Beauty entrepreneur, 31, is set to turn over $10million this year with a  ‘game changing’ hair mask

An entrepreneur who ‘fluked’ his way through high school is set to turn over $10.8million dollars this financial year.

George Papura, 31, from Sydney, launched his haircare business Georgiemane in January 2020, and since then the brand has skyrocketed.

A hair mask is the brand’s signature ‘hero’ product that transforms dry hair into luscious locks by restoring hydration.

The Australian-made $49.99 product suits all hair types and it only takes 10 minutes after applying to see the benefits on coloured, virgin or natural locks.

The ex-gym employee from Sydney told Daily Mail Australia he grew up around salons as his mum was a hairdresser and noticed what the market was missing. 

But it was a rough start, with the brand only making a few sales in the first month and launching from Mr Papura’s living room. 

‘We sold two hair masks on the day of launch – one of which was bought by my girlfriend,’ Mr Papura said. 

‘We had stock in-house and packed orders from the garage.’  

A hair mask is the brand’s signature ‘hero’ product that transforms dry hair into luscious locks by restoring hydration

Mr Papura admitted to being a ‘self-taught’ entrepreneur who didn’t study business at university, but previously co-founded the skincare brand Happy Skin Co in 2017. 

‘When we started Happy Skin Co. it took off and made $14million in the first year,’ he said. 

‘It was a complete surprise – I felt like I was on top of the world – and I had great expectations for Georgiemane.’ 

The brand launched three months prior to the Covid pandemic hitting Australia and coincided with a period in history where both women and men couldn’t get their usual beauty therapies, like laser, false nails and tans. 

The 10-minute mask is made out of coconut oil, shea butter, aloe vera, grape seed oil and abyssinica oil with claims to leave your tresses nourished and shiny from the inside out.  

You simply need to wash your hair with shampoo, apply Georgiemane from roots to ends of towel-dried hair, relax for 10 minutes before rinsing and drying the hair as you would normally. 

It replaces the need for conditioner and can be applied twice weekly for super lustrous results.  

Initially he invested $60,000 to create the product, then focused on social media marketing and ‘building a community’ online. 

Mr Papura admitted to being a ‘self-taught’ entrepreneur who didn’t study business at university 

In total he invested between $200,000 and $300,000 to start the business, but believed in the vision. 

‘There was a moment I thought ‘how far am I willing to go with this?’, because that amount of money could’ve been used for a house deposit – but I was okay with it,’ he said. 

‘That’s what makes entrepreneurs, you need the ability to assess risk and be able to say yes.’  

Mr Papura said he believed he understood the market enough and had faith in his business abilities to make the brand succeed – and it’s grown from strength to strength each year.  

Last financial year the brand turned over $5million and this year the figure is expected to double.  

The 10-minute mask is made out of coconut oil, shea butter, aloe vera, grape seed oil and abyssinica oil with claims to leave your tresses nourished and shiny from the inside out 

One shopper wrote: ‘I was really sceptical about all the hype but finally gave in and ordered my friend and I one, so happy that I did. My hair has never felt so soft and luscious’

One shopper wrote: ‘I was really sceptical about all the hype but finally gave in and ordered my friend and I one, so happy that I did. My hair has never felt so soft and luscious.’ 

In a market saturated with alternative hair care products, Mr Papura focused on growing his community of customers and focused on ‘innovative’ marketing strategies. 

When asked if he believes Covid helped the swift success of the business, Mr Papura said it’s ‘difficult to say’. 

‘You think it would help but our products aren’t designed to supplement salons,’ he said. 

‘I think Covid would’ve helped slightly, but brand is still growing month on month.’