English2-ComparativeTradeReport.pdf

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN
Research Unit for Modern Architecture Studies in Southeast Asia
Foundation of Natural Built Environments (FNBE)
Assignment:
A Comparative Analysis of 2 Businesses of Similar Industry in Different
Geographical Locations
Report Title :
Barbershop
Group members :
Names Role
Foong Wing Hoe ( 0320085 ) Video Maker
Interviewer
Pe Zhi Yong (0319765) Report Writer
Ignatius Jee Shao Iang (0320069) Interviewer
Report Writer
Yong Man Kit (0319778) Report Writer
Erica Chin (0320460) Report Writer

English 2 [ELG30605]
Lecturer:
Cassandra Wijesuria
Submission & Presentation Date :
1 June 2015
APPENDIX 1: Guidelines for Report Writing
ENGLISH II (ELG30605) | ASSIGNMENT 2: RESEARCH REPORT
0

Table of Contents

NO. Title Page
Number
1 KEY SUMMARY 2
2 DESCRIPTION OF THE HISTORY TRADE 3 4
3 DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS 5 20
4 COMPARATIVE OF COMPETITIVE TRAITS 21 22
5 OBSTACLE FACED BY NEW BUSINESS 23
6 SUMMARY OF DIFFERENCES 24 25
7 RECOMMENDATIONS 26 27
8 BIBLIOGRAPHY 28
9 REFERENCES 29
10 APPENDICES 30 3X

1

Key Summary

Throughout our researches regarding on 2 hairdressing firms, that is
Son & Dad Barber Shop in Penang and Garage Barber Shop in Kuala
Lumpur, we got the opportunity to deepen our understanding towards this
field.

Son and Dad Barbershop is a family business which has been
operated more than 10 years in Penang. It was founded by Elyas Yunoos.
The founder decided to proceed his dream and also to succeed his father’s
occupation as a barber. The business is a renowned barbershop in
Georgetown, Penang. The barbershop is located at the city central of
Georgetown, which is also a tourist location in Penang.

Whereas for Garage Barbershop, it was founded by Muhammad
Firdaus. In fact, the business was started in a garage where the owner sells
spare parts of motorcycle and also do repair works. The founder then
established his very first barbershop in Sri Gombak. Currently, the founder
established his first branch in Kota Damansara.

In conclusion, both barbershops are proven to be a strong
competitors in their own area as they are vastly different from the other
barbershop or hair salon by having their own unique style. As a team, we
had done a series of analytical research thoroughly regarding these two
businesses.

2

HISTORY OF THE TRADE
Barbering is one of the oldest profession in the world. Archeological
studies show that the crude forms of facial and hair adornment were
practised among prehistoric people in the glacial age.

Many relics made from tempered copper and bronze, such as combs,
cosmetics and razor existed in the era of ancient Egypt(from the tombs).
Written records reveal that the nobility and priesthood became regular
patrons for the barbers’ services 6000 years ago.

The art of barbers included shaving, haircutting, beard trimming, hair
colouring and also facial makeup in the ancient times. Although it was
centuries ago, some of the barber still practise some of them.

Barbers became assistants of the clergy back in early Christian era.
All the dirty jobs were done by the barbers such as blood letting. Then, they
extracted teeth which compromised the whole art of today’s dentistry.
Barbers also administered herbs and other forms of medication. They were
known as barbersurgeons for more than thousand years.

The use of white cloth bandage to stop the bleeding after the
bloodletting operation became the custom of the barbersurgeon. The
bloodstained bandages were then hung up to dry. The bloodstained
bandages emblem was replaced by a wooden pole of white and red strips.
It was known as the barber pole(universally used).

In 15th century, the science of medicine was surpassed the
barbersurgeons in knowledge and specialized skills. In 1505, the
restrictions on the barbersurgeons continued this period although the
reunited of surgeons and barbersurgeons.

3

In 1745, the alliance between surgeons and the barbers was
completely dissolved. The barbers, however, continued to practice
bloodletting and toothextraction and dispensed some simple herb
medicines in the villages and communities.

A slow degradation of the art and the end of the nineteenth century
barber shops became unhygienic, untidy and undignified. They were
characterized and grouped in the lowest social strata.

4

DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

The researches in this assignment is based on the analysis of the two
barbershops, namely Son & Dad Barber and Garage Barbershop.Both
barbershops are located 346 KM away from one another.Son & Dad Barber
Shop is located in Jalan Acheh, Georgetown, Penang while Garage
Barbershop is located in
Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Location of Business 1 ,
Son & Dad Barber Shop
53A, Acheh St, Pinang George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia, 10200

Location of Business 2 ,
Garage Barbershop
5

No 25, Jalan Teknologi 3/6B, The Core Sunsuria, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya,
Malaysia

Facebook Rating for Son & Dad Barber Shop

6

Yelp rating for Garage Barbershop

Business 1 : Son & Dad Barber Shop
7

Name Son and Dad Barber
Location 53A, Acheh St, Pinang George Town, Pulau
Pinang, Malaysia, 10200

Founder’s Name Elyas Yunoos
Theme 80’s classic style
Opening Year 2004
Products/Services Haircut and shaving
No. of Employee 5 (4 barbers and 1 cashier)
Est. No of Customer 3040/day at peak
Annual Revenue Not mention
Recent Development Moved from (old address)

MOTIVES
8

Son & Dad Barber was founded in 2004 Kot. According to our interviews,
the father of the founder was a hair stylist in 80’s. The classic barbershop
become more unique and famous in this new era globalisation.Therefore,
the founder found a great inspiration from his father to open a classic
barbershop in Georgetown which attracts people nowadays to experience
the unique hairstyle and other barber services.The barbershop is originally
a small shop below a flat which was located outside the Core Zone of
Georgetown. As available land in Georgetown is scarce and expensive, the
founder decided to rent a shophouse and moved into the Core Zone of
Georgetown last year. This results in attracting more tourists and business
to the shop as well.

According to the founder, he transformed his business from a hair saloon to
a barbershop approximately four years ago.They took the initiative to
renovate this shophouse and reopened their business in February 2015.

9

Services provided by Son & Dad Barber Shop

Son and Dad Barber provides
typical barber services, but only
for the fine ladies and
gentleman as
they do not
serve kid
.

Head Barber
Head barber is more
experienced compare to the
normal barber. They style
customers’ hair. That’s why they
cost 10 bucks more than junior
barber.

Junior Barber
Junior barber has less
experience in doing hairstyles.
They are the one who only focus
on normal haircut in the shop.

Hot Towel
Hot towel is a type of service
which the barber wrap the
customer’s face with a towel
soaked in warm water. This is a
barber way for shaving.
                10

Products
In addition to the services they provide, Son & Dad Barber also sell
hair pomades.

Pomade
is an oily, waxy substance that is made of either petroleum or
water to style hair. When applied on hair, it makes the hair looks glossy and
shiny. It will remain oily on hair as it will never dry out by itself. Pomade is
also very resistant as it takes multiple washes to remove it completely from
hair, making it better for hair styling if one can stand the oily hair. Pomades
are the staple of barber.

Examples of hairs styled with pomade.

11

Facilities in Son and Dad Barber

● 2 barber chairs
● Multiple mirrors
● Several Airconditioners
● 2 wooden old schoolesque couch outside the shop
● Plentiful of lights (to make sure the barbers can focus on their work)
● Washroom

12

Decoration

Son and Dad Barber uses an oldschool vintage style theme for the
decoration of their shop. As one can see through the pictures provided, the
shop is filled with 1970s furnitures as well as decorations like an old school
barber chair, vintage styled posters, tons of barber tools from the good old
70s. On the other hand, the barbers working in the shop is well dressed
with classic barber uniform. The shop doesn’t have a proper name plate,
instead, they draw their shop name on the wall right above the entrance
with marker pen. All of these bring a hipsterish sense out of it.

13

Business 2 : Garage Barbershop

Name Garage Barbershop
Location No 25, Jalan Teknologi 3/6B, The Core
Sunsuria, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya,
Malaysia
Founder’s Name Muhammad Firdaus a.k.a Jay
Theme Garage style
Opening Year 2002
Products/Services Haircut and shaving
No. of Employee 10 (8 barbers and 2 cashiers)
Est. No of Customer Ave. 1220/day, 3040/day at peak
Annual Revenue (Not mention due to privacy)
Recent Development Establishment of this shop as a new branch in
Kota Damansara

14

MOTIVES

Mr.Jay started learning hairdressing in age 20 According to him, the
reason he picked on it is because he likes fashion and hair styling a lot.
After finishing his high school, he decided to worked as a parttimer at a
hair salon in Penang to gain experience.After a few years, he moved to
Kuala Lumpur and worked as a pioneer barber in one of the famous barber
shop in Subang, that is Joe’s Barber Shop which located at SS15.

Joe’s Barber

Main shop in Sri Gombak
15

He then left his job due to personal issue. After achieving a 5 years
experience, Mr. Jay planned to resume his passion. The reason that they
called the name of their business as “Garage Barbershop”, it’s because his
business was starting in a motorbike garage shop itself in early age. They
rented a small room surrounded by glass and only one barber chair was
provided in the room. After the business is getting well. He moved and
established his first barbershop with 4 staff in Sri Gombak and now he has
his first branch in Kota Damansara which we visited in year 2015. Mr.Jay
said that his main customers are male and age between 25 and 35 male.

Services provided by Garage Barbershop
16

Haircut
Your typical haircut, styled by
barber using Suavecito
pomade.

Haircut for kids
Make your kid looks like a
superstar.

Shaving
Shaving your mustache
and beard with style

Products
17

Hair Pomade

Facilities
18

● 4 barber chairs and mirrors
● A long bench made of planks and tires
● Several Airconditioners
● 2 couch outside the shop
● Plentiful of lights (to make sure the barbers can focus on their work)
● 4 Hardware cases with barber tools
● TV
● Washroom

Decoration

19

Garage Barber uses a modern garage style theme for their shop, as the shop is
filled with garage’s furnitures as well as decorations like tyres, hardware cases,
plankontires bench and hanging lightbulbs which creates a garageesque vibe. The
shop also takes the hip hop path as all the barbers wear jacket,cap and jeans.
According to them, this gives a sense of fashion to the customers, helping them to
attract more customers.
Jay working at his main shop located in Gombak
20

COMPARATIVE OF COMPETITIVE TRAITS
SON & DAD BARBER SHOP GARAGE BARBER SHOP
NUMBER OF
COMPETITORS IN THE
AREA
- New Light Hair Dressing Salon
- Hun Hoe Barber
- Snob Hair Dressing
- Joe’s Barber Shop
- Shino Barber Shop
- Anas Barber Shop
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
OF COMPETITORS
New Light Hair Dressing Salon Joe’s Barber Shop & Kitchen
- An Indian barber
- Located at the corner of Market
Street, Little India
- Operating as long as anyone could
remember
- A Malay Barber
- Located at Subang Jaya
- They provide two services: Hair
dressing & food serving(Italian
cuisine)
- Started this business 5 years ago
Hun Hoe Barber Shino Barber Shop
- A Chinese barber
- Located at Jalan Burma, Penang
- Provide neck massage, hair cutting,
shaving and hot towel
- Operating for decades
- A professional Malay barber
- Located at Subang Jaya
- They provide shaving and
haircutting
- Started to operate in 2012
Snob Hair Dressing Anas Barber Shop
- A salon owned by a Chinese guy
- Located at Kapitan Keling, Penang
- Newly founded
- A Malay barber
- Located in Shah Alam
- They provide hair cutting
- Newly founded
21

BUSINESS STRATEGIES
TO COMPETE WITH
COMPETITOR
PRICING
- Senior barber(RM 40)
- Barber(RM 30)
- Hot Towel( RM 30)
They charge slightly higher compare to
other barber shops. However, they are
still cheaper compare to normal hair
salon
- Senior barber(RM 20)
- Junior Barber (RM15)
- The prices are affordable despite
offering professional hairdressing
services.
PRICING(PEAK SEASON)
This barbershop will not raise the
prices.
This barbershop will raise their
pricing range from around RM3 to
RM5 during peak season such as Hari
Raya.
ADVERTISEMENT
-Through signage in front of the shop
- Through facebook
-Pricing list is written on a blackboard
in front of the shop
- Through signage
- Advertise through website,
Instagram and also Facebook Page
QUALITY AND TYPES OF SERVICES
- Hair cutting
- Shaving
- Hot towel
- Selling pomades
- Hair cutting
- Shaving
- Hot towel
ATMOSPHERE
The interior is decorated with a vintage
theme of 1970s.This helps to radiate a
vintage feel to the customers.
The interior is decorated like a garage
which suites the name of shop.
Furniture and equipment are in good
condition, bringing comfort to the
customers.
VARIETY OF PRODUCTS
This barber shop uses good quality of
pomades form American and local
brand. This is to provide better services
to their customers.
This barbershop only provide services
for their customers. The head barber
in this barbershop has lots of
experience in hairdressing.
22

NATURE OF MARKET Barbershop is a competitive market. There are a lot of barbershops and
hair saloons which provide hair dressing services as well. Besides,
peoples nowadays prefer hair saloons more than barbershop. That is
because hair saloons provide all sorts of services such as hair perming,
hair dying and also hair loss treatment. Whereas for barbershop, they
only provide normal hair dressing services.
Son and Dad barbershop provides professional hairdressing skills and a
comfortable environment. They even implement high quality hair
products form US and also local brand to ensure the quality of their
services.
Garage barbershop provides good hair dressing skills as the shop owner
has a lot of experience in this field.
OBSTACLES FACED
BY A NEW BUSINESS
A newly started business often faced similar problem, which is the lack
of publicity. This may cause a major effect towards the business.
Therefore operators have to come out with advertising tactics which
solve the problem.
Newly started business may also face problem such as the lacked of
skilful workers. This might result in dissatisfaction of the customers. This
might give them a bad impression of the quality of services provided,
which results in the loss of customers.
PREFERENCE OF THE
CUSTOMERS
Preferences of the customers also plays an important role in this field.
Mostly, customers prefer their favourite barbershop to do their
hairdressing. Even so, it is not a guarantee for the business. People may
switch to the other shop due to curiosity of trying new things. This
might bring down the sales of the new business as well once the
customers find out that the other one is better.
Besides, competition in the market is also one of the obstacles faced by
newly formed business. People usually prefers old business which has
been operating for quite a time. That is because they have more
confidence in their skills rather than that of the newly operated one.
23

SUMMARY TABLE OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BOTH BARBERSHOPS
SON & DAD BARBER SHOP ASPECTS GARAGE BARBERSHOP
- Senior Barber
- Junior Barber
- Shaving
- Hot Towel
- Sells high quality hair
pomades
SERVICES - Adult Haircut
- Kids haircut
- Shaving
- One Senior barber, three
junior barbers and one
cashier
-
WORKERS - Two senior barbers, six
junior barbers and two
cashiers
Expand their business FUTURE PLAN Expand business and to get
more branches in few year
times
- Shifting shop location to a
more expose place which is
also a tourist location.
- Use of hair pomades which
attracts more customers.
- Provide hot towel and
shaving services as well.
- Workers with good
attitude, giving harmony
atmosphere to the
customers
STRATEGY - Excellent hairdressing skills
- Experienced barbers
- Provides shaving
- Serves their customers well,
being polite and friendly
Son and Dad barbershop is
actually a family business
which started around the
year 2004. The business
turned from a hair salon to a
barbershop in 2011.
FOUNDER AND HISTORY Muhammad Firdaus is the
managing director of Garage
Barbershop. He started his
carrier as a part time hair
stylist when he was in his
teenage. He quit for awhile
and worked in a retail shop
in KL. He started his very
0own business after deciding
to pursue his passion.
24

SON & DAD BARBERSHOP ASPECTS GARAGE BARBERSHOP
Son and Dad Barbershop is
originally a small shop below
a flat. In the year 2014, they
moved into a shop located at
the tourist location,
attracting more customers.
LOCATION Garage barbershop is
actually a barbershop
located in a garage. Back
then, the shop can only
accommodate one
customer at a time.
Recently, they moved to a
shop in Kota Damansara.
No Branches NUMBER OF BRANCHES One Branch at Seri Gombak
11a.m. – 10.p.m. BUSINESS HOURS 2.p.m. – 11.p.m.
- Male customers
- Mostly Regular Customers
TARGETED MARKET - Male Customers
- Adults aged from 25 to 35
- Kids
RM 30 to RM 40 PRICE RANGE (HAIRCUT ONLY) RM 15 to RM 20
25

Recommendations
A comparative analysis has been done between Son and Dad Barbershop
and also Garage Barbershop. Through our research and analysis, we can
conclude that Son and Dad barbershop have not fully utilize the location of their
business. Even though they have such a good location which attracts lots of
visitors into the shop, they have little space for them to do their business. This
might be a restriction for them to gain more customers.
As for Garage Barbershop, the major obstacles that the business are
facing are the location for them to run the business. This is because that the
place is not being strategic enough. There is barely any people in that particular
area as it is an industrial area. Besides, the shop is located at a newly built shop
lot, there are no business attraction around that area currently.
SON & DAD BARBERSHOP
1. Spaces
Due to lack of space in the shop, Son and Dad Barbershop can only
accommodate one customer each time even though they have a few hair barber
in the shop. This strongly restricted their revenue of the month. Therefore, we
strongly recommend them to expand their shop or to renovate the entire shop
to obtain more space. This might provide the barbers to accept more customers
at a time, giving them more business opportunity and bigger profit per month.
2. Pricing
Even though the location of the shop is good, we still think that the pricing is
rather high and could be cheaper. The pricing of the barbershop ranged from
RM30 to RM40. A cheaper price could ensure the saloon to maintain existing
customers and also to attract new customers. Besides, for a price like that,
people would rather go to a hair salon.
26

GARAGE BARBERSHOP
1. Location
As mentioned previously, Garage Barbershop is located at an industrial zone.
Besides, the shop is located at a newly built shop lot, there are no business
attraction around that area currently. We suggest that they should consider
searching for a new and more strategic location whereby there is population in
the area. This will give a push to the business revenue to a whole new level.
2. Products and Services
Garage Barbershop only provides haircut services for male customers only. This
might be a restriction for them to gain more profit. In our opinion, they should
consider to provide hot towel services as well to attract more customers.
Besides, they may also sell some hair styling or hair treatment products such as
pomades, hair spray etc. This might provide them a higher profit as well.

27

Bibliography
Bowden, J. (2008).
Writing a report : how to prepare, write and present
effective reports
. Oxford : How to Books, c2008.

Forsyth, P. (2006).
How to write reports & proposals
. London ; Philadelphia
: Kogan Page Limited, 2006.

U.S. Barber Shops Industry (NAICS 812111). (2012).
United States Barber
Shops Industry Report
, 1146.

MAN ON A MISSION. (2014).
American Salon
,
137
(9), 6870.

28

References

Son & Dad Barber. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2015, from
https://www.facebook.com/pages/SonDadBarber/1417781818462945

Son & Dad Barbershop (@sondad_barber) • Instagram photos and videos.
(n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2015, from
https://instagram.com/sondad_barber/

Garage Barber Shop Kota Damansara. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2015,
from
https://www.facebook.com/garagebarberkd

Garage Barber Shop. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2015, from
http://www.garagebarbershop.com/

Liew, S. (2010, April 20). Me and the World: Hun Hoe Barber @Jalan
Burmah, Penang. Retrieved May 31, 2015, from
http://www.stanleyliew.com/2010/04/hun-hoe-barber-jalan-burmah-pena
ng.html
Tye, T. (2012, September 9). Barbers in Penang. Retrieved May 31, 2015,
from
http://www.penang-traveltips.com/barbers.htm
APPENDICES
29

APPENDIX 2: Suggested List of Interview Questions
(Non-Exhaustive)
Business 1 : Son & Dad Barber Shop

Date: 2nd May 2015
Time: 2:00PM
Location : 53A,Lebuh Acheh,Georgetown,P.Pinang
Interviewed Person:
Job Position: Cashier /Manager
Office Phone Number: 04263 0019
Email Address:
sondadbarber@gmail.com

1) When was the business founded?
In year 2004
2) Who are the key founders?
Elyas Yunoos
3) What prompted the founders to start this business?
Family Business
4) What are your main products?
Haircut and shaving
5) Who are your customers?
Young Adults
6) What is the business’ annual revenue figure?
Not Mention
7) How many branch offices/stores do you have (if applicable)?
30

1
8) Can you provide us a brief history of your business and its most recent
developments?
Moved from (old address)
9) Do you have many competitors? Who are they? Who are your top 3
competitors?
New Light Hair Dressing Salon/Hun Hoe Barber/ Snob Hair Dressing

10) Is the business constantly facing strong competition from other
competitors? What strategies have they used to compete with you?

Shifting shop location to a more expose place

11) How much capital is required to start this business? What, if any,
specialized field of knowledge do you need to run this business?
(N0 Mention)In Georgetown they are the only one unique barber shop
.They making contact with other barber shop in KL.
12) Generally, do you feel it is easy or hard to enter this market? Why?

Hard , bad market in hair saloon and changed into barbershop
31

Business 2 : Garage Barber Shop
Date: 20th May 2015
Time: 8:00PM
Interviewed Person: Muhammad Firdaus a.k.a Jay
Job Position: Founder
Office Phone Number :
0176337576
Email Address:
info@garagebarbershop.com

1) When was the business founded?
In year 2002
2) Who are the key founders?

Muhammad Firdaus a.k.a Jay

3) What prompted the founders to start this business?
His Passion
4) What are your main products?

Haircut and shaving

5) Who are your customers?

Male and age between 25 and 35 male.

6) What is the business’ annual revenue figure?

(Not mention due to privacy)

7) How many branch offices/stores do you have (if applicable)?
Two
                32

8) Can you provide us a brief history of your business and its most recent
developments?
The business is named as Garage Barber Shop as it was started at a garage
shop and
establishment of this shop as a new branch in Kota Damansara is
the recent development

9) Do you have many competitors? Who are they? Who are your top 3
competitors?

Joe’s Barber /ShopShino Barbershop/Anas Barber Shop

10) Is the business constantly facing strong competition from other
competitors? What strategies have they used to compete with you?
Serves their customers well, being polite and friendly
11) How much capital is required to start this business? What, if any,
specialized field of knowledge do you need to run this business?
(Not Mention). good experience in cutting and get along with other barber
shop
12) Generally, do you feel it is easy or hard to enter this market? Why?
Is hard if you are inexperienced
33

MINUTES OF THE MEETING
Meeting 1
DATE: 14 April 2015 Tuesday
TIME: 2:00PM
VENUE: Block E Level 8
NAMES OF GROUP
MEMBERS
TUTORIAL
GROUP
ROLE
Pe Zhi Yong Friday
12pm-2pm
Researching
Interviewers
Ignatius Jee Friday
12pm-2pm
Requesting
Interview
Vincent Foong Friday
12pm-2pm
Requesting
Interview
Yong Man Kit Friday
12pm-2pm
Researching
Interviewers
Erica Chin Friday
12pm-2pm
Researching
Interviewers
34

NO. ACTIVITY ACTION TAKEN BY
1. Selecting
Industry
Finding Bakery
2. Collect
contact no.
Calling and Requesting Interview
3. Calling
and Email
Failed to accept for interviews
4. Changing
Industry
Researching Barber Industry
(approved interview from son & dad)
35

MINUTES OF THE MEETING
Meeting 2
DATE: 19 May 2015
TIME: 3:00PM
VENUE: Open Spaces Level 2
NAMES OF GROUP
MEMBERS
TUTORIAL
GROUP
ROLE
Pe Zhi Yong Friday
12pm-2pm
Requesting
Interviews,Planning
Report
Ignatius Jee Friday
12pm-2pm
Prepare script for
interviewing
Vincent Foong Friday
12pm-2pm
Making Video
Yong Man Kit Friday
12pm-2pm
Planning Report
Erica Chin Friday
12pm-2pm
Planning Report
36

NO. ACTIVITY ACTION TAKEN BY
1. Requesting
Interviewing
Emailing and whatsapp to the manager
(approved by Garage Barber Shop)
2. Prepare
Script
Print and discuss the question for
interviewing
3. Video
Progression
Discuss the video description
4. Planning
the report
create a google docs
37

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