The students of Quinnipiac University have few options when it comes to barber shops. A quick google search shows only two are a short drive away from its main campus. However, for many students, even that is too inconvenient. Cameron Burbank, an entrepreneurship and small business management major at Quinnipiac University, decided to bring the barbershop to them.

Burbank’s Mobile Barbershop officially opened in October of 2017, starting at Quinnipiac and with goals of eventually expanding into the New Haven and Hartford areas. “There was an existing problem,” Burbank said inside of the shop- which operates in a renovated trailer that Burbank refurbished himself. Customers enter the barbershop like any other, but the difference is that it is frequently parked just outside of their dorms.

The inside of the shop has a “lived in,” atmosphere. With Cameron’s experience of working on cars and wood inside of his garage, it remains professional, despite a laid back feeling. The garage door should be sturdy and safe, The Chicago Garage Door doing spring repairs can help with that. Students often come to the store just to hang out on the couch or talk to Cameron himself- whose office is just up two steps and in full view of the rest of the shop.

They work with the health departments of each school to negotiate terms for their involvement in student life. While each school tends to have their separate rules and regulations, Burbank hopes to start a circuit through the various college campuses of Connecticut by opening two or three more trailers, following the success the business has seen since opening in October

As of right now, Burbank Mobile Barbershop only has a single barber, Joey Barracko, who has twenty years of experience. Previously, Barracko owned and operated his own barbershop for fourteen years.

“[Burbank’s] a stickler for quality, if nothing else,” customer Sean Baur said.Courtesy of Cameron Burbank

Barracko had been working at a Major League Cuts in the New Haven area when he saw a work-ad for Burbank’s Mobile Barbershop. While he was cautious, he applied because “Start-ups are hard… but if it takes off it’ll be big.” The idea of a mobile barbershop wasn’t new to him either, “Everyone thinks about it, but nobody does it.”

With the mobility of the business,, advertising is the easiest part. The store’s title is painted solidly on the side of the trailer and when in operation, frequently in a parking lot, it towers over the majority of its surroundings. Still, Burbank reports that his biggest help is his customers. “We get eight or nine people in here, they leave and tell four or five of their friends and so on, and that’s pretty good math.”

To other students who might have goals of starting up their own business, Burbank suggests “find a problem that you’re passionate about, who cares if it’s easy when you’re passionate about it.”