How would you go about this market sizing question: 'How many barbershops/hairdressers are there in the UK?'

Hi there,

Sorry to be so blunt, but you already failed at step 2.

Remember, market sizing isn't about coming to the exact right answer insomuch as it's about assessing your ability to have structured thinking and ability to think reasonably. You didn't do this :/

Wrong approach - You cannot just randomly guess what % of your total pop is hairdressers in order to figure out how many hairdressers are in the UK. This is not breaking down a problem into logical segments in order to make more reasonable assumptions. You literally just said "ah, maybe x% multiplied by the total population!"...that's not strategic thinking...sorry!

Ok, so, how to we fix this? Well, we have to look at what ways I can break this down into more reasonable steps/assumptions!

So, let's thinking about:

1. # of people in the UK
2. # of haircuts per person per year
   1. Think monthly
   2. Break down population into reasonable segments that affect frequency of haircuts
3. Throughput of an average barbershop/hairdresser
   1. Think hourly and expand out
4. Calculate # of shops needed (by # of haricuts and throughput)

And viola! Much more reasonable to make these kinds of assumptions!

Hope this helps, but feel free to message with any questions!

Hello!

Like the approach!

You can also think it by population who needs a haircut, extrapolating by the number of barbrshops you konw there are in an area, etc.

However, yours works
​Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi,

I would rather go with demand:

1. Population (men, women, age split)
2. Frequency of haircuts by group
3. Average capacity and occupancy of a barbershop
4. Number of barbershops by dividing total demand and supply of one barbershop (adjusted by av occupancy)

Best

Hey,

I think good first attempt. But there are some weaknesses in your approach:

1. Why 1% are hair dressers- how do you back that assumption?
2. Think about men or women's salon/hair dressers/barber
3. Think about hours of operations, number of people getting services in a day etc

Have a look at these threads for a similar question & solution:

• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-many-hair-salons-in-new-york-1795
• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/market-size-5281

Hi there,

Interesting question! Thank you for sharing.

I agree that it makes more sense to build your reasoning starting with the demand.

Don't forget that haircut is not the only reason people go to hairdressers.

Was it helpful?

GB