Queuing Models: A Tool For Assessing The Profitability Of Barbing Salon Business In Agbor Town Of Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study considered small scale business as an option in reducing the unemployment rate in our society. The study uses queuing models to assess the profitability of barbing salon business in Agbor town of Delta State. The result of the study indicates that the distribution of inter-arrival times, service times, and waiting times are invariant with respect to the time of the day. It was observed that the barbers are idle for 40 percent of the total time. The customer was expected to spend 30 minutes in the system with waiting time and service time of 18 minutes and 12 minutes respectively. The shop opens for 12 hours daily for business with 36 and 10,368 customers demanding for services daily and annually respectively. The business made an annual net profit of N837, 881 with opening capital of N15,100. This indicates 555% rate of return on the capital employed. It was concluded that the business is very profitable and has a solvency/liquidity ratio of 7:1. It was therefore recommended that unemployed youths should avail themselves of the opportunity of low capital requirement to get something doing.

Keywords: queuing model, arrival time, service time, unemployment, barbing salon queuing behaviour, profitability, customer

Journal of the Nigerian Association of Mathematical Physics, Volume 20 (March, 2012), pp 477 – 484