Cape Town - Fed-up with hanging around the barbershop waiting for your turn when you could have been attending to other business?
There’s an app for that. Mitchells Plain digital entrepreneur, Mujaheed Martin, 23, is ready to launch his latest creation – a Barbershop App.
In the past three years Martin has come up with an e-hailing app and has published three e-books.
In an interview with the Cape Argus, he said he designed the application specifically for barbershops, as arranging a haircut at a convenient time for himself and the barber was a problem he faced a number of times.
“Last month I had a date planned with my girlfriend. I decided to head early to the barbershop that morning to freshen up.
“I got to the barbershop at around 9:30am, but ended up being late for my date as I spent very long at the barbershop waiting for my turn.
“I was in the dog-box for about a week, but it turned out to be my light-bulb moment.”
The owner of Fresh Fades Barbershop in Portlands, Zain Abrahams, is a supporter of the app and said: “I recently started my business, and I learnt about the app. I think it will be good for me and my business and can’t wait to let my customers know about it.”
Abrahams, who runs his business from his house, said his bookings are already by appointment only and so he thinks his customers would welcome the app.
The app is not just for use by men going to their barbers, women can also use it to make appointments at hair salons.
Martin said: “I tried to design the web-based application in such a way that it's user friendly and a viable solution for cross-industries.
He said he spoke to some barbers and their clients informally prior to finishing the app while doing his research.
Martin is planning to launch the app this Saturday, January 28.
“I will offer a two week free-trial to the first 10 barbershops.
“If everyone is happy with the application's functionality after their free-trial then it will run on a monthly subscription service model.”