Mike Malone was in his mid-thirties when he started to notice that he was losing some hair.
'Every time I looked in the mirror, the only thing that I saw was my hair loss,' he explains, saying he felt self-conscious.
'It had an impact on my confidence, I didn't want to get into photos and so on. And this is such a personal thing and though hair loss is awful for women, for a lot of men it is everything too.'
And while many are content to get out the razor, for Mike and others that was not a route to take.
'Some guys embrace it and that's fine, but for me personally, it really impacted my confidence. I just felt awful. I hated going into lifts with the down lighters and mirrors which really highlighted the hair loss.'
Mike decided he wanted to do something about it and met with a number of Irish clinics but found the cost was prohibitive.
So he decided to research having a transplant in Turkey.
'I was head of marketing for a group of GP practices so I did my research as much as I could,' says Mike. 'But all of these clinics can hide behind fancy websites and reviews that you just don't know are genuine. I did my research but it was only after I got there that I realised that the hotel they put me in - which was meant to be five star - was an absolute kip.'
'They got me over the line promising everything and then I wanted to see the room where they were doing the transplant before I paid them the cash and they told me no.'
In the surgery: Mike Malone at Total Hair Restoration
Mike went ahead with the transplant but the room was not up to clinical standards of cleanliness.
'No-one doing the transplant spoke English - only the person taking the money did and then you weren't speaking to anyone for the next five hours.
'There was no time taken to explain anything and the whole patient experience was lacking.'
Mike went back to his hotel and the staff were telling him that he could fly home immediately but his own knowledge told him he needed to wait in case of infection.
'The grafts were too fresh so that was lunacy,' he says. 'So I decided myself to wait two days before flying home.'
When he did get home Mike discovered he had an infection on his scalp and had to get treated by his own GP as the clinic would not respond to his requests.
'I didn't hear from the clinic again - I was left to my own devices.'
Although the hair transplant did work, Mike's experience made him think about other Irish men who were faced with either paying a fortune or taking risks in Turkey.
'I had set up the mole screening clinic years ago and I am also a co-founder of Optiman Clinic, which is a men's health clinic in Beacon Court. So I've always worked for other companies over the years, but I knew that I was going to go back into some area of healthcare.'
Now his Total Hair Restoration business has been designed to offer help for men on their terms.
'We offer 0% finance and also three aftercare appointments, so it’s just peace of mind and we positioned it price wise at a fixed cost of €6,495 so there are no tricks.'
Tricks that Mike is talking about include per-follicle charging where once a man is in the chair, some clinics will insist that he needs more transplants and charge per follicle.
'There are all sorts of sales tactics,' Mike says. 'But I see our patients as patients and not as sales targets.'
'And again we say no to as many people as we say yes to for transplants because if you aren't a suitable candidate we won't get you to spend your money as we know it won't work.'
Mike researched a lot of clinics around the world and has designed the patient experience with a specialist medical team with years of experience.
'I suppose because I've been through what hair loss actually does to you so I can empathise with guys who are coming in to see us. It's remarkable once they get it done and they look back at old pictures. It's such a small thing but it's life-changing.'
Some of Mike's clients have lost huge amounts of weight after getting a transplant; another admitted he hadn't been to a wedding in ten years because they didn't want people in mass to see the bald spot on the back of his head but now everything has changed.
'It's not just the hair that we're transforming; it's the confidence as well,' says Mike. 'The hair is only the start of it - it has a profound impact. The best part of my job is seeing a guy come back in after he has the results. It is amazing; like they are different people.'
Total Hair Restoration offers free consultations then tailored treatment plans in Malahide, Galway and soon in Belfast.
'Our assessment is comprehensive,' Mike says. 'It's not just you submitting photos, so we'll look at the donor area of the scalp under a microscope and if that's not strong enough, you might not be a transplant candidate. We go through a lot of genetic risk, full medical history, so we really gather all of the information to say, OK, this is what's right for you, and it may not be a transplant, it could be preventative measures. Because obviously it was lacking for me, we offer three aftercare appointments, so one month, six months and 12 months later. And we have a 24-hour Whatsapp number that you can call which has been my number for the last year.
'There is always someone there to provide advice and that's comforting.'
And at almost half the price of his closest competitors, Mike feels that the service he is offering will help men like him.
He had a top up on his own transplant at a later stage and is now happy with his own results.
'The experience in most overseas clinics is lacking in quality, transparency, aftercare and ensuring the client is the top priority.'
'Having researched the industry, I felt confident we could bring an offering to market that not only focuses on quality but at a fair price. I see immense potential in the business as we don't just offer hair restoration procedures but also non-surgical solutions.'
'We're focused on offering a full 360 service for anyone experiencing hair loss while allowing clients to come to us and not have to worry about extortionate costs. We are creating accessibility and decreasing stigma around hair loss.'
'Our doors have only been open a few short months and we have had such an incredible appetite for the service, a lot of which is coming through recommendations from satisfied patients, so it's clear our straight-talking approach is what patients want.'
'Having worked with our great clients over the last few months, it's become apparent that hair restoration is about so much more than physical appearance but about confidence and mental wellbeing. I know this from my own experience.'
'Our patients always talk to us about how good they feel, and that means the world to myself and the team. For us patients are people not sales targets and we're keen to continue to deliver a service that offers them a new outlook on life and themselves.'