Launching a Hair and Beauty Tech Startup within a Global Pandemic
The Hair and Beauty industry (H&B) has long been lagging behind other sectors regarding technology and innovation. While counterparts in the lifestyle and leisure industries were employing tech-powered solutions to address their challenges, the H&B sector stayed dangerously behind, even using marketplaces such as GumTree to drive business growth and earnings potential.
The changes, challenges and restrictions of the pandemic really highlighted just how far behind the H&B sector was, and the lack of progressive thinking consequently left the industry-wide open to risk – and none are more so at risk than the professionals themselves. Many were redundant, and the options to capitalise on the demand when restrictions were lifted were few and far between.
Being connected personally to several professionals who were feeling the struggle, Murat Feimoglu and Omer Ukuser quickly realised there was no major digitised platform for H&B professionals to take control of their own careers and provide the foundation for professionals to work flexibly both in terms of hours and location. That’s where HairFare comes in. They felt the need to fill this void and create a shared market approach to an £8billion sector, allowing professionals to develop their careers whilst enabling business owners to secure earnings and workers upfront in a tough market. The concept for HairFare had existed pre-pandemic, but the desperate situation of the industry once the pandemic hit accelerated the launch. The pandemic was the right time to bring possibilities and options to professionals and businesses who had been hit hard.
