Startups

TheCut is looking to bring barbershops into the mobile age

Obi Omile's app helps barbers optimize their business.

This app wants to bring mobile conveniences to your local 'shop. (Photo by Flickr user Anders Lejczak, used under a Creative Commons license)

When Obi Omile moved to North Carolina after college he had a hell of a time finding a barber he trusted. He also knew that, once he found a barber, there wouldn’t really be a good way for him to schedule appointments around his busy schedule working at a startup.

There’s got to be a better way, he thought.

So Omile built TheCut — a “mobile app connecting barbers and clients.”

The barbershop industry, as Omile tells it, is quite antiquated. Barbers generally don’t use much tech — their clients just come by the shop and get the cut or shave when the barber has time.

But this introduces inefficiencies for both members of the transaction, Omile noticed, as he started looking into it further. Not only does it leave clients in the lurch, but it also makes it hard for the barbers themselves to schedule their time.

With TheCut, barbers create a profile with information about where they’re based, what services they offer and more. Clients can then download the app to book a session with their preferred barber, and pay through the app as well. The app is free for both, which is a differentiator from other apps out there — TheCut makes money off a transaction fee.

“We’re more of a tool for barbers to optimize their businesses,” Omile said. It’s customer relationship management, specifically for men’s grooming. And this, despite the fact that the idea for the app came out of personal frustration, is what makes him the most excited.

Omile and his cofounder are locally based but, after launch about a year ago, TheCut is being used (mainly in bigger cities) all across the country, he said. The company recently took part in humble ventures’ Spring 2017 cohort (you know, the ones who had demo day on a boat).

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