From Advertising to Franchising: How This Florida Franchisee Found Success with Uni K Wax

Edwin Miranda has always had success as an entrepreneur. For 25 years, he owned and ran KOI, an advertising agency that later rebranded as IXS.However, when Miranda and his family moved to Miami in 2019, he started looking for another opportunity. He stumbled across Uni K Wax online and was so impressed by the streamlined operations and professional atmosphere of the franchise that he decided he wanted in.

Miranda bought his first Uni K Wax in October 2020, but was quick to add two more studios to his portfolio for a grand total of three Uni K Wax locations in Miami. Excited by the potential, Miranda is working to expand all three studios, adding rooms and waxers to increase capacity and further grow his revenue.

1851 Franchise spoke to Miranda about his franchise journey with Uni K Wax and plans for the future. 

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Edwin Miranda: Before franchising I used to own an advertising agency, which I ran for 25 years. In October 2019, my family and I moved to Miami. We decided to look into brands in the personal care and beauty areas. And that's when we discovered Uni K Wax.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

Miranda: I knew franchising as we all know it — fast food, things like that. So it was good to know that there were franchise concepts out there that have a business model that could actually add value to a business. I've been an entrepreneur all my life, so in terms of setting up businesses and creating concepts, that's not something I'm afraid of. But sometimes, you think a franchise is something that you could actually do by yourself, right? If you have the product, if you create a brand, etc. 

But what I saw, and what I've learned, is that a franchise concept already has all those things optimized. Because they have — in the case of Uni K — they have over 30 studios, so you have 30 years and over 30 proofs of concept of what will work and what won't work in terms of everything — branding, product quality, training of personnel, booking systems, marketing, lead generation — there's a lot of knowledge in there. And it definitely changed my perception about the benefit of going into franchising. 

At the end of the day, you're working with a partner. And some people might think, “Well, they collect royalties on your services.” But at the end of the day, it's a partner that is saving you so much more money and adding value constantly versus you doing it yourself — figuring it out yourself, doing the website, doing the printing. When you start adding all these things up and the day-to-day operations and the technical support and many things, if you do it on your own, you'll break the bank.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

Miranda: I visited their Brickell studio. I was searching online for waxing places and Uni K Wax popped up. Then, when I clicked the ad, I was taken to a page where I could actually book my appointment. I could see services. They have a bigger picture and information of the service and the cost. And it was pretty easy to select the service, date, time and then select any waxer, etc., so the ease of use was nice. 

And then the other thing, when I finally went into the studio, I saw the ease of the whole process of getting into the studio — it's seamless. When you get there, there's an iPad for you to check in. Later, I learned that when you check in, that sends a device notice to the waxer who is in the back that you have arrived. She knows that she can come out and pick you up. So everything was fast. And then the checkout was the same way. You have an iPad at checkout, and then you confirm your total. Double-click your Apple Pay, and you're done. 

So it was a great experience, and I liked the brand, as well as the product. I liked the green aspect of it; it gave it a natural look and feel. And at that time, we were evaluating other concepts in the beauty area, and it stood out. 

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth? 

Miranda: Right now, in one of the studios, we are expanding capacity to increase revenue. So for now, we are adding more waxers to our studio in London Square. And then, the same in our other studios — we are ramping up [and] adding waxers. So in all three studios, we are in the process of either adding rooms or adding waxers to continue to add capacity to further grow our revenue.

1851: What is the one thing about your story you want us to know?

Miranda: If you're looking into a business and a system that is operationally easy to manage, it doesn't get any easier than Uni K. A waxer can generate almost twice the revenue as many other concepts, and you don't need that many people working in your studio to generate the revenue that you need to pay the rent and to be profitable. 

And then there’s the technology, even the marketing — the marketing goes directly into our POS systems and offices as people book. So you're closing that lead and the person is booking, which is also a benefit to us. So all of that then lowers the amount of people and infrastructure that you need to have in order to manage the business. Instead of two front desk Customer Experience Coordinators, we only need one.  Uni K is a great brand. It's a business that is very easy to execute, easy to manage.

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming a franchise owner?

Miranda: They should look into the business model and they should be careful about going with franchise concepts that have a smaller amount of locations because there are many concepts out there that don't have enough proof of concepts or that are emerging or that are growing, and you have to be careful with those. People sometimes think they want to go with a new brand, but they're [still] learning how to grow. They probably don't have the infrastructure to support your growth and they are basically learning with you throughout the process.

So my advice is be careful about new brands. Try to work with established brands — brands that have been there, that have support, that have at least over 30 stores or locations where there are proof of concepts where you can learn from them.  

ABOUT UNI K WAX:

Uni K Wax, the 34-unit hair removal and waxing franchise, was founded in 1993 by Noemi Grupenmager. Frustrated by inadequate waxing options for her daughters, Grupenmager developed a natural, elastic wax as an alternative to the painful honey wax and paper strips. She also introduced a skin-friendly application and removal technique for faster, more comfortable services. Today, the brand offers a dynamic blend of 160 waxing services — from eyebrow waxing to facial waxing, Brazilian bikini wax and full body wax — for unisex customers.

The Uni K Wax brand began its franchising journey in 2005 and has since expanded to include 33 franchised and one corporate locations in states including Florida, New York and New Jersey.

In 2023, Grupenmager decided to retire and sell the company. Exaltare Capital Management, a Boston-based private equity firm with a focus on franchise and multi-unit businesses, and Heather Elrod, Managing Partner at Conscious Capital Growth, acquired the Uni K Wax brand. 

The total investment necessary to begin operation of a Uni K Wax Studio ranges from 327,943 to $558,766, depending upon the size of the location and the type of market in which it is located.