Haiti Economic Research & Development
Meet David and KingsleY
Local
Barber
Shop
HIGh quality & affordable
village
has to
travel 1
hour to
barber
King of Kings Barber Shop
Business Plan in Brief
Introduction
We would like to open a barbershop in Gallet Chambon. In order to open this business, we are seeking, $1,360 in funding.
Problem
In Gallet Chambon, there is no barbershop, and the citizens must pay $1.50 to travel to another town with a barber shop. After travelling this distance, they then pay $2.00 once they get there to have their hair cut. Having a clean haircut is very important to our culture, and many in our town cannot afford to get their hair cut at this price. Consequently, we will often cut our hair with razor blades versus going to a barber shop out of town.
Solution
We aim to cut out transportation costs to another city for our patrons, offering a more convenient service. We have a location to start our business that is centrally located and are asking for an investment to help us with our other start-up costs. In Haiti, our power supply is very unreliable, so we plan to procure a generatorand to efficiently store any excess generation.
Differentiation
Proximity of location and personal connections.
Operating Plan:
We have procured a location, so first we will buy the necessary supplies to prepare that space. Then, we will begin operation with one barber and one manager. We will expand to include additional barbers.
Additionally, we plan to provide cold drinks from a refrigerator as a service to our barbershop customers as well as to any other villagers.
Operating Plan
University Student Biography:
Bryant Cassidey is a 2nd year student in the MSOM program at the University of Alabama. He has most recently completed a project in Austin, TX that mines employee activity data within a document repository to create processing metrics that aid in staffing decisions. He is a graduate research assistant working on scheduling problems and is a teaching assistant working on projects researching economic development in Haiti. Bryant earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Alabama in 2013, and is a candidate for graduation from his current program this Fall.
I am a serious golfer, and want to play competitively again one day, but have recently picked up a (maybe even more serious) passion for fly-fishing. I also like to travel and lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina for six months after finishing my undergraduate degree. Travelling has opened my eyes to economic strife both in the U.S. and abroad, and I want to use my skills to help solve the problems in making sustainable communities.
University Student Testimonial: Why I Believe in King of Kings Barbershop
"I arrived in Haiti having an idea that we would be educating and spreading the knowledge we have gained in school to Haitians who have heretofore not had that access to that knowledge. What I found were a group of incredibly bright and ambitious people who have the basic knowledge of what their community needs, but need the resources and guidance to create solutions for those needs.
My team, a motley crew to say the least, consists of a two teachers: David, who is also a barber and Kengsley (pronounced Kingsley) who is also a keen student of business. Their friend and advisor Claudy Vernone is a friend of the barber in closest town and will connect them to sources of supply.
They want to start this business to help their community, and I believe that they will use what they earn from this business to fund ventures of the same kind in the future. They are the funniest and most genuine people I have ever met, and I look forward to working with them to make this needed business a success."
-- Bryant Cassidey