[Nefeli]

Originally Posted by pony

nefeli, tell meeeee please!

but arent you a pony trapped in a boy's body?
its nurofen express, specified for period pains.


i have to get my shit together and practice for the exams; instead i started a new painting yesterday. one has to go with the flow, no?


erm ok here is the thing.
me and my best friend, we are talking about starting our own business.
a barber shop.

i havent discuss it yet with anyone.

its not tons of money, but its money we dont have. probably we ll get it for a bank (...) or our parents.
dunno. its not a bad idea at all. anyway, im participating in the research for now and we ll see.

[SYRFox]

hey there, how are you guys doing?

[Trama]

Originally Posted by Nefeli

erm ok here is the thing.
me and my best friend, we are talking about starting our own business.
a barber shop.

i havent discuss it yet with anyone.

its not tons of money, but its money we dont have. probably we ll get it for a bank (...) or our parents.
dunno. its not a bad idea at all. anyway, im participating in the research for now and we ll see.

here's my (unasked, somewhat unwarranted) advice:

get customers first. a barber shop shouldn't be too hard to improvise somewhere, you'll get to test your product and perhaps even get some revenues.
then get money from friends and family and only then start thinking about going to bank.

main point is focus on product first, deal with the space, money, banks, licensing, etc. afterwards.

[Nefeli]

Originally Posted by Trama

here's my (unasked, somewhat unwarranted) advice:

get customers first. a barber shop shouldn't be too hard to improvise somewhere, you'll get to test your product and perhaps even get some revenues.
then get money from friends and family and only then start thinking about going to bank.

main point is focus on product first, deal with the space, money, banks, licensing, etc. afterwards.

thank you, much appreciated and very much agreed.

i wanna avoid banks. worked there, done and hate that.

we are waiting to find out the rent of a space.
unfortunately, the space is almost of equal importance as the idea (product). its common here, a 'new' idea being copied by many. example, yogurt shops..you have one and then others go and open similar spaces near by.
so we have to take the best place available. to be able to dominate if someone else does the same.

at the same time i m thinking about the idea/product a lot.
the risks etc.
i mean, men do need a haircut every month. women may skip a month, but they go for styling and the other shit.
however, men can do those stuff alone..
but perhaps men, want to go to an all men place instead.
somewhere, where they wont feel weird to have a pedicure. etc.
also, i hope the beard fashion never go away! (we ll have grooming etc).
etc
etc

*its unreal talking about all this.

[dead_battery]

thats true.

most men want a place they can walk in, have absolutely no fuss made, then walk out. they dont want any complication and some of them dont even want any conversation. and if you have some pretty girls in there then its even better.

what they want is the absolute minimum of effort and complication, they dont want to be asked over and over again if they want special things done. set the menu of different cuts and treatments beside the mirror so they can scan it when they are sitting down and they can ask you for anything on it if they want to.

i dont think women always understand this - for men its not some social thing or some pampering thing. they just want in and out. of course, pay them a few compliments too.

most men are afraid of trying new styles and are terrified of the idea of some woman messing them up by doing things she thinks are good looking but he thinks are gay looking. there was a beer add on tv here - a man goes into a clothes store with a woman and she gets him this gay looking shirt and says "WOW that looks GREAT on you!" then all the women in the shop turn and say the same thing and as he's walking out random women are winking at him and complimenting him. then he walks into a bar with his mates and they all laugh at him for his stupid shirt.

ive never heard of a barbar shop run by women, but i dont see why not. good luck with it nefeli

[EVOLghost]

I think I'll get a haircut today!

[!@#$%!]

i don't know if the barber shop is a good idea or not because i don't know your market/your partners/licenses etc. but i like the spirit of the thing.

also the nice thing is that it's a cash business. you don't have to wait 30/60/90 days to get paid-- that's very good.

yes barber shops are usually "manly" places and they charge little money but there's plenty of metrosexuals who get their haircuts in "salons" where they pay more (a lot more). there are also high-end places that are gender free and you ca play pool or drink a beer while you wait. also there are "manly" barbershops (i'm told by the movie "barbershop") where people hang out and socialize.

so basically there is no formula, it's a matter of giving the market what it wants and if you can do it for a profit then yes!

(small suggestion here, read "the pumpkin plan" before you get started, talks about going narrow vs. going wide and if you have an original idea it might be helpful to refine. also, seth godin's "purple cow".)

[Nefeli]

thank you.

i think we are on a very thin line to have a sexist conversation..
but yeah, i understand men in many aspects
and i think i will be dealing with them very well there.
and frankly thats is an advantage of the idea: men, come in and out, taking up less time than a woman needs in a hair salon. so we can have faster turn-over of our money.

if it happens, its gonna be me and my friend, who is male.
a male for the hair cuts, grooming, dyes etc.
and a female for pedicures etc.
we dont want to give it a homosexual only feel..
my friend is concerned about this, because he is gay and all our friends are and we want all men to come in.

the deco of the place, we both agree. cold and plain, a mixture of butcher shop and factory. always liked butcher shops (minus the smell).

aint doing this to meet hot men!

anyway, thank you for your time.
i should be speak on this again, only when i have smth more solid.
its only in our heads so far..

[Nefeli]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

i don't know if the barber shop is a good idea or not because i don't know your market/your partners/licenses etc. but i like the spirit of the thing.

also the nice thing is that it's a cash business. you don't have to wait 30/60/90 days to get paid-- that's very good.

yes barber shops are usually "manly" places and they charge little money but there's plenty of metrosexuals who get their haircuts in "salons" where they pay more (a lot more). there are also high-end places that are gender free and you ca play pool or drink a beer while you wait. also there are "manly" barbershops (i'm told by the movie "barbershop") where people hang out and socialize.

so basically there is no formula, it's a matter of giving the market what it wants and if you can do it for a profit then yes!

(small suggestion here, read "the pumpkin plan" before you get started, talks about going narrow vs. going wide and if you have an original idea it might be helpful to refine. also, seth godin's "purple cow".)

i ll read that, thanks.

we cant have the socialize thing.
and i dont want that for now.
its space/time consuming.
there are many cafes nearby anyway.

i want a place, where ALL men, regardless sexual preferences, style, age and economical status, can feel free to come in and out and get what they want regarding their hair. but people, who can appreciate a nice place and nice service.
reasonable prices-good service is the only way to go. in all business.
because of the spot, im afraid we cannot apply to lower economical status people..if it was in the center of the city, we would.
edit- nah fuck it. everyone is in a low economical state anyway. and if they are not, they demand now lower prices in everything.

the good thing, is we have ways to advertise ourselves and we have many friends and wider social circle.

[Trama]

I don't know, I'd steer away from the low-cost approach. Yes the economy is in the shitter, but in our cheap, generic, mass-produced world there's a craving for products/services with character and connection. Go for a niche.

[guest]

Originally Posted by floatingslowly

Can't help with the apartment, but if yr in Melbs sometime after next week, I'll certainly buy you a world-class coffee. There's a nice place on Chapel Street we've been looking forward to seeing again.

oooh what is it? I'm sick of paying for overpriced hot milk in this city.

[!@#$%!]

usually you compete on price, convenience, or quality

some examples: walmart (here in the us) competes on price. cheaplest place to buy stuff. not pretty, not excellent, but cheap. same thing with costco, looks like a warehouse, you buy bulk.

for convenience you have something like mcdonalds. mcdonalds is not cheap because you can buy raw meat for less, but you go and it's quick and it's always the same and it's convenient.

quality, i don' know, a fine dining restaurant? you have to wait to get seated, or make a reservation 2 months ahead, costs you a lot, but oh the great chef.

i think given your economy if you could offer decent haircuts for a low price you could compete with others in your area. sorta like a target, which is as cheap as walmart but a little nicer. ha ha, my stupid american examples.

i really have no idea of what people want in your social circle but you know them better. what i meant to say is figure out in what area you want to compete because it's very hard to do it in all 3. like in the project triangle, you usually take 2 (fast/cheap/good), but you beat everyone else in 1.

here, supercuts usually gives you cheep service, it's a franchise, but it blows, yet it's massive.

i agree w/ jico in getting a very very clear niche (e.g. see purple cow)

ha ha i wish i could chat more about this right now but i have to go prep a wall for plaster. 8am here! maybe at lunch.\\ps- thanks for the inspiration. it's contagious.

[Nefeli]

not cheap, reasonable prices.
there arent any only men salon, not at least in the area we are looking.
there is one in the centre, from where my friend got the idea. which was packed.
need to speak with friends who are hairstylists, to get to know whats going on in the market.
many friends is good thing, but not smth to rely on. (as customers, i mean).

sorry: i shit on mc donalds. they are evil.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Nefeli

not cheap, reasonable prices.
there arent any only men salon, not at least in the area we are looking.
there is one in the centre, from where my friend got the idea. which was packed.
need to speak with friends who are hairstylists, to get to know whats going on in the market.
many friends is good thing, but not smth to rely on. (as customers, i mean).

sorry: i shit on mc donalds. they are evil.

ha ha ha. i think macdonalds is crap too but as a business they are very successful because it's convenient/consistent. of course you don't want to make a macdonalds, i was just explaining the 3 "vectors" or whatever (price/convenience/quality) that every business competes on.

anyway seems to me the main advantage you have right now is location (lots of traffic, no barber shop). which is good at first, and explains your need to "rush to market". but what i think both jico and i are saying is you need something to differentiate yourself because you can't control location indefinitely. what you want is something that's nowhere else and has a "story" of its own and gets a devoted clientele.

purple cow purple cow purple cow!

anyway i will try not to interfere w/ your creative process.

also, speaking of butcher shops, and creative process i am data-throttled but i enabled images and opened your meat painting and YEAH!!

i loved that.

okay. i flee now.

[Rob Instigator]

speaking of barber shops

part of my birthday was a visit to Doug's barber shop in Houston, and it was great. haircut, beard trim, and shave using a straight razor, old school! I look damn good I gotta say.

$10 for haircut
$10 for beard trim and shave.

CHEAP! awesome place. will be back. I dug their old Popular Mechanics magazines from the 40's! what great cigarette ads!

[Rob Instigator]

Lymphocites rule

 

[Bytor Peltor]

So happy I'm not going anywhere this weekend......the roads heading North are already bumper to bumper.

Be careful out there!

[pony]

Originally Posted by Nefeli

but arent you a pony trapped in a boy's body?
its nurofen express, specified for period pains.

i am a lady-pony!
thanks for the advice, i will go and check if we have it here!

[Nefeli]

^excellent!


and !@#$%! do 'interfere'.
i cant talk about this to anyone in real life.
however, i m gonna use this wedding tonight for this. there is gonna people i dont normally hang out -from my uni. so its gonna be bank people, but also some girls who do nails. i talked about it with the bride.


painting- need to spend money for canvases and paints (acrylics). damn.
started a new one and i think i m reaching my limits, in order to start using oil colours.

[Trama]

I suppose turkish barbers must be pretty common in Greece?

The fire shaving, towel waving, the scalp massages, wire plucking... ha, it's quite interesting.