Successful businesses either provide needed goods and services, and/or convince consumers that they need something that they didn’t know they needed. That, they say, is Apple’s genius. The company is currently touted as the world’s richest.
Because the Internet is still so shiny and new, belief remains strong in any and all possible cyber commerce. Despite our current bias, however, something doesn’t have to be technological in order to be “genius.”
In a series highlighting fast-growing, innovative companies, USA Today reported one such success story — found in the eternal gold-mine industry of women’s “hair care.” The business, called Drybar, offers one primary service: washing and blow-drying hair into straight, wavy, “beachy” or other stylish hairdos. Its motto: “No cuts. No color. Just blowouts.”
Alli Webb, 37, came up with the concept with her small business, Straight-at-Home, in 2008. She convinced her brother to help her, and they launched Drybar in 2010. The company is on track to have 25 salons by the end of 2012, and 44 by the end of next year. Competitors are also springing up.
Drybar is a good example of an entrepreneur seizing an opportunity. But Webb’s brother, Michael Landau, thought she was crazy. “I didn’t understand why a woman would need a blowout and why she just couldn’t do her hair herself,” he said. (Landau, shown in a newspaper photo with his long-tressed sister, is, in fact, bald.)
The fact is, the straight, shiny hair look takes a lot of work to achieve. Curly and casually tousled also take a great deal of time. And even when a woman does it herself, her hair never looks as good as when the stylist does it. In addition, the service would seem a godsend for anyone with health issues who really can’t do their hair by themselves.
Contrast Drybar’s “traditional” business model with a much ballyhooed but unproven online service, Angie’s List, which hasn’t made a profit in 17 years, The Indianapolis Star reported. Its initial public offering in November was considered a success, but now shareholders are starting to wonder. The online service provides ratings and reviews of home repair, health care and auto services to paying subscribers, The company is trying to grow in smaller markets, in addition to its main markets — New York and Los Angeles.
Angie’s pitch; “You want to make sure the money you’re about to spend is well spent.”
The problem with the pitch and the business: People have to pay up front, only to find out Angie’s List may not even have any reviews for providers in their area (all those darn smaller markets.)
But hey, it’s an online business. Give it another 17 years.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
