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A barber shop on wheels that you book via an app
- abhinai 8y agoSounds like a great idea though I must admit I thought we were past the Uber for X phase of startup ideas.
- bastawhiz 8y agoBy "Uber for X" do you mean "services that can only be offered in person and come to you"? Because that business model was present long before Uber and will likely be present until the extinction of mankind. Just because you've associated it with a meme doesn't make it a phase.
- anonytrary 8y ago> will likely be present until the extinction of mankind I agree with most of your comment except this. Are you really saying that you don't think we can eventually automate on-demand services in every domain we can conceive?
- bastawhiz 8y agoHow do you propose receiving a haircut if nobody—or nothing—cuts it (and you don't physically go somewhere)?
- micael_dias 8y agoNano drones with scissors
- bastawhiz 8y agoAnd folks would still be saying "Uber for Nano drones with scissors"
- anonytrary 8y agoThis isn't the right question since any answer you get today is probably not going to be how it's done in the eventual future when it actually is solved. "Nano drones with scissors" is exactly what someone in 2019 would say. The point is that it's a known unknown.
- ChuckMcM 8y agoI could certainly see this catching on. We've got mobile dentistry, mobile car detailing, mobile restaurants, this is just one more thing. It cuts down on facility overhead, it opens up a wider base of people you can serve, and I can see no reason people wouldn't like to have their stylist come to them rather than go to them.
- ams6110 8y agoIn the time it takes to drive to a customer, park, and set up, a barber could probably do 3 or 4 haircuts if he were working in a shop. Are customers willing to pay 4x or more for that convenience? Probably some are, but enough to sustain the idea? I could see the food truck approach maybe working better. Set up for the day or a few hours in a commercial area, and let local customers come to you.
- jedberg 8y agoIt's only about 2x because their overhead is cheaper (no rent, only car maintenance). But yeah, what you suggest is exactly what happens here in Silicon Valley. We have the haircut group that spends one day a week at eBay, one day at Google, one day at Cisco, etc. Same with the dentist and the car wash folks.
- YeahSureWhyNot 8y agohe is saving around 4 haircuts kind of money because he isnt renting a seat in a salon. worth it for higher end clientele who doesn't want to waste time driving to barber shop
- ChuckMcM 8y agoI think your analysis is incomplete. What does it cost to rent a chair in a salon? (what is the operational expense (opex) of the current method) What percentage of time that the salon is open, is the chair in use? (what is the haircut operational time) What percentage of customers don't use your chair because they can't get to your location? (substitution value of stylists in a free market) What percentage of your customers are 'regular' versus 'walk in'? (opportunity cost vs monthly recurring revenue (MRR)) I haven't done the research but I could certainly imagine in places like the Bay Area where rents are high that this could be a better system for a stylist than the traditional one.
- alanpetrel 8y agoI had to do a double take on that headline. I live in Korea and I thought this was about prostitution. In Korea, barber shop poles are used to identify locations of brothels etc. Anyway, I can see more and more use cases like this for certain segments of the population, e.g. elderly. Great idea!
- ams6110 8y agoMobile prostitution on wheels is probably a money maker idea. Illegal you say? Disrupt!
- CamperBob2 8y agoIn all seriousness, it's about time that prostitution was examined with the same critical eye we've finally started to turn on cannabis prohibition. The results may (and should IMO) be similar: ater criminals are cut out of the loop, both the dealers and customers end up better off, as do the tax authorities. In that eventuality, yes, mobile service would obviously be at least as lucrative as van-based barber shops, probably far more so.
- etatoby 8y agoThe reality in countries that have legalized it (Austria, Germany, Netherlands, and others) seem to be the opposite. Prostitutes are still for the most part desperate immigrants, held hostage in various ways, and exploited by the companies that traffick them in and run the brothels. In other words, legalized prostitution still consists for the most part in paying money to shady people to be able to rape some poor girl.
- CamperBob2 8y agoSounds like a failure of regulation, if that's indeed correct. I disagree that exploitation and trafficking are necessary or inherent properties of the 'profession.'
- scarcely 8y ago
- randomacct3847 8y agoI always found it strange that services like doctors, dentists, barbers, etc. are generally open the same hours as the majority of their customer base (9-5ers). If a doctor, barber, dentist wanted to win my business literally all they would have to is shift their hours to accommodate office workers (e.g. like boutique fitness class hours open before work, after work, and lunch hours) and weekends.
- pbhjpbhj 8y agoYou could shift your hours?
- randomacct3847 8y agoYeah blaming the customer instead of better accommodating them is not the answer. If I were running a dental practice I’d open at 5am, close for a few hrs mid day and reopen at 5-7 and be open Sat.
- otab111 8y agoIt's tough to imagine finding qualified employees who will tolerate a split shift like that, or who want to only work part time and take one shift or the other. So the dental practice would, almost by definition, be made up largely employees who couldn't secure employment in a business with traditional working hours - maybe even making it the least skilled dental practice in the area. In order to attract workers who can work at 9-5 dental practices, you'd have to pay more than those businesses, given the awkward opening hours. And then you'd hope you got enough patients out of the shift in hours to make some extra money. But a little extra money wouldn't be enough to go through all the trouble... there's no point opening weird hours and then doing "about as well as other dentists" because the weird hours introduce various overhead. So you have to somehow figure out how much more profitable the weird-hours business needs to be in order to deliver a profit that's significantly more than a traditional dentist. And if that profit difference is worth the extra hassle (in its various forms) to you as the owner of the business, sure go ahead.
- xiphias2 8y agoIt'a great that it works, but it's not a new thing AFAIK. Google had this kind of barbers in Mountain View a long time ago in its parking lot if I recall correctly.
- hgdsraj 8y agoYeah I used to get my hair cut there. Convenient that it was at work and you can book your time online.
- chiefalchemist 8y agoPro tip: Find out where retirees hang out and then park your van there. Better still, do house calls for those who have difficulty leaving the house. Getting my parents to the hair cutter takes planning, etc. It's a much bigger deal than most people (with younger more able parents) realize.
- coredog64 8y agoA guy I was working with in San Diego was doing this 5 years ago. In the office we used to make fun of the idea because we thought it was terrible: Who wants to get a haircut in the parking lot and then go back into the office with little bits of hair all over your head and neck?
- fabricexpert 8y agoIf you have bits of hair all over your head and neck after a haircut you’re probably not getting a good haircut.
- ebiester 8y agoMy godfather was doing this in the late 90s. He took an RV and retrofitted it to be a salon. His problem is that his (white collar) clientele didn’t want to pay the premium to be on site, and the driving time ate up his margins. I think, had he been younger and had more room to pivot his business plan, it might have worked. The travel time versus a stationary area is the hardest to overcome.
- Theodores 8y ago> The travel time versus a stationary area is the hardest to overcome. I think you have hit the nail on the head there. I have seen the hairdo-in-a-van in LA so the idea is far from novel, it is new to the UK though. I actually can't think of anywhere in the UK where parking up in a van is that easy. There isn't the zoning in the way that the U.S. has it. Parking is always going to be tricky. The workaround is to drive your customer from outside his house (on a steep hill) to some car-park or layby. But you have lost ten minutes at best doing that. A pro barber shop can make good money in that time. There is also a restriction on how far the service can go. You are not going to be washing hair unless you are spending time filling and emptying tanks of water. The trick is probably to get industrial estate businesses. An out of town industrial estate might lake a decent high street near by. If you can rock up there and get half a dozen or more customers done then that cuts down on the travel time. The 'app' aspect doesn't cut down on the fundamental travel time problem. Most hairdressers have some type of trainee able to do phones, sweep the floor, wash the towels and be more versatile than an 'app'. I am therefore not sure how valuable the 'app' can be. I think the RV is a better starting point than a Transit. In the UK market a camper van with some pop up top and some windows would be a better starting point, e.g. a modern VW rather than a retro one.
- michaelbuckbee 8y agoIn the US there is https://www.getshortcut.co/ https://www.getshortcut.co/ - which has a slightly different model. They'll come into your house with a setup to cut your hair, clean up, etc. IIRC their prices are significantly higher ($50-$75) but they pitch themselves more for the "you have a big presentation tomorrow at 9am and we'll come to your house tonight at 10pm" crowd.
- scarcely 8y agoYou have to clean up your own hairs too. They don't bring a broom, I think
- leetbulb 8y agoWhy make such a lazy assumption? From their FAQ: Q: Won’t my floor end up covered with hair? A: Our barber credo says it all – no hair left behind! Every Shortcut barber carries a drop cloth, so your space stays clean and tidy.
- scarcely 8y agoIt's logically conceivable that they added it within five minutes of me posting the comment
- andbberger 8y agoGo check the wayback machine then
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- froindt 8y agoIt's possible they paid off the wayback machine to make it look like they did it when they opened. /s
- 8y ago
- sokoloff 8y agoI switched to cutting my own hair about 6 years ago. My cut is a simple #6 clipper on the top (#5 in the hottest part of the summer) and #3/#2 on the sides and back. (The numbers are "how many 1/8 inches?") I can cut my own hair at home anytime I want (the real benefit/driver behind it) in about 7-10 minutes, including cleanup. Because it's at home, I cut it right before a shower (dry), sweep up with my hand and dispose of the hair, and take the shower. I bought Amazon B001JJBC9Y ($60) and B001T0HHB0 ($25) and am happy with those. (Unless I told you, you'd never know I cut my own hair.)
- geodel 8y agoThis is great. I am doing same for 8 year. As you already said kit prices are equivalent of 2-4 cuts outside.
- jeena 8y agoI do the same but less complicated. Last time I was at a barbers was 2003, after that I just grew my hair long and really seldom cut it a little bit myself. In 2013 I bought a hair trimmer and just cut everything to 0mm. Like you just before the shower, takes me too about 7-10 minutes. Sometimes I left a short mohawk just to mix it up.
- mythrwy 8y agoMe too. I switched about 3 years ago. Watched some videos on youtube, #4 tapered down to skin on sides, scissors on top. I'm envious of 7-10 minutes though, usually I'm ~30 between detailing and cleanup. Still beats trip to barber though. I like it because always had trouble getting cut how I wanted before. Sometimes it turns out better than others, but never had it look bad after a week or so worst case. Likewise people are always surprised when I tell them I cut my own hair. GF didn't even believe me the first time until I showed her hair in trash.
- afrodc_ 8y agoMy biggest difficulty was balancing my fade on both sides and also somehow managing to fade the back effectively. I used to love cutting my own hair but going to top quality barbers has the perk on convenience, socialization (especially at black barbers) and quality. I'll go maybe once or twice a month depending on what's going on with work/events so it's not too expensive.
- geodel 8y ago> The increasing number of black professionals may mean that the relatively high cost of a Trim-It cut - £25 - is not an obstacle to growth. As with every Uber for X thing, price is not a problem for winners of knowledge economy. For the rest it might be cheaper to do it themselves specially since trimming kits are quite cheap nowadays.
- lamby 8y agoPrice? :)
- EngineerBetter 8y agoI saw these folks at AfrotechFest[1] in London last year, which one of my colleagues helped organise, talking about their entrepreneurial experience. Really great to see them getting mainstream media coverage, and I wish them all the best. The idea of getting into a van full of blades with strangers was definitely joked about on stage, and if they can salve that concern then they must be doing a good job! https://www.afrotechfest.co.uk/ https://www.afrotechfest.co.uk/
- onlyfortoday2 8y agothat's a silly concern lol
- JackFr 8y agosweeneytodd.co.uk
- jmartinpetersen 8y agoBarbers and female hair dressers offer a service and sell an experience. That's why you get coffee and magazines and all that. And that's why he has a van he drives his tools around in. Thing is, all you need for the job fits in a bag, and barbers have been mobile forever. Sure, you had to sit on your own chair in your own living room listening to your own stereo. Another bonus is that it's one of those rare trades where you make things disappear instead of creating stuff, so the tax man rarely catches you. Source: My father did everything hair related for 40 years on multiple continents.
- MagicPropmaker 8y agoWhat makes this idea interesting is that it may be frequently possible for him to line up several clients at the same location (at an office, etc) at the same time increasing his efficiency. I would love it if a haircut van came to our office once a week.
- bonestamp2 8y agoThe killer idea here is actually combining this with Uber. Get a mediocre haircut while on your way somewhere.
- cheez 8y agoA skilled barber could make decent coin. I used to pay a dude $150 to come to my place b/c I couldn't spare the time.
- warent 8y agoJust don't hit a pothole while they're cleaning up the length around your ear with some scissors.
- seniorivn 8y agoI don't know where you live, but in most places roads are not good enough for that
- WheelsAtLarge 8y agoI cut it myself. I started about 2 years ago. I wish I would have done it years ago. Long on top,short on sides and back and I am done in less than 20 mins including clean up. I found a clipper that vacuums as it cut so there is not much hair to clean up when done. It rocks. Here it is on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Remington-HKVAC2000A-Haircut-Trimmer-Clippers/dp/B00OLV3UN8/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=hair+clipper+vacuum&qid=1553996263&s=gateway&sr=8-4 https://www.amazon.com/Remington-HKVAC2000A-Haircut-Trimmer-...
- taariqlewis 8y agoAwesome positive story for black entrepreneurship in UK, which we don't get to see that often. An inspirational read.
- yogione 8y agoHere is my setup in basement for the last 2 decades. https://imgur.com/a/REOqZIK https://imgur.com/a/REOqZIK. I lean over an old newspaper to catch clippings.
- cheez 8y agoWe need to see the results :)
- mychaelangelo 8y agogreat to see this company getting love. the founder chronicled how he raised £225,000 just 7 days before his company was about run to out of cash and close shop https://twitter.com/mrtrimit/status/1064613173658099712 https://twitter.com/mrtrimit/status/1064613173658099712 they also recently raised money from Backstage Capital https://medium.com/greenroom/backstage-london-cohort-1-3a96ceb15048 https://medium.com/greenroom/backstage-london-cohort-1-3a96c...
- wildylion 8y agoI read that as 'A barber shop on wheels that you book via SNMP'. Facepalm.