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| The modernisation of haircuts in Singapore | | Date Created: Feb 21, 2006, 07:07 AM |
I tried to get a haircut yesterday at my neighbourhood barber. After rushing out of office and braving the rush-hour crowds, I arrived at the barber only to find that they had just closed. This was barely 8 pm. I mean who are their clients? The unemployed?
Disgusted, I wandered to Tampines Mall after a quick dinner and found EC (stands for Express Cut) House open till 9:30 pm. This chain is a breath of fresh air compared to the old-style barbers in many housing estates.
For one, the shop is spotless. There was so little hair on the floor I almost thought I and the two other patrons were their first customers for the day. It turns out that each barber adheres to a strict routine of sweeping away all the hair around their workstation after each haircut. To make the sweeping process faster, EC House has mounted the barber chair on a platform which opens up to reveal a compartment where you can just sweep the hair in. No need for dustpans or bins overflowing with hair.
Then there is the payment system. The cost of a haircut is $10, payable to a machine that only accepts $10 notes. No change is given. The machine spits out a card that you hand over to the barber when your turn is called. It is a superb system from the business point of view because it eliminates the need for complex systems to make sure that barbers don't pocket some of the money themselves. Eliminating change also means EC House does not have to carry any cash in cash registers.
After paying you sit on numbered seats that are an indication of how many people are ahead of you in the queue. This is another brilliant stroke because anyone who walks into an EC House will know how long he or she has to wait. Since each haircut only takes 10 minutes, the wait is never very long. This eliminates the need to have a pile of dog-eared magazines to keep the clients busy. The 10 minutes per haircut also maximises the utilisation of each barber and obviates the need for any appointments system, as used in more expensive salons.
Each workstation is meticulously arranged according to a common layout. No hunting around for the correct blade. They even have a container for spectacles.
The only negatives to my experience were the Euro trash they blared, and the fact that the haircut was not very flattering. The barber conspired to highlight my receding hairline and also revealed a growing bald patch on the top of my head. I guess there is a limit to what new business practices can deliver in terms of value.
But EC House also showed me the richness of possibilities of reinventing an established business model, the same way the low-cost carriers have given many medium sized carriers a run for their money. And it is such innovative businesses that will create employment for Singaporeans. On the flipside existing barbers today will find their own livelihoods threatened as I am sure people will flock to places like EC House (their business model does not seem to be irreplicable). This is why any distinction that we might make between exportable and unexportable sectors when looking at employment is ultimately flawed. Even an unexportable sector like cutting hair can be turned literally on its head. |
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