Gujarat woman started selling handcrafted hair bows via Facebook as a hobby when she was 19 - now makes Rs 50 lakh/year

For Roshni Jatin Mistri, one of the earliest memories of her childhood is when she would get her hands on her mother’s sarees, cut them up, and make small dresses for her Barbie dolls at the time. 

The simple act of crafting things from scratch and turning them into something visually pleasing and functional – it gave Roshni so much joy that even if she got scolded afterwards, it would be worth it.

“This childhood love for creating is what fuels my small business today. I didn't have to desperately search for an idea, it just came to me very naturally. I started it as a hobby, and fully immersed myself in the process. Today, seeing our hair accessories adorn someone's beautiful hair, that gives me meaning,” Roshni Jatin Mistri, founder of Cats & Bows, tells Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview.

Founded in 2013 and based in Gujarat, Cats & Bows is a handmade hair accessories brand that offers a variety of clips, headbands, claw clips, hair tie bows, scrunchies, and bow charms. The products have been worn by thousands of customers across India and abroad. 

The small business has even reached Bollywood celebrities such as Soha Ali Khan, Sara Ali Khan, Hina Khan, and Taapsee Pannu.

Today, the venture is eyeing Rs 80 lakh in revenue by the end of 2026.

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THE BACKGROUND: A BUSINESS THAT STARTED AS A HOBBY

Hailing from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Roshni Jatin Mistri pursued a BSc in Environmental Science for her undergraduate degree.

During her first year of college itself, at the age of 19, she began designing hair clips with decorative material. 

“I started this as a hobby, not even a side hustle. One random day, I was bored of my regular hair clips and wanted to beautify them. That's how I got the idea. Eventually, I would attend college during the day and make clips during the evening. Since day one, my parents have been very supportive,” Roshni tells Startup Pedia.

With an investment of Rs 2,000, she bought:

• Fabric glue

• Plastic packaging boxes

However, she did not have to put in any money for the fabrics. She would directly source fabric scraps from the local tailors. 

“I would tell them I was a NIFT student and needed those scraps for my college project,” Roshni laughs.

This was the start of Cats & Bows in 2013, even though the small business was officially registered in 2018. 

When Roshni started selling her decorated hair accessories, small businesses built on Instagram weren't a thing. 

“You know how Gen Z today is so woke and accepting of different career paths and life choices? That wasn't the case back then. People around me weren't able to relate to what I was doing. I also didn't have many friends growing up, because my family was a bit conservative,” entrepreneur Roshni Jatin Mistri shares.

“But my parents made sure that the absence of friendship didn't sting me and they became my biggest pillars of support,” she adds. 

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JOURNEY AND CHALLENGES

When Roshni’s third year of college was nearing an end, she had a realization: the 9-to-5 job path was not her calling. 

She could see her seniors earning Rs 50,000 by working ten hours every day. It didn't feel fair to her. 

“It's not like I am putting down jobs, but I didn't think they were ever meant for me. I am a very right-brained person – creative, emotional, and artsy. Sitting down at a desk for hours and going home with a salary didn't feel right. To be honest, I also didn't find it fair to earn a small amount despite working long hours,” small business founder Roshni Jatin Mistri says. 

“At the time, Cats & Bows had already started picking up, so the decision to not pursue a full-time job became easier,” she adds. 

During the initial years of her small business, Roshni was selling via Facebook and Instagram as well as offline pop-ups that she would conduct in her city. At the time, she had a team of two girls who would help her in daily operations. 

Every hair clip, hair bow, or other accessory was made in-house from Roshni’s house, a part of which she had converted into a home studio/warehouse. 

Some of the biggest early challenges that Cats & Bows had to navigate were:

• Pricing resistance in a price-sensitive Indian market. 

“People would label my products as “too expensive.” They wouldn't recognize the time and effort that goes behind making a hair bow or hair tie,” Roshni notes. 

• Despite the perception, the small business founder remained firm on her pricing method. She decided to honour the quality finishing and handmade effort.

“I think it was my family's support that allowed me to price my products based on pure value. No one in my household held me responsible for scaling the business. They liberated me by telling me that everything is looked after at the household end, and I should just focus on my creativity. To date, I am so grateful for that kind of unwavering, unconditional support,” entrepreneur Roshni reflects.

While Roshni’s mother would motivate her and help in creating the hair accessories, her father would help her during offline pop-ups. 

• The entrepreneur spent most of her twenties working on Cats & Bows. Social life took a backseat and she didn't get to explore as many things as others her age. But speaking to Startup Pedia, she said that there is no regret for missing out on things.

“Working on Cats & Bows when I did turned out to be the best decision. I had the first mover advantage then, and everything fell in place,” she notes. 

From 2013 to 2020, Roshni’s Cats & Bows catered to more than 15,000 customers across India, only through Instagram direct messages as well as Facebook.

She defines this as the “growth phase” of the Gujarat-based small business. 

By 2021, Roshni shifted to Shopify and built her own website to directly take orders.

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CATS & BOWS: HANDMADE, PRETTY HAIR ACCESSORIES THAT GO VIRAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Today, Cats & Bows has grown into a handmade hair accessories brand that offers a variety of clips, headbands, claw clips, hair tie bows, scrunchies, and bow charms. 

Each product is carefully handmade from scratch by Roshni and her team of five women workers. 99% of the manufacturing happens in-house from the entrepreneur’s home studio (now in Nadiad, a small town near Anand city in Gujarat). 

Cats & Bows claims to be a brand with the widest variety of hair bows in India. Its core USPs are:

• Superior quality of fabric and material used in every hair accessory that comes out of the home studio 

• Premium finishing that maintains a healthy balance between functionality and aesthetic appeal 

• Handmade detailing that is unlike mass-produced hair accessories 

The hair accessories brand has a repeat customer rate of 28%, with many people praising how the products look, feel, and work in the real world. 

Entrepreneur Roshni Jatin Mistri uses eco-friendly packaging material for her hair accessories.

“Our boxes are made of cardboard and our base cards are made with craft paper. Some expensive bows are sent in zipper bags that can be reused,” she says.

The prices for the hair accessories brand range from Rs 225 to Rs 1,499 for each bow. 

Although the brand does not offer customization services, it does provide a custom name bow that is priced between Rs 650 and Rs 1,209.

The average order value for Cats & Boxes is approximately Rs 1,500 during regular months and goes up to Rs 2,500 during the festive season. 

However, Roshni Jatin Mistri did not reveal the unit economics breakdown of the average order value. 

As far as logistics is concerned, the small business founder has switched to DTDC after working with Delhivery for the longest time. 

“We are still struggling with Indian logistics companies and the way they operate. A lot of times they show fake status updates and we, as a brand, have to bear the brunt of late deliveries. It's not just us, a lot of small businesses have this same problem,” Roshni Jatin Mistri notes. 

CONTENT CREATION AND VIRALITY

As a small business founder, Roshni Jatin Mistri has been regularly strategizing new ideas and creating content on Instagram. 

Today, roughly 60% of her customers come in via organic marketing done via Instagram. The remaining come via paid ads on Meta that an advertising agency helps her with. 

With a following of more than 1.9 lakh on the social media platform, Cats & Bows has a reel reach in millions. 

The products have been worn by thousands of customers across India and abroad. 

The small business has even reached Bollywood celebrities such as Soha Ali Khan, Sara Ali Khan, Hina Khan, and Taapsee Pannu. 

“A lot of Bigg Boss contestants wear our hair bows and hair accessories as well,” Roshni smiles. 

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GROWTH AND MOMENTUM OF THE HAIR ACCESSORIES BRAND

Since 2021 (ever since Cats & Bows shifted to Shopify), Roshni Jatin Mistri has served more than 25,000 customers across India, the United Kingdom, Australia, the UAE, the United States of America, and Canada. 

In 2023, Cats & Bows clocked Rs 50 lakh in annual revenue. The number jumped to Rs 62 lakh in 2024. For 2025, the hair accessories brand witnessed an annual revenue of Rs 58 lakh.

“We are projecting Rs 80 lakh for 2026. The only focus is on increasing our UGC and marketing spends, something that I wish we would've done sooner. I also wish I would've gotten an investor to help scale the brand more professionally,” Roshni tells Startup Pedia. 

To maintain the high-end quality benchmark, the entrepreneur plans to stick to the sizing templates that she has made for each hair accessory and only work with trusted fabric vendors, the same ones she has been working with for close to ten years now.

“One thing that will never stop at Cats & Bows is constant innovation. We are now exploring new product ranges such as flower claw clips, headbands, and hand-embroidered hair accessories. My long-term plan is to finally launch a physical store. I am very grateful to my parents, my husband, and my in-laws – I am who I am because of my family and the customers who recognized the quality of my products and the reasoning for a slightly “premium” price,” Roshni Jatin Mistri signs off.