Chennai Best Friends Building a ‘Zomato’ for Salons to Disrupt the Beauty & Wellness Industry

In an exclusive interview with Startup Pedia, 25-year-old entrepreneur Chirag V opened up about the journey of his startup called Barberaa which finds you top-rate salons and spas near your location. In 2020 when the world felt suffocating with even minimum facilities out of reach because of the pandemic, it was the last straw for Chennai’s freshly passed out graduate, Chirag, when he could not cut his hair for 3 months.

As a person who is deeply interested in grooming and personal care, this situation pained him thinking so many others were facing it too. He wanted to help people out by solving this problem. It was the least he could do for people amid the serious pandemic but he did not know how to accomplish that. 

In the interview, Chirag shared the story of how he and his childhood best friend started a company by providing at-home salon services, did the course for over a year, and completed 500 appointments before pivoting into an Online Booking Platform.

How Barberaa happened - Story of two best friends turning co-founders

During the pandemic, Chirag had the experience of booking some grooming services on Urbanclap and waiting almost a month without an update. Suddenly, it struck his mind that he could bring salon services to people’s homes. What he did not know then was Barberaa would turn into an online booking platform for salons and spas!

At the time, Chirag had just graduated and was looking for a job. He shared his idea with his childhood best friend for 18 years, P Ajay Kothari. Ajay was about to go to the UK to do a master’s degree at a premium college. However, his friend’s idea captivated him so much that Ajay dropped the idea of studying abroad, and asked for a refund from the particular university to invest in a venture with the idea.

Zomato for salons? Barberaa takes a new direction

The two friends took it as a side hustle project which gradually turned into a full-fledged private limited company. After a year, they started the company, the two friends cum cofounders went to meet C K Kumaravel, the founder of Naturals, which has the biggest chain of salons in the whole of Asia, to discuss the home-service market. That one discussion with Mr. Kumaravel boggled their minds. 

Chirag and Ajay set to make Barberaa an online booking platform, much like Zomato. Only this was not a food business, it was for salons and spas. The two friends were elated at how their startup was pivoting to a new direction. This is how India got its first “Zomato” for salons! 

After a good deal of brainstorming and a year of R&D, the salon and spa startup turned into an online aggregator of salons in the good old Chennai city.

“For movies, people do not go to the theaters anymore to book tickets, they have got Bookmyshow. For transport, you’ve got Ola and Uber. But when it comes to salons and spas you have to use the traditional method of walking into the salon to find out the services or schedule an appointment," Chirag V said in the interview.

A new journey begins for Barberaa

The two friends turned co-founders put efforts into building an ecosystem like Zomato, a creative platform where salons can showcase the price, communicate the amenities they provide, clients can find them based on location, popularity, offers they are looking for, and can as well see the digital catalog. That’s how Barberaa took a new turn. Chirag and Ajay raised two rounds of funding to fuel the business. 

When someone goes to a salon they have in mind what they want, so, it is difficult for salons to upsell. However, with Barberaa, salons can show you their digital catalog beforehand so that customers have a wide range to choose from.

Also, stylists are shown for each service for customers to know and pick from, whether junior or senior stylists and with ratings. After that, a client can book according to date and time preferences in 30 days!

Current services 

With a team of 12-15 professionals, the Chennai startup is eyeing to kickstart operations in India’s technological hub, Bengaluru. Now, the brand has four segments: 

1. Salons

2. Parlours

3. Nail Salons

& 4. Spa

Presently, the average waiting time at any salon is about 20-25 minutes. With the Barberaa app, customers can make appointments with salons instantly from their homes or any other place.

At the moment, the company has 2 offerings: 1. The Barberaa app which is a B2C product with 375 salons enlisted, and 15 + franchisees working with them in Chennai.

And 2. A B2B service by which Barberaa is helping salons with digital bookkeeping.

Also read: Gujarat man leaves ₹3.5 Cr/year job in the US to launch a tech startup in India (startuppedia.in)

Offers for clients as well as businesses

Incidentally, the salon aggregator offers 40% off to clients on its listed salons and spas. Notably, their 15+ Franchisees include brands like Toni & Guy, Page 3, Naturals, Tip & Toe, Spa Influence, Nails n Beyond, and Studie'o 7.

When they did their research, Chirag and Ajay found out that 86% of salons in India use pen and paper for accounting work. This is why, they wanted to ease the accounting process for salon owners with a simple 360° Management Software.

Because most salons have not adopted any software or some technology that helps them build accounts online, Barberaa offers a simple management software that a medium-sized salon could use to digitalize its operations, a part of it is an online booking feature. Salons that want the 360° Management Software can get it. Of course, salons that only want online bookings can simply go with appointment services.

Following is an extract from the conversation with Chirag V

Startup Pedia: Where do you want to see Barberaa in the next 5 years?

Chirag: We are aiming to be an integrated one-stop platform for salons and spas. Barberaa will not just be the app for taking online appointments but also provide software services, fetch customers, and a bunch of other verticals they are aiming to tap into.

See, we have the first-mover advantage, Chirag said confidently. We know there is a huge untapped market available across India. For now, we are going to expand our business to Bengaluru.

"Barberaa will not just be the app for taking online appointments but also provide software services, fetch customers, and a bunch of other verticals they are aiming to tap into," the young co-founder remarked.

Startup Pedia: Seems you have big plans. So, you must be open to new investors?

Chirag: Actually, we are. We know what we are doing. We have competitors but we are a funded business. Most of them aren’t. So, we are not worried. However, we are open to raising more funds and are actively fundraising.

Startup Pedia: Who is your biggest source of inspiration?

Chirag: There are two people I look up to who are the biggest disruptors at the time. Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. I also admire Aman Gupta’s style of marketing. He is a personal brand himself, his brand name is even bigger than his company’s.

Startup Pedia: Any advice for young startup founders?

Chirag: I started this company when I was only 20. I had zero idea as to how I needed to run the company. I only had an idea that I completely believed in. And I found the lead correct.

I would give three pieces of advice to any new startup founder. First of all, find a good mentor who can guide you through the process. Next, find a cofounder, someone to push you through, someone who will help you start the company. And thirdly, most importantly, be consistent, never give up!

We faced major challenges when we launched Barberaa. If we had given up on our goal, today we would not have 375 salons working with us! And an almost finalized plan to start operating in Bengaluru. Right? (smiles)

"We faced major challenges when we launched Barberaa, " Chirag said. "If we had given up on our goal, today we would not have 375 salons working with us! And an almost finalized plan to start operating in Bengaluru."

Looking ahead

With Barberaa, the two young co-founders are aiming to disrupt the salon ecosystem in India and reach a height no one could imagine ever. Applying technology to this industry will hugely profit businesses in this sector and speed up their operations. 

Meanwhile, customers would be spoilt for choices. The Chennai startup wants to sort out your salon woes because it believes that you are just “one makeover away” to look and feel your best self! You can book an appointment in less than 60 seconds and rebook in less than 30 seconds through Barberaa.