An “apron” that looks like a Doraemon’s pocket
In the view of the necessity of reducing business hours, and enhancing labor productivity without the use of assistants, I came up with the idea of making an apron with many pockets, as it would be convenient to insert various items in front of the body.
By not using a wagon, it doesn’t interfere with the customer, the hairdresser working on it can wind it faster, and the clients have a shorter waiting time.
I also thought my work would be a lot easier if I could attach the paper and rubber band to the apron as well, so I got to work on the prototype right away.
First of all, I asked my auntie to make a prototype.
I tried making samples of different shapes to see how we can take the rubber bands one by one without dropping them off, and so forth.
It took a lot of effort to make the rubber band hooking part, but after repeated improvements, it took us about two years to make it into a finished product. The completed apron is named “WORK Apron,” and it continues to support the work of hairdressers secretly to this day.
The “Perm rod case” that rods are standing
I was very shocked to know that some of my employees don’t want to wear a “WORK Apron” because it’s not cool looking…!
I thought to myself, “Think about our clients that have to stay in an uncomfortable outfit while we are winding rods around them…”,
but then I thought of a different way to get my employees to feel happy about their work, so I started making an another version of the prototype!
I got to the sponge by using the wide rubber to hold the rod up and pinch it between the wide rubbers.
I’ve been working with a lot of manufacturers in the past, so it wasn’t hard to find a manufacturer that would take care of the sponge processing for me.
I wanted to make the container inexpensively, so I went to Daiso (a 100 yen shop) and attached a magnet to the container to make it into a product.
However, this time an outside hairdresser pointed out that the container looked tacky, so we created a plastic molded container. There are always times when I get complaints in unexpected settings and I get discouraged, but still I do my best because I know that if I don’t continue to improve, the hair salon won’t get better.
Practice everywhere! Practice at all time! “PORICA at everywhere.”
“No practice, no growth” – that’s what I believe.
So I made small practice equipment with only one ball-pin attached instead of a doll with 39 ball-pins sticking out of its head so that you can practice a bit on your days off or when you get home early.
It has a magnet on the back, so you can put and take it off anywhere there is an iron.
You can practice a bit using your fridge or even on the table legs. …But nobody took the product… I guess the young ones don’t want to go home to practice…
“Why don’t you practice more?” that’s what I feel these days.
You know that our clients are counting on us!
The “Flat PORICA”, a practice device that looks like a Ping-Pong racket
To move from “a little practice” to “more practice”,
I invented a practice device with the training head cut into a round slice and nine ball-pins attached to it.
I made a racket-like practice device in the hope that it will help you learn how to work with your body, how to move your feet, how to cut, and how to wrap the hair around the rod, and that it will help you develop your imagination. If the youngsters grow up to meet the expectations of you, the hair salon owner, you can trust them for clients hair care with confidence.
Clients would rather sit in front of the mirror with room in their hearts instead of sitting there anxiously.
Young ones, do your best to live up to your clients’ expectations.
