I built a free directory of hair system specialists – 52 salons vetted, launched today
I wear a hair system. Finding a good specialist has always been a nightmare.
Not because there aren't good ones out there - but because they're impossible to discover. Google returns random salons that "also do" hair systems. Forums are hit or miss. Word of mouth doesn't scale.
So I spent the last week building HairSystemFinder.com - a free directory of vetted hair system specialists across 5 US cities (NYC, LA, Houston, Dallas, Chicago). 52 salons, no ads, no paid placements.
How I built it:
- Claude + Cursor for code (zero hand-written code)
- Next.js SSG + Railway for deployment
- Google Places API for salon data
- Built in ~2.5 days, launched today
Current state:
- 52 vetted specialists live
- Each listing has phone, address, hours, rating
- "Claim your listing" flow for salon owners
- Free forever for users
What I'm trying to figure out:
- Best way to get the first 5-10 salons to actually claim their listings
- Whether to add a paid tier for salons (featured placement, booking link, etc.)
- How to expand beyond 5 cities without manual vetting
Would love brutal feedback, especially from anyone who's been on either side of this - wearer or specialist.
