottlenecks and heavily incentivises the celebrity affiliaties to keep promoting SKNHEAD products.

Monetisation strategy

SKNHEAD products are sold online and through professional salons, and will be sold through celebrity affiliates, YouTubers and high-end department stores.
According to Pixability, male grooming is the fastest growth sector across all online tutorials. This presents an opportunity - by tying in celebrities and YouTubers, we can leverage influencers to show how our innovative products are meant to be used, and capitalise on this trend.

One of the most respected names in male hairdressing, Adee has run hairdressing seminars across Europe and the US, so has a high number of barbers and hairdressing professionals who may be interested in stocking SKNHEAD products.

We intend to be a brand that grows through word-of-mouth. Crowdfunding is a very attractive proposition for us because it means we can empower our investors to start spreading the word from day one.

Use of proceeds

The funds will predominantly be used for marketing and PR to increase our online sales channel, and to satisfy our distributors that we're supporting their channels with promotions. Around a third of the funds will be used to pay for Salon International, the industry show that attracts the biggest names in hairdressing.

Please note:

The company has a director's loan of £25,000 taken out in March 2018, which accrues interest at 6% per annum, amounting to a total repayable amount of £29,043.78. None of the proceeds of the Seedrs investment is intended to be used to repay this debt.