Fresh Cuts, Fresh Starts: Toms Men’s Haircuts Grows with TEDC Support

Table of Contents:
An Unlikely Journey into Business
Exploring Business Concepts and Facing Opposition
The Ups and Downs of a Business Partnership
Life Offers a Reboot That’s Worth the Wait
Preparing for Expansion with Flexible Financing
A Customer-Focused Future

Justin Moore, the visionary behind Toms Men’s Haircuts, is thriving now. Like many entrepreneurs, he has experienced ups and downs, shifted plans, and gone through hard times—including saying goodbye to a prior business he had worked hard to create, and hello to a successful new business. It’s been a journey, but one he’s glad he took, with financing from TEDC Creative Capital.

An Unlikely Journey into Business

Justin has always had a drive toward entrepreneurship, something he inherited from his father and great-grandfather. During his college years, he studied business and played baseball, first at Oral Roberts University, then in Kentucky. He played semi-pro for a while, but when he grew tired of the travel, he looked for other opportunities.

At the time, he was dating a successful cosmetologist, and he thought that the industry could offer an opportunity to launch his own business. Soon, he earned a cosmetology license and cared for women’s hair in Kentucky to gain a full understanding of the field. “I wanted to understand the skill and the craft of it because I wanted to own a shop,” he says.

Eventually, he returned to Oklahoma and pursued a career in coaching baseball. But all the while, he had in the back of his mind a desire to launch a business. Through his travels, Justin had discovered grooming shops for men that were a hybrid of old-school barber shops and the salon-spa experience.

These places were popular elsewhere, but they hadn’t made their way to Tulsa yet. There was a clear gap in the market, and Justin wanted to fill it.

Exploring Business Concepts and Facing Opposition

“I had a concept in mind and decided I wanted to launch something here,” Justin says. Since he had never started a business before, he felt he needed guidance as well as funding, so he approached someone he knew with business experience for a possible partnership.

“I told him my idea, and he completely shot it down at first,” he says.

Discussing his idea and seeking investors immediately didn’t work. “I hit a brick wall,” he says. So, he went back to square one and thought about what was happening. After a while, he realized that the hangup with his potential investor came from a lack of clarity around how his concept would work for men.

“I realized that his experience wasn’t something that I’d experienced,” Justin says. “I’d experienced something that was therapeutic. It was relaxing. The conversation I had with my stylist was uplifting. His experience was a waiting room with plastic chairs. The music’s off. And the person doing his hair is complaining about their life. I went inward and said, ‘Well, my communication could be a bit different.’ And so I gave him the experience instead of telling him about it.”

The Ups and Downs of a Business Partnership

Justin created for his potential investor the indulgent haircare experience he wanted to offer customers in his shop—the scalp massage, the moisturizer during the shave, the aromatherapy, and the pampering that leveled up a men’s cut and shave. It won the investor over. Justin took the research he’d gathered over two years and launched his first venture.

In three years, he and his business partners had three shops in Tulsa, and the business was thriving. “It was a lot of growth,” he says. “We had probably 50 employees, and we even started franchising.”

Things were looking good, but behind the scenes, some cracks started to emerge. There were conflicts among his business partners. Justin wasn’t able to buy out everyone and take full ownership of the shops, so he opted to step out instead. He moved to Florida, and eventually, his partners bought out his share of the business. The experience was painful, but he learned a lot.

“Some people might say, ‘With the knowledge I have now, maybe I would have done something different.’ But I don’t like to live that way because the things I’ve experienced have gotten me where I am today,” Justin says. “I can’t change those things in my past, but let’s learn from them, and let’s do different.”

Life Offers a Reboot That’s Worth the Wait

When COVID arose, Justin moved back to Tulsa, ready to get back into business. But he had to wait because he’d signed a two-year noncompete agreement. The waiting was tough, but he used the time to craft his new service and product line concepts. “It really aided me,” he says.

With a fresh mindset and inspiration to guide him, Justin fine-tuned the concept for his new men’s grooming shop, Toms, which stands for The Original Man. He took what he’d learned from his previous shops to build in more work-life balance.

“I wanted to build something that didn’t consume me,” he says. “I have a family now. I have kids. I didn’t want to continue to work 80 hours a week and be away from them.”

In 2023, after his non-compete agreement expired, Justin launched his first Toms location in midtown Tulsa, structuring the business to prioritize his staff and their families. “That one change right there was huge,” he says. “No one wants to work at a place where they aren’t valued and appreciated.”

Preparing for Expansion with Flexible Financing

Since 2023, Toms Men’s Haircuts has seen steady growth. Justin expanded into a second location in South Tulsa earlier this year. Around the same time, he connected with the team at TEDC Creative Capital and secured funding to support marketing, expansion, and operations.

Working with TEDC was straightforward, something that Justin appreciated. “I actually had never done a loan before, so the process was brand new,” he says. “The team was great. They were always available.” He also appreciated that TEDC was able to offer funding that was flexible enough to fit his needs. He appreciated being able to collaborate with a local and community-connected financial organization.

With TEDC’s funding, Justin has been able to expand his marketing efforts. “We’re heavily invested into marketing. That’s where the entrepreneur side of it comes in,” Justin says. “It’s not just, ‘open shop and forget it.’ You know, we’re very intentional. We’re very strategic in getting our word out there.”

A Customer-Focused Future

The funding has made it possible to expand the team, allowing more customers to be served. “We’ve been open in South Tulsa for just over three months, and our growth has been amazing,” Justin says. “We are putting up better numbers than our first shop in the first year.” With both Toms shops doing well, Justin’s next goal is to continue expansion.

For fellow entrepreneurs, Justin offers this advice: “Be open to all things, because once we are open to something, it allows something to come in. Surround yourself with people in your industry. And don’t be afraid to fail and mess up.”

As he tells his staff, ultimately, business is all about the people you serve. “The three things we need to do is trust, confidence, and professionalism,” he says. “We cut hair, but let’s be real, we’re actually in the customer service business.” And that commitment to customers is what is carrying Toms Men’s Haircuts into the future.

TEDC Creative Capital provides a wide range of flexible, nontraditional funding options for small businesses, startups, and entrepreneurial projects. From microloans to commercial building loans and more, TEDC is here to help you find the right approach for your goals. Power your business forward with TEDC’s flexible lending options and entrepreneurial development programs designed to fuel your growth.