Problem: The highest fixed cost for barbershops is the cost of hiring a barber.
Solution: This business would be in the development and deployment of “haircut machines” to eventually open-up entirely autonomous barbershops. Currently, the “haircut barber”; “haircut machine”; and “haircut robot” space is saturated by hobbyists. One of them is the Stuff Made Here Youtube Channel which has garnered over 8 million views on part 1 and part 2 of their haircut barber videos. Additionally, companies like Rethink Robotics and Intelligent Automation Inc have also attempted to use hardware like Sawyer Robotics (which is traditionally designed for an industrial use case) to provide algorithmic haircuts for consumers. Others have even gone so far as to create a Shaving Helmet and Computer Vision Trimmers.
Despite the tinkerers in the space, it’s worth noting that the barber shop market is actually quite large. As described by IBISWorld, in the United States “over the five years to 2020, the industry performed well, as revenue increased at an annualized rate of 5.3% to an estimated $4.9 billion, including a 1.3% rise in 2020 alone.” This is generated by more than 140,000 businesses providing barbershop services in the United States. They currently offer 150,000 direct employment opportunities, and another 100,000 indirect employment opportunities.
Haircuts in particular is also an industry that has, supriringly, seen some haircut activity. As reported by Build in Chicago,
Chicago’s seen its fair share of tech startups looking to improve upon broken elements of the beauty industry. PrettyQuick made it easier to book appointments at top salons and Stylisted applied the on-demand model to that experience, inviting stylists and makeup artists directly into your home.
Now, a new Chicago-based beauty startup is hoping to get in on a cut of the market.
Meet Beau, a platform that provides $28 on-demand haircuts for men in Chicago. The service, which debuted at the beginning of the month, allows men looking for a cut to set up an appointment out of their own homes at a date and time of their choosing. After appointment details are entered, users submit descriptions or pictures of their current look as well as an overview of the style or cut they’re looking to move toward. Appointments are confirmed via SMS, and payments are made directly through the platform.
Unfortunately, Beau has gone defunct, but startups like Trim-it in London are still trying to crack into this profitable, but currently inefficient, market as well.
While a bit of a vanity market and still not extremely feasible based on hobbyist technology, haircut robots are a great example of a market that, when fully captured, could create a unicorn business but even if not could prove to be a cash cow.
Monetization: Sales of these robots to barber shops or fee per cut for using one of these robots.
Contributed by: Michael Bervell (Billion Dollar Startup Ideas)