Industry Inspirators: Be Bonnie Bodycare
“Don’t let others convince you that the idea is good when your gut tells it’s bad,” – Kevin Rose.
While Kevin might have spoken from his instincts, the same instincts are inevitably at resonance with the spirit of inspiring entrepreneurs who launch a startup and slowly build a business enterprise out of the oblivion.
Our story of inspiration is Utpal Mitra, the Managing Director of Be Bonnie Bodycare Pvt Ltd, Kolkata. Utpal is a certified and trained Mechanical Engineer, yet instead of pursuing Engineering he chose to build up a business in the professional salon space, about two decades ago. From opening a single salon for ladies with his wife, he now has to credit 12 unisex salons under the brand name “Be Bonnie”.
Identifying the huge potential in the salon interiors/furniture market in Eastern India, Utpal then created ‘Salon Décor’, exclusively supplying cutting-edge furniture to salons.
Utpal Mitra spoke to Kaushik Karmakar about the brand’s journey so far and sheds light on his vision for its future endeavours.
The beginning
Salon Décor International started manufacturing and procuring items like salon furniture, equipment, and accessories from Hong Kong, Singapore, and China, and on the other hand, developed a steady clientele for the same merchandise not only in Kolkata but throughout the Eastern and Northeastern part of the nation. It was an organised and branded business with proper after-sales service and support backup. The products were reasonable, fashionable, and utilitarian, thus the customer resonance was and still is highly encouraging.
Both the brands ‘Be Bonnie’ and ‘Salon Décor’ are ISO certified and registered under the aegis of Be Bonnie Bodycare Pvt Ltd. A new swanky 5500 sq. ft. space was taken and a distinct corporate entity was created under the banner of ‘Be Bonnie Bodycare’ bringing the salon division and the Salon Décor division under one roof, with a corporate office as well as a showroom for the Salon Décor products and cosmetics. He went on to create a professional brand for hairdressing as well. An academy for courses on hair and skin in different formats also runs successfully in this space. A tie-up is also being finalised with George Telegraph of Kolkata for graduation courses on beauty and aesthetics.
The Products Business
Following instincts and experience, Utpal embarked upon the professional cosmetics business with hair care, colour, shampoo, and treatment products under the banner of Be Bonnie Professional. Significant to mention is their hair straightening and colour products which are designed for instant results. The entire product range is custom manufactured and sourced from Hong Kong, Singapore, Brazil, Canada and China. Their newest endeavour is rolling out a Keratin range of products from March 2020 onwards. The Be Bonnie Professional range has got good penetration in-salon markets in Orissa, West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan and Bangladesh along with the presence of its distributors and salesforce.
Finally, the way forward for Be Bonnie Bodycare is to concentrate on expansion and consolidation in the existing markets and introduce newer and better products in cosmetics and furniture, keeping up with the current international trends.
“There cannot be growth unless there is innovation, strategy, knowledge and expansion through marginalisation of existing capabilities as well as sharpening newer capacities,” Utpal signs off.