beGlammed is giving the hair and makeup industry a needed makeover.
The success of this stylist on-demand service, which just expanded into the Dallas area, can help us see the inner beauty of a great business idea. beGlammed, which I’m involved with, offers hair and makeup services at your doorstep. All you have to do is download an app to schedule your appointment and a technician will come to your home, where you can get an updo, blowout and do your makeup – all while you relax in the comfort of your living room.
The innovative approach to hair and makeup services offers some important lessons for entrepreneurs:
Pay attention
One of the biggest things we can learn from beGlammed is to listen to consumers’ needs and expectations. beGlammed was started by a makeup artist who worked for clients staying in Las Vegas hotels. She had so many requests for a room service stylist; she had to turn away clients.
I got involved with beGlammed after noticing a proliferation of shops that offer makeup services and hair styling rather than haircut services. The trend demonstrated the demand for a business like beGlammed, which takes the idea one step further to deliver these services at customers’ doorsteps.
“As the CEO of a startup, you can’t control whether you come up with an idea before its time. But you can look at trends and shifts that may signal the time is right to take your idea beyond the light-bulb stage,” Jenna Schnuer writes in the November issue of Entrepreneur.
Solve a problem
Find creative ways to solve problems for consumers. Can you find a way to use technology to make life easier for people? Smartphones made it possible for Uber, Airbnb and beGlammed to connect customers with services they want and need. The great news for beGlammed customers is they don’t have to drive to the salon. They can get their hair and makeup done at home and on their own schedule.
“Truly disruptive ideas provide a balm for some kind of pain, solving a problem or making life more convenient, efficient or affordable,” Schnuer writes in Entrepreneur.
Cut out a middleman
Part of what makes beGlammed such a dazzling idea is that it makes business more efficient for independent hair and makeup stylists by connecting them directly with customers. The most talented hair stylists are 60 to 70 percent utilized, partly because of canceled appointments.
beGlammed cuts out the salon. Business ideas that can do this have an advantage, as Brian Hamilton points out in Inc.:
“The Internet has been a tremendously disruptive and devastating force against people who operate in ‘the middle.’ Ask real-estate brokers and travel agents about the impact of CraigsList and Travelocity on their business models. Anything that stands between the buyer and seller is being minimized, streamlined, or in some cases, totally leapfrogged. If your idea is cutting out an unnecessary step or (let’s face it) an unnecessary profession out of the equation, the odds are that it’s a pretty strong idea,” writes Hamilton.
