A new service is coming to the homes of Hay River residents suffering from quarantine hair.
Randi Hunt, who worked for eight years as a hairdresser, is bringing the shears straight to the customer’s door by launching a mobile barber service.
Hunt, originally from Yellowknife, normally splits her time between the NWT — where her husband works — and her home in Alberta.
But with the COVID-19 pandemic, she needed to commit to one place.
“So I either come here and stay or don’t come here at all,” she says.
Upon making the decision to remain in Hay River, she needed a way to stay busy and earn an income.
Hunt saw that Hay River was in need of additional men’s haircutting options — her specialty. She began looking for a place to set up shop, which turned out to be more difficult than anticipated.
“There’s not really a heck of a lot for affordable spots to rent here,” she explains, “I would love to have a standalone barbershop, but I can’t afford it in this town.”
Hunt adds one of the buildings she looked into renting would’ve charged more than she pays toward her monthly mortgage.
The future of mobile businesses in a post-COVID world
So she got a new idea: Randi Hunt’s Shaving and Shearing mobile barber service.
Hunt says her business plan is convenience, offering low price cuts, available after regular business hours in the comfort of the customer’s home.
She says she’ll be able to keep the prices low as she won’t have the same overhead costs most barbershops face.
Stocking personal protective equipment to ensure the business follows all pandemic protocols will be a priority, she adds.
“All I do have to pay for is cleaning supplies and masks,” she says, “which really isn’t a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.”
Hunt is in the process of attaining her business license and says with only minor advertising she is already receiving requests for appointments once she opens.
Hunt says as the pandemic decreases the workforce’s dependence on office buildings and rents continue to rise across the country, mobile services could become more commonplace.
“If you’re creative enough there are are many businesses that can go mobile,” she concludes.
