Barber Jimmy Bedson, 33, has just opened his dream business and wants to thank family, friends and former clients for their overwhelming support.

"My father's nickname is Crooked Pete, because his moral compass points true north. He is the perfect picture of a man," Mr Bedson said.

"He'll be the one holding a door as a courtesy and I've tried to model myself on my father but sometimes found it a bit difficult.

"An everyday gentleman has a few quirks. He's the bloke with a few tatts (tattoos), but he could be pushing a pram looking lovingly at his child.

"He has a couple of faults but he's a scallywag not a scumbag. That's the people I find myself associating with and I want to be around those people."

Mr Bedson and his partner Meg are raising a young child but he's been keen to open a shop and COVID has allowed him to pursue that dream.

"We've had a massive amount of online booking in our first week. It's been incredible," he said.

"People are gravitating towards that easy-to-use booking system. We have a lot of shift workers, first responders and people can jump online at any time, pick their service and barber and book in."

Mr Bedson said he was surprised by the number of people prepared to support him in his endeavours.

"It's a big part of why I love Warrnambool," he said.

"I can cut hair but setting up a business and shop was something completely new and it's only happened because of the support of people, those who were prepared to be in my corner.

"I'm very thankful to all those people. It's been fantastic and a bit overwhelming."

Mr Bedson is originally from Melbourne but moved to Warrnambool eight years ago and has worked as a barber here.

He lost his job in March last year due to COVID and his partner's income was also restricted due to the pandemic but JobSeeker and JobKeeper allowances made it possible to learn about business planning, budgets, cashflow, project management and due diligence around opening a new business in Warrnambool.

He fell in love with the old butcher shop at 177 Fairy Street, modified the entrance to provide access to people with disabilities and pulled out the 100-odd year-old cool room to make way for a disability toilet.

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