When the Shop Gets Busy, Keeping Track of Who’s Next Shouldn’t Fall on Memory

Jose Ortiz built Men Styles Barbershop the way most barbershops are built—on hard work, pride, and taking care of whoever walks through the door.

But behind the chair, when things got busy, keeping everything moving smoothly wasn’t always easy.

For years, that meant figuring it out as he went. It worked—until the shop filled up, and everything started to rely on one thing: memory.

Who came in first? Who said they’d be right back? Who was waiting… and who thought they were next?

A paper list helped—but only a little, especially when two people thought they were next, and there was nothing to point to—just a conversation you had to manage in the moment. 

And that usually happened when everything else was happening too. 

The phone ringing, people walking in, someone asking how long, someone else already waiting—all at once.

There was no real way for customers to see what was going on before they showed up. No website. No way to check the wait. No clear path to get in line unless they called or just walked in and hoped for the best.

So everything landed at the counter, in real time.

The shift didn’t start with a plan. It started with a conversation.

After a haircut and a quick back-and-forth about how the shop was running, something clicked.

"When you told me people can see the waitlist from their phones—even from the shower—and I was like, 'I gotta have that.' "

That idea stuck, not because it sounded technical—but because it solved the exact moment that kept breaking.

Let people see what’s going on before they walk in and take the pressure off the seconds where everything stacks up.

When EnRoute was set up, it didn’t take much. A tablet in the shop. A simple website customers could use. That was it.

But almost immediately, something felt different. It looked more put together.

More importantly, it felt more solid.

Customers could see what to expect before they walked in. The team didn’t have to explain everything on the fly, and because everyone was part of it, they bought in quickly.

Over the next few weeks, the pressure started to ease. People began joining the waitlist — some right there in the shop, others before they even arrived.

The phone didn’t ring as much. There were fewer interruptions and fewer moments of trying to juggle everything at once.

Customers walked in already knowing where they stood, and instead of managing the line, the team could focus on the person in the chair. "Every day we have 1 to 2 people giving compliments about the system." 

Clients love it—they say, ‘This is fire.’ They feel like they’re going to be taken care of. It’s professional."

Even the small things changed, like calling someone by name instead of just saying “next,” knowing who’s coming in before they walk through the door, and not having to guess anymore.

And then something else started happening.

People who never would’ve called in the first place started showing up. They found the shop on Google, saw how it worked, and joined the list without asking anyone anything. "There’s people that don’t like to call. They found us on Google and joined the list right from the website. I was so happy that day."

Before, that demand just… never showed up at all.

Now it had a way in.

Jose doesn’t overthink what he’d tell another barber. "Don’t think too much—go ahead and do it. You’re wasting time like I did. This is one of the best investments I’ve made in my business."

Because for him, it wasn’t about adding something new.

It was about not having to keep everything in his head anymore.

You don’t need to run your shop off memory to keep things moving.
There’s a better way to handle the rush—without the stress that comes with it.