How a Mozambican barber turned home haircuts into a fashion trend and won over Catamo, Mandlava and more

With the Covid-19 pandemic, he quickly adapted and began offering home haircuts, a phase that would prove decisive in building his client base and launching his business. “Difficulties create good businesses. So, I had already started in the field and began doing home haircuts because of Covid, because people no longer went to the barbershop and so on.

So I created this way of working, which has remained effective to this day,” he recalls. During that period, Filipe travelled with a professional case equipped with clippers, scissors, combs and accessories, ensuring the service could continue outside a physical premises. In 2021, with an established client base, he opened his own barbershop in Malhampsene, Matola, with an initial investment of €275, which he spent on a chair, a mirror and a hair clipper.

Today, the dream has become a workplace for several young people. The Don Felipe team consists of four professionals and the business model combines services at the barbershop with home visits, particularly for clients with busy schedules, including athletes and public figures, such as players from the Mozambique national football team. “The players from the national football team made all the difference for me,” Filipe says, adding that he also serves other Mozambican athletes playing abroad.

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The presence of Geny Catamo, a star of the Mozambique national team and Sporting forward, while on holiday in Mozambique, had an immediate impact, bringing an increase in followers, more requests for home appointments and greater customer traffic. The brand’s growth gained another dimension with the arrival of other internationals, such as Reinildo Mandava, who currently plays for Sunderland in England, whose international profile further increased the barbershop’s visibility.

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