Six years ago Ilter Dumduz founded Blys, an  in-home app in Australia and New Zealand that connects massage, beauty and wellness practitioners with consumers. He sits down with Retail Beauty to share the lessons he’s learned along the way from turning his side-hustle into a booming business.

How and why did you start Blys?

It all started when my wife booked me in for a massage at my local spot as a birthday present, but I felt a bit out of place at the small Bondi clinic. As a typical guy, the definition of self-care for me was a couple of beers at the pub with my mates, so I felt like I didn’t belong there. I thought to myself, I don’t do yoga or drink green juice, am I still allowed to have a massage. I felt quite out of place. The whole experience was intimidating and not very inclusive. But I remember having that treatment and walking out feeling amazing and rejuvenated – like a new man, really.

I started Blys in 2016 after having personally experienced the difficulties of prioritising my wellbeing. Blys was born as a result of me noticing and wanting to remove frictions in my own massage experience and in the industry at large.

Can you share some of your successes with starting up a new business?

Two successes come to mind, firstly starting. I can’t stress enough how big a challenge taking that first step is. Anyone who is a freelancer or contractor out there hustling will know what I mean; make sure you take a minute to acknowledge what huge success simply starting is.

Secondly, growing Blys into the community, it is today. Six years on, we’ve grown our practitioner network to over 1,500 independent massage, beauty and wellness practitioners who are now earning an income on the Blys platform. We also recently celebrated 100,000 bookings and are so proud to be able to create reliable income for practitioners on their terms.

What challenges did you overcome?

Like all of us, Covid-19 was a real curveball. Seeing practitioners switch off their regular income, we had to pivot fast and launch new services that practitioners could deliver virtually. But in hindsight, it was a real blessing to watch the world shift its understanding of wellness as an essential need.

Blys experiencing rapid growth was an entirely different challenge. As we’ve grown from 10 customers to 100,000 customers, launched new services and expanded into new markets, making sure practitioners and clients on the platform continue to have a great experience is an ongoing challenge but our most exciting one. This means listening and learning from practitioners and clients is more important than ever and making sure we’re quick to implement improvements every single day.

What’s the one benefit of hindsight you have gained?

Progress is not linear. You always overestimate what you can achieve in one year, and you underestimate what you can achieve in ten. If you’re expecting great success from the get-go, it’s probably not going to happen, but it can be much, much bigger than what you set out to do if you persevere.

What do you love about your industry?

The passion of the people within it. I chat to practitioners in our community daily, and one thing that always stands out is the dedication they all have to help people feel like the best version of themselves. Mobile practitioners have hustled like no one I’ve ever met; they’re all micro-entrepreneurs who inspire me daily.

How can beauty professionals get involved with Bly? What are the benefits for them?

Practitioners can sign up for free and have instant access to repeat clients in their area. What practitioners love about Blys is the flexibility to set your own schedule, earn 2-3 times more per treatment than in a spa or salon and not have to worry about the stresses of finding clients, doing marketing, customer service and chasing payments. Beyond that, many simply love being a part of an active community, where you can get together and share learnings with their peers at regular meetups. 

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