There's a reason we require licensing of that profession...
What are the legitimate reasons for the current license requirements? Are there any, or is this a law that is a relic of a past which did have reasons for it? It seems like the market could solve the issue of under performing barbers.
[1]: http://www.barbercosmo.ca.gov/applicants/index.shtml
EDIT: From reading this page, it looks like the service described in the article is illegal because in-home services are only available for "anyone whose illness or other physical or mental incapacitation prevents them from visiting a licensed salon or barbershop". And, of course, it still requires a licensed barber.
http://www.barbercosmo.ca.gov/consumers/inhome_srv_factsheet...
Commercial barbers do more than just cut hair, and the license applies to more than just hair cutting [0]. So, yes, its maybe slightly overkill for just cutting hair (OTOH, managing more different grades of barbering licenses would increase regulatory complexity.)
[0] http://www.barbercosmo.ca.gov/forms_pubs/publications/barber...
I agree that 1,500 hours does sound a bit long though.
and what Texas used to do for hair braiders (no cutting/dying involved): http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2015/0109/Can-Texas-for...
-- raw incumbent-protection measures where the veneer of "consumer safety!" usually as an excuse to justify them had worn a little bit too thin...
"Mom can you drive me to the mall?" and next thing you know governments are out to destroy a startup.
Does it have something to do with where the haircut is being performed? Are you referring to sanitation issues or something?
I'm obviously not following you.
www.getshortcut.co
I think, more specifically, they thrive on high repetition rate, high platform retention, and high commoditization (or, equivalently, low provider retention.)
Hair cutting/styling, AFAICT, has fairly low repetition rate for most users, and low commoditization / high provider retention (and that's even more true among the segment of the population which does have a high repetition rate), and so the utility of the market platform seems pretty low for most users and providers.
Many people get them every 2-3 months but there's a large amount of the population that go to the barber shop every week.
Maybe for a certain set of guys, but not in general. [edit: people find who they like and stick with them - high retention and reputation gets very important]
Truth!
Actually, its just an excuse to promote a friend's app followed by some vague platitudes about tech/innovation. Yawn.
He might have to rewrite that paragraph if this goes big!
