By Francis Chan

FOUNDER of Fabulous Tan, Mr Rich Sng, was a young upstart when he launched his indoor tanning business in Singapore in 2006.

But with a throng of local television stars, such as Vincent Ng and Rebecca Lim, helping to endorse his solariums, the 32-year-old quickly gained celebrity status and was soon featured on the pages of fashion and lifestyle publications.

When The Straits Time spoke to Mr Sng a year after he opened the doors at Fabulous Tan to its first customers, he wanted his fledgling enterprise to be at the forefront of bringing in new things to Singapore.

His two indoor tanning outlets were among the first here to offer solarium users tanning by either lying down on an ultraviolet bed or standing in front of a sun lamp.

Today, despite the economic downturn and slowdown in consumer spending, Mr Sng remains serious about expanding his business.

'I'm still trying to find new ways to break the rules in terms of diversifying and growing the group,' he said.

The firm has since been renamed Fabulous Group to take in the other businesses that were recently launched as part of a diversification push.

Over the last three years, Mr Sng has expanded into new areas of the beauty, health and wellness sector.

Aside from indoor tanning, other Fabulous Group businesses now include a teeth whitening studio, an oxygen rejuvenation bar, a Brazilian waxing studio and, most recently, a detoxification and wellness business called Fabulous Health.

This latest launch was set up by Mr Sng to tap the growing health and wellness segment.

Besides offering free blood pressure and toxin checks at its first retail outlet in Chinatown, Fabulous Health is the sole local distributor of Amaxs, one of the largest massage equipment manufacturers and suppliers in Thailand.

Even with the new launches, Fabulous Tan remains the biggest driver of the group's growth. The unit has become Mr Sng's key export, with its first overseas outlet opening in Malaysia in June this year.

But he would like to cast his net further afield and has his sights set on tackling markets across the Causeway, in Thailand and China. 'My priorities now are to continue to strengthen our marketing platforms and, more importantly, in automating the business as we grow through franchising,' said the father of a three-year-old boy.

'Our first Fabulous Tan franchise outlet just started a couple of months ago in Kuala Lumpur...but Thailand could be our next big market because I don't see any indoor tanning businesses there.'

Although Mr Sng would not disclose his revenue figures, he did reveal that his customer base had ballooned from 4,000 during his first year of business to 15,000 today.

And when asked how he had found running his own business over the past three years, he would only say: 'It's been fun, very fun.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.