Inside The Barbershop App Worth $750 Million | Forbes

Songe LaRon and Dave Salvant left their desks behind to create booking software for the nation’s 109,000 barbershops. Today, their fast-growing startup, Squire Technologies, is valued at some 60 times this year’s estimated sales and is featured on this year’s Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups.

Neither LaRon, a 37-year-old corporate lawyer, nor Salvant, who is 36 and worked in finance, had worked in a barbershop before — or run a small business of any sort. So, in 2016, they made a gutsy move: They spent $20,000 of the $60,000 of cash they had on hand to buy out the lease on an ailing barbershop in Manhattan’s Chelsea Market. “That gave us a test kitchen to develop the software,” recalls Salvant, the company’s president. “This was a huge gamble.”

They didn’t cut hair (which requires a license in New York State), but they did pretty much everything else: Ran the front desk, swept hair off the floor, ordered supplies, talked to customers. It was a crash course in how barbershops really operate. From the outside, a barbershop looks simple: Book an appointment, get a cut, pay with cash or a credit card. But behind the scenes are the complexities of a business in which barbers may rent chairs from the shop or receive different cuts of revenue, tips may be in cash or credit, and each barber may set their own schedule and their own prices. LaRon and Salvant realized they had to rework Squire from a glorified appointment app to something that could handle all the nitty-gritty headaches of running a very particular type of small business.

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[sreerajnr]

I used to talk with my roommate about this idea of an app for barbershops when I was in Bangalore. But we never had courage to get out and do it.Glad these guys did it.
ps: it's that roommate who shared me this video... 😊

[iMitsubishiZA]

Identified a problem and developed a solution.
Started in 2015, true grit. A great story for anyone wanting to create a business from the ground up…

[solomonoverhead]

Heartwarming and encouraging stories such as this should be the norm. Let’s keep reporting the “good news” of entrepreneurial ventures!

[BristolBerg]

From the ground up, self-made ‼️

Second minority owned company to hit $1B market cap this week.

Shoutout to Marshmallow insurance as well.

[tigerrx]

My barber’s been telling me that he needed an app to manage his business more smoothly because he’s getting older and need to do things smarter. I said ok, I’ll look into it. I never did. And here it is. Business is more than an idea, courage, hard work, execution.

Bronx/Harlem raised Aerospace Software Engineer here. I would invest in this business.

[a]

Their watch game is on point. Aquanaut on the one guy, yachmaster on the other. Respect.

[SystemOverloadTV]

Proud of these dudes. Wish them more success.

[MO-hnrz]

I’ve had the app for a couple of years and it honestly is great from a consumer standpoint point. It’s also great for people who travel a lot, it’s helped me discover great barbers in cities I’m not familiar with.

[harveyleo]

I have been holding for awhile now, the market dynamism is really getting me uncomfortable here, I really need help deciding.

[HeroTimeManufacturing]

That is beautiful. So good to hear. :).
These people recognized a problem, and solved it. That's awesome.

[keysersoze]

This was a great success story and very inspiring. Big congrats and more future success to these two gentleman.

[Aurelion_Cole]

loved the mission at the end, I think if y'all keep grinding that is an achievable experience for your customers

[julzace]

Round of applause for these gentlemen and their team! Inspiring entrepreneurial story! Resonates strongly - solve a problem and make someone's life easier - the rest shall follow!

[SonnyLV]

Fantastic story, wishing these two nothing but the best, thank you for representing ✊🏽

[skywalker]

An inspirational video filled with valuable knowledge. Really enjoying this series.

[NathalieLazo]

Dear lovely person, if you are reading this, keep going. You will succeed! I believe in you!
Have a great day! Love - Nat ❤️

[TheTonyAndreas]

Incredible! I’ve been telling my barber to do something like this for years! My favorite is the virtual waiting room! Salute to these gentleman! Genius!!! Kudos!!!

[SciencewithRishit]

I identified the same problem and got a similar idea 2-3 years ago, told it to some people but they told me that its a useless idea. This video gives me confidence.

[jaybclemons]

This is so dope! Congrats to them for sure 🙌🏾

[iTuber]

Well done gentlemen. Keep going and try not to sell too early, if at all.

Take this same business model ecosystem and try to expand internationally under different names depending on the market