
A barber shop on wheels that you book via an app - happy-go-lucky
https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-47711610
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jmartinpetersen
Barbers 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.

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randomacct3847
I 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.

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nikofeyn
is it really such a big deal to take sick time or just leave work for these
types of appointments though?

~~~
pard68
Not for the hn user base maybe, but for a lot of people it is. I worked part
time out of college, only job I could find, worked 36 hours a week, anymore
and they'd would have to give me benefits. If I had to take time off that came
out of my pocket. This is a reality for a lot of people.

~~~
scarface74
This exactly. I haven’t had to take time off work for any personal reason or
because I was sick in years - and then I was actually in the hospital. I can
work from home, catch up on the weekend etc. But my wife can’t exactly work
from home as a special needs bus driver.

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sokoloff
I 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.)

~~~
TallGuyShort
How are people getting their neckline? I've done it _almost_ myself for 12
years, but I've always needed someone else to drive the clipper blades
directly into the base of my neck with no comb to get a clean edge. Looks
unfinished if I don't do it, seems impossible to get a nice straight line
myself from that angle. Any ideas?

~~~
csytan
I self cut and fade at the edges, but I think the keys to doing this correctly
are:

1\. Good visibility of the back and sides of your head. Either a 3 way mirror,
or some kind of video setup with your phone and a laptop.

2\. Patience and practice. The muscle memory and hand eye coordination needed
to handle the clippers correctly takes some time. If you cut your hair once
every couple of weeks, that's approximately 25 reps per year, which really
isn't that much considering the spacing between reps is so long.

Edit: I missed that you have been doing this for 12 years. That's longer than
I've been at it ~3 years.

Another thing that helps is watching YouTube vids of legit barbers. There are
a ton of different techniques that accomplish the same thing, you might find
some new insights into ones that work for you.

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EngineerBetter
I 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
that's a silly concern lol

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bonestamp2
The killer idea here is actually combining this with Uber. Get a mediocre
haircut while on your way somewhere.

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warent
Just don't hit a pothole while they're cleaning up the length around your ear
with some scissors.

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geodel
> 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.

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taariqlewis
Awesome positive story for black entrepreneurship in UK, which we don't get to
see that often. An inspirational read.

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michaelbuckbee
In 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
You have to clean up your own hairs too. They don't bring a broom, I think

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leetbulb
Why 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.

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scarcely
It's logically conceivable that they added it within five minutes of me
posting the comment

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andbberger
Go check the wayback machine then

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froindt
It's possible they paid off the wayback machine to make it look like they did
it when they opened. /s

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ChuckMcM
I 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
In 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.

~~~
ChuckMcM
I 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.

~~~
ams6110
Agreed, all of that matters. Also, another big difference from Uber is that
the vast majority of adults can drive, so their pool of potential drivers is
large. Barbering is a niche skill and in many areas is regulated. I can't just
download an app and start working unless I'm already a trained and licensed
barber. Then I'd need to own or rent the van outfitted with the chair and
other equipment. The scaling model is vastly more constrained than Uber.

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MagicPropmaker
What 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.

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yogione
Here 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
We need to see the results :)

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mychaelangelo
great 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-1-3a96c...](https://medium.com/greenroom/backstage-london-
cohort-1-3a96ceb15048)

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coredog64
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?

~~~
ebiester
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
> 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.

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chiefalchemist
Pro 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.

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alanpetrel
I 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!

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patmcc
>>>In Korea, barber shop poles are used to identify locations of brothels

What identifies barbershops then?

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etatoby
Stripper poles?

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WheelsAtLarge
I 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-...](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)

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xiphias2
It'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.

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hgdsraj
Yeah I used to get my hair cut there. Convenient that it was at work and you
can book your time online.

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abhinai
Sounds like a great idea though I must admit I thought we were past the _Uber
for X_ phase of startup ideas.

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bastawhiz
By "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.

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anonytrary
> 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?

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bastawhiz
How do you propose receiving a haircut if nobody—or nothing—cuts it (and you
don't physically go somewhere)?

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micael_dias
Nano drones with scissors

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bastawhiz
And folks would still be saying "Uber for Nano drones with scissors"

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lamby
Price? :)

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JackFr
sweeneytodd.co.uk

