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A 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

A 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 ago
If you have bits of hair all over your head and neck after a haircut you’re probably not getting a good haircut.
ebiester 8y ago
My 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.
bastawhiz 8y ago
Doesn't Google offer haircuts on campus? Seems like the cleanup of a fresh haircut is likely a solved problem for anyone that knows what they're doing.

fabricexpert 8y ago

If you have bits of hair all over your head and neck after a haircut you’re probably not getting a good haircut.

ebiester 8y ago

My 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.

bastawhiz 8y ago

Doesn't Google offer haircuts on campus? Seems like the cleanup of a fresh haircut is likely a solved problem for anyone that knows what they're doing.