Hair-brained or great-hair business? : Assessing alternative markets and product-service designs for successful startups by small-retail entrepreneurs

Deborah Lunt had wanted to see a business building with her name on it since she was thirteen years old. She now wanted to build upon the reputation that she had earned through her twenty years in the hair-care industry. She decided to move from the upscale streets of Boston to the suburbs where she felt she could provide a more relaxed and personalized ambience. Deborah excels in hair cutting, color, styling, and her perceptiveness of what her clients want. She built her entire clientele through word-of-mouth and even after she relocated to the Boston suburbs, her clients continued to travel long distances to obtain her services. As Deborah sat in her office one day sipping mineral water between her appointments, she wondered how she could grow her client base. She started day dreaming and was suddenly brought back to the present with the “ding dong” at the door, and one of her clients and friend, a marketing professor at a nearby university, walked in for her monthly appointment. As Deborah cut and styled her client's hair, she shared her thoughts and dreams with her. The professor knew that Deborah was ambitious and hardworking, and that if she had a clear marketing plan, she could succeed in growing her business. The professor also knew that, although Deborah had left her job at an upscale hair salon in a high-end retailing location in the city (the most expensive street for shopping in Boston) to startup her own business, Deborah had done so without a written plan and only a vague vision for the future. The professor suggested to Deborah that she needed to put some effort into developing a viable written marketing plan.