I went to Mumbai for meetings. I stayed to build BBLUNT.

By Tom Dawes

In 2010, I was reading research about the growth of India’s consumer, retail and professional beauty industries. The numbers were compelling enough for my friend Ross and me to jump on a plane.

We went to Mumbai on something of a whim and met scores of companies. The meeting that changed things was with Bollywood hairdressers Adhuna and Osh. They had experience behind the Juice salon group and were building the early BBLUNT business. We hit it off and shared a vision for how far it could go.

We raised money, bought into the company and brought people over to help build it. I moved to Mumbai with my wife. An unconventional honeymoon, but the start of an extraordinary chapter.

From ambition to expansion

I ran BBLUNT through its explosive bricks-and-mortar growth. We opened new salon doors and academies, strengthened the central team and made acquisitions that helped us expand.

Expansion meant understanding catchments, locations, occupancy costs and the commercial potential of each site. We had to decide where direct ownership justified the investment and where a local operating partner could help us grow more effectively through their capital and expertise.

Every opening also brought operational decisions: recruiting talent, developing managers and protecting the customer experience. We were putting our own money behind the plan, so the consequences of those decisions were very real.

Then came another opportunity: taking BBLUNT’s professional expertise into people’s homes.

We developed the products, and I subsequently led the product company through rapid online growth, before its sale to Honasa Consumer, the parent company of Mamaearth, in 2022.

Two connected businesses, with very different demands. One grew through physical locations and people. The other through products, distribution and an expanding online customer base.

The experience I carry forward

BBLUNT taught me how closely strategy, capital and execution have to work together. A growing market gives you an opportunity. Building the business means deciding where to invest, finding the right people and adapting as the demands change.

It also helps explain why property has become a significant part of my subsequent work. I had experienced property decisions from the operator’s side, committing capital to locations and building businesses within them. That perspective continues to inform how I assess opportunities and work with property companies today.

BBLUNT opened the door to other investments and advisory work across countries and sectors. That experience shapes how I work with founders and leadership teams at Idea Factory: understanding the ambition, getting close to the business and helping work out what growth will actually require.

It began with a research report and a speculative trip. It became a move to Mumbai, a personal investment and a business journey that shaped everything that followed.

Tom Dawes is an entrepreneur, operator, investor and Founder & Strategic Partner at Idea Factory. His BBLUNT experience predates Idea Factory.