Sharp Idea For A Start-Up

Financial Times:

Moments of inspiration sometimes occur at odd times. For Joanna Meiseles, the idea for her multimillion-dollar business struck her after she took her son Ben for his first haircut.

Ms Meiseles was determined that it would be a special occasion, just as his first smile, first steps and first word had been. “Ben was my first baby,” she says. “He had these beautiful golden brown curls that were halfway down his back.” Planning to document the event, she strode into the salon – armed with nappy bag, camera and Ben in tow – expecting the stylists to fuss over her one-year-old baby.

Instead, they scurried into the back room; it appeared no one wanted to give her boy a haircut. After some negotiation, a stylist was summoned. She propped Ben on a swivel seat on top of a couple of telephone books. Ms Meiseles kept one hand round his waist to keep him from squirming and toppling over. “It just wasn’t what I wanted it to be,” she says.

Dejected, she and her son returned home. “I told my husband, ‘I should open a children’s hair salon’,” she recalls.

Today Ms Meiseles is founder and president of Snip-its, a fast-growing franchise of children-themed hair salons in the US. The company has 62 salons – mainly in New England but also in states including Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Florida, and cuts the hair of more than 1m children annually. Last year revenues were $20m. Read on…

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