Life lessons from the founders of award-winning grooming brand Harry’s .

Business is a lot like shaving: preparation is everything, the ultimate objective is for things to run as smoothly as possible and both ventures require calm and patience. Few people understand these similarities more than Messrs Andy Katz-Mayfield and Mr Jeff Raider, founders of award-winning grooming brand Harry’s.

Childhood friends as well as business partners, the two men set up the New York-based shaving company in 2013 after Mr Katz-Mayfield had one of those lightbulb moments while buying some razors. “After waiting for 10 minutes in a drugstore for someone to unlock the case where the razors were kept, I finally bought a four-pack of blades and some shaving cream. It was a pretty frustrating purchase experience and at the end, I walked out with a bunch of shaving products that were over-priced, over-designed and branded in a way that didn’t really resonate with me,” he explains. “The next day, I called Jeff to see whether we could create a better experience.”

The result was Harry’s – a grooming brand whose fair pricing, clean design and commitment to social good (the company gives 1 per cent of its sales to charitable organizations, specifically in men’s mental health) has led it to becoming one of the most interesting and dynamic shaving brands in the world, and one widely praised for disrupting the existing razor-blade world order.

The success of the brand is the result of careful hard work and considered strategic planning, but, fittingly, given the nature of their business, also on a few lessons learnt from the daily shave itself. “Shaving certainly requires some precision and care, and we definitely try to apply those traits to the business,” says Mr Katz-Mayfield. Being precise, however, is just one of the lessons budding businessman can learn from shaving…

No shave will go smoothly without adequate preparation and it’s the same when raising capital for your business. “Before talking to investors, prepare by coming up with a bunch of scenarios in which things don’t go exactly as planned and how those scenarios will impact the amount of money you’ll <actually> need,” says Mr Raider. “For example, what if your business grows twice as quickly as forecast – something that actually happened to us? Knowing that you’re prepared with an extra cushion can bring you peace of mind in less than ideal scenarios.”

Emails, spreadsheets and Word docs might be the 21st century’s go-to business tools, but in the same way the traditional wet razor still delivers the smoothest shave, the pen is mightier than the keyboard when it comes to laying down ideas. “It’s really helpful to write your ideas down on paper when creating your business plan,” says Mr Raider. “It helps you to build your story and figure out how all of your ideas fit together and what you might be missing in a way that writing things down on a laptop somehow can’t.”

Five blades are better than one when it comes to de-fuzzing your chin, and, similarly, having extra support from a partner can help the smooth running of your business. “Having a co-founder isn’t for everyone, but is a huge asset when the two of you have a great relationship and complementary skills, which Andy and I do,” says Mr Raider. “In the early days, it meant we could divide and conquer different areas of the business.” Two heads also offer two perspectives. “Jeff might approach a problem from an entirely different angle than I would, which is what makes him such a valuable thought partner to me,” says Mr Katz-Mayfield. “We push one another - and the rest of our team – to ‘mine for conflict’ in discussions to shed light on alternate views to ensure we’re making thoughtful decisions after having weighed all the possibilities.”

According to Mr Raider, establishing the right work/life balance from the outset isn’t just beneficial for your wellbeing – it can actually improve your business, too. “Exercise has been an especially important outlet for me,” he says. “I work out a few times a week before heading into the office, and as well as giving me more energy, I find that I’m more focused and creative on those days, too. I also find it incredibly helpful to just play with my kids and be present at home. It helps me to re-centre when I get back into work mode.” The lesson? Balance is as important in business as it is in a razor handle.

At its heart, the daily shave should be a simple, straight-forward activity: there’s no need to make it more complicate than is absolutely necessary. According to Mr Katz-Mayfield, your approach to business should be the same. “Part of Harry’s success is due to the fact that we stay focused on what we do really well,” he says. “It’s better to do three things incredibly well than a hundred things not so well, which is why, rather than selling 12 different shave gels – which we certainly could have done – we chose to sell the only shave gel you’ll ever need.”