Two Melbourne friends made a whopping $ 250,000 bet, but it paid off, as they made $ 7 million in the past six months.
Australian entrepreneurs Blair James and Hamish Buckley had always wanted to start a business together but were waiting for the right idea to present itself.
During Australia’s national lockdown in April last year, they got the idea – a natural hair brand called Growth Bomb.
“We’re focused on scalp health (because it’s a) growing trend around the world, which should be the next big thing,” James told news.com.au.
Since launching in October 2020, Growth Bomb has achieved $ 7 million in revenue and is on track to hit $ 10 million by the company’s first anniversary.
On average, they sell one of their products every two minutes.
RELATED: Aussie’s $ 4.8 Million Idea to ‘Change the World’
RELATED: How Visiting a Sex Shop Led to $ 440 Million Idea
The couple spent $ 250,000 of their own money to start the business.
In June, Mr. James and Mr. Buckley presented Growth Bomb to retailers.
They had a stroke of luck – Chemist Warehouse and Priceline picked it up.
In October, they officially launched and haven’t looked back since.
They currently have seven products on the shelves, and by March of next year that number will have doubled to 14, making them one of Australia’s fastest growing hair brands.
“It’s very rare for a brand to end up in retail in the first six months of trading,” Buckley told news.com.au.
“Usually you have to crawl before you can walk.
“(Growth Bomb) is definitely going in the right direction in a short period of time.”
RELATED: Mom Plays House Deposit To Make $ 3.5 Million
They attribute part of their success to one “heroic ingredient†in all of their products: the Yerba Maté leaf.
The leaf is harvested from the Amazon rainforest and contains the highest level of natural caffeine than any other substance, making it ideal for stimulating hair growth.
It is often used in energy drinks, a point that did not escape the two entrepreneurs.
Once they discovered the Yerba Maté leaf, they “could see the mark emerging before our eyes,” according to Mr. James.
“We wanted to create a hair care brand that looks like an energy drink,†he added.
“Our products really target the hair itself.
“The hair is dead about 2 cm above your scalp.
“To improve hair growth, you have to really improve your scalp.”
The Yerba Mate leaf was perfect for this.
This is not the first success for the two friends who are already established entrepreneurs and millionaires.
“We’ve both been in the cosmetics industry. We had a good understanding of trends and hair care, â€Mr. James said.
He is best known for creating the global self-tanner brand, Bondi Sands, which grossed $ 65 million last year and a profit of $ 8.6 million.
Mr. Buckley is not far behind, as the founder of three successful brands – Coco Vodka, Bean Body and Mr. Bright.
As the name suggests, Coco Vodka is a coconut flavored alcoholic product, while Bean Body is a caffeine body scrub. Mr. Bright is a tooth whitening solution without peroxide.
It’s fortunate that they both have some extra cash behind them, because starting a new business wasn’t cheap.
“We funded our brand development out of our own pockets, product development, brand design, website design, everything was self-funded,†Mr. James said.
It cost them “hundreds of thousands” with the original design costing $ 25,000 and then they had to fork out a quarter of a million in inventory.
With their new and old businesses to juggle, the couple said they often work from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. most of the time.
Mr. James and Mr. Buckley have been friends for 15 years, since they met Melbourne’s “little world” of budding entrepreneurs.
Do you have a similar story? Continue the conversation | [email protected] | @AlexTurnerCohen
