Marcus Richards
Get Groomed connects customers with professional mobile barbers to provide the finest barbering services at a place and time that suits the needs of our customers. While we are helping busy individuals in big cities, we also provide grooming services at weddings, offices, hotels and for people with reduced mobility.
Tell us about yourself?
I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science in Belgium in 2012 and worked in Brussels, Toronto and London where I helped agencies and product teams build digital platforms and experiences.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
To keep on grinding; Covid is just temporary and the world is ready for beauty services at home and offices.
What problem does your business solve?
We are bringing classic barbering to our customers’ door step and provide the best barbering service while saving our customers from the hassle of lengthy wait times, and travel to and from the barbershop.
Our online platforms provide a very simple way to book a barber at the preferred time and place and we have a team that is available on Messenger, Whatsapp, Instagram and many other platforms to offer guidance regarding our customers’ questions about hair and beard grooming.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
As I was very busy in London, I couldn’t find the right time for a trim and I started researching for barbers to come to my place or my office for me to save up time. I discovered that this service didn’t exist, and I built a prototype and launched our first version of the website in 2017.
I am the first customer of our website and I haven’t been to a salon since 2017. We receive a lot of queries from busy individuals working long hours, we also receive queries from people with reduced mobility who cannot go to the barbershop.
Companies in London like Warner Music, WeWork & Dr Martens started to reach out to us for barbering services for their staff.
What is your magic sauce?
Our customer support service is available 7 days a week, we have a very strict hiring process regarding barbers and our platform helps customers who are looking for inspiration.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
We are looking to launch in every major city in the UK, re-launch our mobile app and offer an even more refined user experience for our customers to select the best suited service for their needs.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
It is very difficult to reach people without a very big marketing budget. We are now in a position where we are able to cut through the noise but it was very challenging for us.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
We would love to partner with beauty brands selling products like beard balms, beard oils & after shave lotions. We would also love to collaborate with male beauty influencers in the future.
We would also love to hear feedback and your vision; people can get in touch with us at [email protected].
