Disruption? A conceptual idea for a digital transformation of hair salons.
A potential way to increase profits for hair salons and hair stylists while creating a much improved customer experience...
I was sitting in the local hair salon a few weeks ago while my hair was being cut and my mind started wandering down the business optimisation path again.
The Problem I am Aiming to Solve
I saw all these empty salon chairs next to me and thought: “What a waste!”
These seats should be full. I have noticed a few local hair salons in my area here in the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia who seem to always have lots of empty seats, or the salons tend to only open a few days a week.
How are they surviving?
I often think of ways that a traditional business model could be improved using digital solutions, hence my mind started playing with this problem…
The Idea to Play With
When I sat there in the salon with all these empty seats around me I thought:
What if a hair stylist can “rent a seat” for their own customer base in different hair salons around the city?
Not only will the hair salon benefit from renting out seats they don’t use all the time, but the stylists can become more independent and build their own network of customers and loyal followers without being tied to one specific location or hair salon.
Most of us are always looking for our perfect hair stylist and when we find them, we are over the moon 🌙❤️ and when they mysteriously move on without telling you where they went (legally they are often not allowed to tell you), you are devastated 💔 to have to start from scratch to try and find the perfect hair stylist…
If hairstylists want to control their customer base, the services they offer and when they are available then this business model idea can be perfect.
It will even allow them to choose where they are willing to work and how often they work, so becoming a freelancing hair stylist using this business model can be perfect way to build a lifestyle business.
The Digital Transformation Part of This Business Model
The digital solution part of this is that there will be a booking system in place to facilitate these bookings (a bit like an Uber for hair!), then everyone can benefit, especially the local hair salon who gets to fill those empty seats and earn more revenue.
With this business model, the hair salon only needs to provide the seat and some basics like a wash basin. The hair stylist who booked the seat brings their own products and tools to use with their clients when they book a seat.
The digital solution would allow:
Hair stylists to predefine their locations and availability.
The hair salon will provide empty seats available and consequently earn extra cash.
The client can use the digital solution to book a location, time, and their favourite hair stylist online and at a time that suits them!
Surely, this business model must already be used somewhere in the world.
The Opportunities & Variations
It makes so much sense with the era of social media, building a community and a following, that hairstylists can maximise their ability to earn money on their terms!
The hair salons can maximise their capacity by supplementing their traditional business with renting out empty seats or they could potentially only rent out seats and not even bother with their own clientele in future…
Starting small with this concept:
Here are some thoughts around how to break down this business model idea to make it work on small scale…
Freelancing hairstylists can approach a few salons and ask to rent a seat once or twice a week during quieter times and build up their own independent customer base.
Freelancing hairstylists can start their own social media following and start selling affiliate products to their followers and customers, adding more revenue streams directly for themselves.
Hair salons who have this problem where they have free seats standing unoccupied every week could start to rent out these seats to freelance hairstylists as a service.
And finally, entrepreneurs could take this concept and build a digital solution in a small geographical area and sign up 20 or so locations, sign up some freelance hairstylists and start advertising the concept. If it takes, I think we know where this will end…
This business model or a slight variation of this could potentially work for any beauty services, massage services or natural therapies.
The Challenge
Thinking about the challenges of this idea:
This is a disruptive business model which means it will cost a significant amount of money to roll out on a large scale.
How would hair salons feel about embracing this type of model?
Are there any legal constraints when it comes to running a hair salon that might limit or prevent anyone from being able to take advantage of a system like this?
Real world considerations
Here are some questions to consider further to explore the viability of this in the real world…
Can the additional revenue of renting out seats cover the full rent of the salon every month or only a small portion? Does this mean it is viable?
Do most hairstylists dream of being their own boss and want to take on building a customer base of their own and run a freelancing hair styling service?
Can a hair salon and a hair stylist split their time between being half in the traditional world and half in the freelance world?
Your thoughts?
Share what you think about this business model for the future of hair salons and hair stylists. I would love to hear it!