Case Study 00 · The founder's own chair

A barber chair that runs itself.

Before Handled existed, Christian built every automation we sell — for his own shop. This is what he built, what it cost, and what it changed.

12h → 40m
admin / week
-80%
no-shows
+3×
google reviews
100%
chair utilization
// the story

I was running two jobs inside one.

The chair in Royal Palm. That's the job I wanted. But I was also the receptionist, the reminder-sender, the invoice chaser, the review asker, and the phone-picker-upper. Twelve hours a week, easy. Most weeks more.

I told myself this was "business." It wasn't. It was me paying myself $40/hour to do work a system could do in seconds.

// THE WEEK BEFORE AUTOMATION

So I built the stack.

Same thing we now build for clients at Handled. It took me 14 days of evenings. Here's what went live:

01

AI Booking Agent

Unified across IG, WhatsApp, web. Answers "you got 2pm?" in under 60 seconds. Knows services, prices, walk-in policy, availability. Books directly, sends confirmations.

Stack: Claude · Twilio · Google Cal
02

Smart Reminder + Deposit Flow

24 hours before: reminder + deposit prompt. 2 hours before: confirmation ping. If they hit "can't make it," auto-rescheduler fires. No-shows collapsed from ~18% to ~3%.

Stack: Twilio · Stripe · n8n
03

Review + Rebook Engine

24 hours post-service, auto-text with direct Google Review link. 14 days later, auto-rebook ask. Review rate went from 1-2/month to 12-18/month.

Stack: Twilio · Google Business
04

Owner's Dashboard (the 7am text)

Every morning at 7am, my phone buzzes with: yesterday's revenue, today's schedule, week-over-week change. I open my eyes knowing my numbers before I open my shop.

Stack: Sheets · Make · Twilio

14 days later.

Admin time went from 12 hours a week to 40 minutes. My chair has been booked every single week since. I haven't answered a booking DM in six months.

Three people saw what I built and asked me to do it for them. Then it was ten. That's when Handled started.

Every build we do for a client is a variation on what you just read. Same philosophy, same stack logic — just tuned to their business and their voice.

— Christian

// total cost to run this system
Claude API
~$15/mo
Twilio SMS
~$25/mo
n8n self-hosted
~$8/mo
Make.com
~$9/mo
Monthly cost of running the whole system:
~$57/mo
Monthly value of the time saved:
~$3,500/mo

Want yours built?

The same playbook that rebuilt my shop. Tuned to yours in 14 days.

Start my $497 Game Plan → Book a free call first
💵 Refund if we can't find $10K/yr in savings on your call