For nine years, Ahron Oddman worked as a U.S. Marine helicopter pilot. Now, he's building his own startup, a service that connects freelance barbers with customers looking for a haircut in their home or office.
Oddman, the founder and CEO of Savanna and a Harvard Business School student, said the idea for the startup — an Uber for haircuts — came from a three-month project he completed with a few of his fellow students.
The goal of Savanna, Oddman said, is to connect male customers with freelance barbers (a service for women may come next, but Oddman wants to make sure the male-focused version is solid first).
[Savanna is one of about two-dozen companies that will be at the Perks Convention, a showcase featuring unique employee services, that will be held April 7 at the Microsoft NERD Center.]
After the three-month Harvard project was finished, Oddman decided to hold on to the idea as a startup, which officially debuted this past January. He also brought in Jonathan Justiniano, a barbershop owner and a licensed master barber himself as a business partner. Oddman points to the fact that Savanna is tapping into a large market, estimated to be as significant as $40 billion.
"Why don't we start with barbers," he thought. "We thought it would be logistically simpler and it proved to be pretty doable."
For right now, Savanna is only operating in
A typical price for a haircut is $30 if a barber comes to your office, but Oddman said the same haircut would cost $45 if a barber comes to your home. The barber keeps 80 percent of the sales from the haircut and Savanna keeps 20 percent, Oddman said.
Oddman said the company is currently looking to raise funding.
"This is a very pivotal and busy time for us," he said.
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/startups/2015/03/meet-savanna-the-uber-for-haircuts.html?sf37336625=1
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/startups/2015/03/meet-savanna-the-uber-for-haircuts.html?sf37336625=1