The month of March is reserved for the sistas at Dream and Hustle. Now, this March I want to focus on two business models for the sistas and the focus isn’t just the business model, it will be the technology and the moves you sistas have to make here. The problem with many people who come to this blog think there is some “code-in-a-box” I supposed to provide them where they can just copy and paste and create a business. No, what I’ve been trying to do here is show there is skills and disciplines and techniques and once you master these techniques then you can go out and do whatever you have to do.
Now, here is rub – the two business models I’m presenting is not new, these are the same basic concepts I talked about on Dream and Hustle for several years but the thing is once you have a foundation skill, you can create new business models left and right and run them. This is where I want to get sistas at with technology and STEM – I don’t want to teach sistas to code, I want sistas to know the foundations so they can keep inventing new technology solutions. So let’s get into the two business models we will discuss all this March.
QR-Enabled Micro-Mall Shop
Dream and Hustle talked over and over since 2009 about micro-malls and cube shops that have since grown throughout Asian countries. We are about to present a case study example. In 2011, an advertising agency has a creative idea to promote a brand of nail paint and decided to rent one of the small cubes in a micro-mall cube shop. They had a small diorama created that resembled an art gallery and showcased nails with the paint in several variations. Please study closely all the material below sistas:
As you read, over 20,000 QR code scans from this campaign and it won various awards in Asia because this was a very low-budget and powerful marketing technique. I had long advocated bringing this micro-mall concept to the hood but what I also advocated was the use of diorama that is interactive versus just putting a stock of items in a cube space. You should be able to scan the QR code yourself on the image above to see what the web site look like.
Now, guess what me and you sistas going to do in March? We are going to build the world smallest hair weave store that can fit in a micro-cube and then there will be a special surprise for one sista when we finish. We are going to build out a diorama, use sample hair for the gallery and we going to create an a web site where people who scan can take orders and learn more. I have an additional bonus that I will reveal. I have already gathered the materials which will be foam board, a color printer, hair samples and I bought some LED lights that they sell for the poster board for your kid school project at Wal-Mart and I will cover that later.
Peer-to-Peer Hair Stylists
You sistas are familiar with Uber and Lfyt where you use an app to get a ride from point A to point B? These are really intermediary applications designed to enable peer-to-peer transactions. Think of airBnB where this is an intermediary that allow people to rent a space for a person to stay the night instead of pay for a hotel. These business models are pretty disruptive and I have learned that Black women are a big users of these types of services. So guess what kind of intermediary application me and you sistas are going to make this March?
You guess right – we are going to create a peer-to-peer hair stylist business that allow women or men to offer hair stylist service and allow women to find the nearest stylist using their mobile phone. We are going to use location-based services to track both the client and the hairstylist and track when the client arrive and when the client leave and the purpose is for scheduling and availability. Now, the Black hair salons ain’t going to like me and you for doing this app and claim we trying to put them out of business. And our response is going to be go sit with the taxicab cats and the hotel industry folks and whine right along with them about these disruptive intermediary services app and get over it.
Please Think Global, My Sista
These two business models are not designed for just the American market and you sistas can take them anywhere if you think about it. If a sista fly to Shanghai, she may see on her mobile phone a Nigerian sista who can braid her hair real quickly. You can setup a space in a cube store in Singapore or Hong Kong to sell hair or even eye lashes to Asian women customers – actually that is the surprise – the 3rd Strategic Institute, the Asian crew will pay for a sista to host her micro-cube store in Asia if she does this right and we will release details later.
Africa is a big market for these business models, South London and Paris and Brussels is a big market for these business models also. Places like Brazil and other emerging nations can use both of these business models and they got millions of potential customers. So don’t limit yourself my sistas to thinking this is an America thing and you sistas got to think worldwide and your market growth.
Also and this is important, stop trying to be all solo, see if you can work with other sistas on these projects and just collectively learn. The more sistas come here and tell me they interested, the more I’m going to put out information. I write up articles and there are no comments, then I get bored and then I start writing up articles on other non-business things like how cats likes to stare at you behind your back all the time. Or I give the micro-mall cube business model to my Asian girlfriend and let her get her money up. So real talk, it’s up to you sistas if you want March 2014 to be a nice month where you sistas can roll with this true pro on how to create next generation business models for sistas to do for self and gets what’s hers up in this world.