INTERVIEWS

How an itchy beard sparked a one million pound business

Posted: Wed 20th Dec 2017

Brothers Keval, Kunal and Savan Dattani share the story of how they turned the search for beard control into Mo Bro's, their own successful business venture.

The brothers will be speaking on the keynote stage at StartUp 2018, the biggest start-up show of the New Year. Book your ticket to hear from them and 100+ other speakers across 10 inspiring stages.

How did you come up with the idea for Mo Bro's?

Originally, we started growing our facial hair for Movember and were unable to complete it due to a few problems.

Keval had a wild and unruly beard that was out of control and grew in all directions, Kunal had a terribly itchy beard which meant two weeks into Movember he had to shave, and Savan didn't really have much hair to speak of and had a patchy beard.

We all decided to find a solution to the three problems we had.

Therefore, after Movember, we all sat down disappointed, clean shaven and we thought, wouldn't it be great to be able to grow a beard we could be proud of.

Being intrepid explorers and entrepreneurs, we didn't let these challenges stand in our way, we started working on finding a solution.

Our products were first launched on eBay and Amazon and were sold out in the first 24 hours. It was immediately apparent that there was a huge demand for home recipes of beard oils, balms and moustache waxes and that's where it all started!

Talk us through how you bootstrapped the business in the early days

We bootstrapped our business using the experience and facilities we had to hand.

We didn't have any design experience and we certainly didn't understand the importance of trademarking our brand at the time.

Our company logo was created by us one morning in the office on MS paint because we had no experience of photoshop and didn't want to spend money on a designer. We still use it to this day!

We initially launched our products on eBay which was free for us to list on, meaning that we could get selling quickly and risk-free.

By using sites such as eBay it allows you to test the popularity of your product before deciding to invest your money and time into launching a full-blown company and website.

How did you manage to create a successful first product?

The three of us spent endless hours researching ingredients and formulations to create our first product which was a moustache wax.

We tried and tested almost 14 different variations before we found the perfect balance of ingredients for our first product.

We listed the product online on eBay one evening, and when we checked sales the next morning we had sold 30 units overnight!

How do you come up with ideas for new products and how do you create them?

We are constantly researching the market for new products and we also work closely with our customers to find out what they are looking for.

We are always testing new scents, formulations and ingredients and get our customers to try our products before we release them to the mass market.

How have you managed to attract overseas customers?

We have opened our checkouts to over 80 countries and have partnered up with Royal Mail to offer this service.

Marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon allow businesses to open their doors to international customers easily.

These international selling platforms are a great place to showcase your products to foreign audiences.

What are your three top tips for business success?

Planning. Create a detailed business plan. The number one reason businesses fail is due to a lack of planning.

Research. It's important to know and research your market, set objectives and work backwards to make a plan to complete your goals. Also, it's vital you know your competitors, so you know what they're doing and how you can improve your own offering.

Stay adaptive. Times are constantly changing so it's important today more than ever before to stay adaptive in business.

This might mean tweaking, refining, and optimising as you go along. It's important to be flexible with ever-changing consumer tastes, demand and trends.

Why do you think people should come to StartUp 2018?

StartUp 2018 is the perfect event if you have a business idea or just want to improve your entrepreneurial skills.

It's packed full of helpful activities, including zones for every area of business, which will aid in your education of business and growth.

They have some great speakers too sharing their own experiences including us!

Buy Tickets

</a>Buy Tickets on Eventbrite

// <![CDATA[ var exampleCallback = function() { console.log('Order complete!'); }; window.EBWidgets.createWidget({ widgetType: 'checkout', eventId: '40030068011', modal: true, modalTriggerElementId: 'eventbrite-widget-modal-trigger-40030068011', onOrderComplete: exampleCallback }); // ]]>

StartUp 2018 is powered by:

Enterprise NationEnterprise Nation

Enterprise Nation has helped thousands of people start and grow their businesses. Led by founder, Emma Jones CBE, Enterprise Nation connects you to the resources and expertise to help you succeed.