Introducing Bookt
Problem
Being a majority white city, Black women have a hard time finding quality hair stylists in Austin, Texas. This makes getting your hair done, a basic service for most groups, cumbersome for Black women living in Austin.
Research
Research has shown that there are four main pain points Black women in Austin are experiencing when looking to get their hair done. Scheduling seems to be the largest. If and when Black women find a stylists they are often completely booked or overbooked. This problem largely stems from the fact that there is a finite number of stylists that are known and trusted. The second issue is time, getting your hair done as a Black woman takes a lot of time and patience and with shoddy scheduling, can often be a moving target. One of the most important pain points is results. Black women have very high standards for the quality of the final hairstyle they’re getting but there is always they fear that they may not like final outcome. The final pain point is cost of services. Black hair is expensive and often a sore spot for Black women trying to manage their hair without breaking the bank.
Competition
There have been a few attempts to solve this very problem. Companies such as Goodhair, use the Drybar “bar menu” model to offer a set list of styles available to customers. Conversely, startups such as Colours brings stylists to their clients home in hopes of making appointments easy and accessible. These companies, however, aren’t getting to the root of the problem (pun intended).This is for two key reasons: Black women are trendsetters and they don’t mind traveling. According to Nielson Norman, Black women’s customer preferences and affinities to brands set trends across the US and push the African American spending power to a projected record of $1.5 Trillion by 2021. In addition, Black women also don’t mind traveling for services. Because they understand quality and set trends in the market, Black women will travel to obtain the experience and results they feel they deserve. In 2019, both of these small ventures closed their doors and have since gone defunct.
Validation
One company for the past 10 years has connected women with stylists all over the country, Styleseat. Founded in 2019, Styleseat is one of the more well known destinations for clients to find hair services. It offers stylists to showcase their work and clients to find service providers in one place. Since their inception they’ve created over $5 Billion in revenue for small business owners. In addition, Styleseat boasts 75% of their businesses are owned by women and 50% are owned by people of color. This means that people of color are adopting services that connect them to their clientele, a very important fact for this venture as cultural nuances dictate that oftentimes, Black women only trust other Black women to do their hair.
Experience is another important part of any salon visit. In a survey conducted in Austin, it was found that 60% of Black women would pay $20-$30 extra per visit for a great experience that they could predetermine on their own. As most Black hairstyles are roughly around $100, the opportunity to gain increased revenue of 25% per visit is not one to shy away from.
Solution
The solution is to create a hair appointment booking system for Black women in Austin. Bookt helps Black women find hair stylists in Austin and allows them to personalize their experience. Unlike Styleseat, Bookt curates a network of qualified stylists and gives clients the option to tailor their salon experience based on personal preferences. Bookt had two main pillars that are unique to the current salon booking experience:
Bookt Badges: Bookt Badges is a digital certification program that issues badges for recognition of skill. Curricula includes opportunities to learn hard skill such as braiding and twisting but also things such as customer services and hospitality skills. Digital badges are not a new concept but one that hasn’t quite made it to the service industry. For Bookt, these badges help stylists show clients why they’re qualified for the job and they should be hired.
Bookt Experience: Bookt Experience helps stylists create amazing and memorable hair salon experiences for their clients with the help of salon accessories.
Why Bookt?
Bookt is a solution that works to aid both the stylist and the client:
For a Stylist
- Aggregates your clientele in one place
- Promotes your business without requiring you to get rid of any older infrastructures.
- Offers opportunities for continued learning
- Entrance to the platform and badges help to validate services
- Offers support to teach entrepreneurs how to create experiences
- Handles payments
For a Client
- Vetted stylists
- Easy of finding someone that can render needed services
- Payment via system, not in person
- Ability to curate an experience
- Can finally have a favorite stylist
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think Bookt, and the process of discovering it was a success. With my research I found there was a real need for a service like this and that people are willing to pay more money for premium services — a win-win. In my opinion, I think this product is just about ready to be developed and launched to Black women in Austin. In the meantime, I plan to continue to develop my pitch and story for future pitch opportunities and competitions.
