One of the most popular businesses in the world is a barbershop business. So, we are not surprised that you are asking how to start a barbershop business. This industry never runs out of clients, making it lucrative.
However, it is essential to understand that starting is not easy, especially when you want a successful business.
Here, we will talk about the barbershop business in detail, giving you an insight into the business first.
After that, we will move on to talk about the good side and the bad side of the business in general.
Ultimately, we only want you to go into this business if it is the right one for you.
Going into the business because you have seen many other people succeed is not enough.
Starting is hard; once it is not the right fit for you, it makes it hard for you to cope.
The Industry – How to Start a Barbershop Business
The goal is to find out how to start a barbershop business, but what if it is not the right fit for us?
There are so many things about this industry that will interest you, and some won’t.
The very first thing to note here is that if you want success, this has to be a full-time job for you.
So, if you are looking for a side hustle to add some extra income, this might not be the one for you.
The industry keeps growing in finances and the people – the data is here for you to see.
How to Start a Barbershop Business – Advantages
As we said, there are good sides to the barbershop business; also, there are bad sides.
For it to be a good business venture, the good sides of the business should outweigh the bad side.
Once you have achieved this, you can go ahead with starting your business.
When it comes to a barbershop business, some advantages will include the following;
- The barbershop business is one of the best businesses to build a healthy network.
- Customer loyalty is very high, so you won’t spend much on customer retention.
- The flow of customers is unending, which helps with a steady income.
- It is a simple business.
How to Start a Barbershop Business – Disadvantages
Now we have an understanding of the good side of things; we have to balance it out with the bad.
Understanding the bad side helps you prepare for these things when they come.
The disadvantages are not much, but they include the following;
- Because of the number of people in the industry, the competition here is high.
- Proper marketing is needed for customer attainment, which increases startup costs.
- Building a successful barbershop business requires a lot of patience.
- There is a risk of accidents on the job as you work with sharp objects.
- It is a skilled profession.
Considering all of these downsides, do you still think starting a barbershop business is right for you?
Fortunately, these downsides are overcomeable with a little planning and strategizing.
So, if you’re down for it, here’s how to start a barbershop business.
How to start a Barbershop Business – 8 Basic Steps
Now, we understand a bit about the industry and have an insight into the good and the bad.
The next step is to know what we need to do to start this business today.
We have done extensive research and heard from many successful barbers during this time.
Combining the theory with the practical, we have these eight steps to help you start your barbershop.
They include;
1. Background Research on the Business/Industry
The first thing you should consider is to research the industry, as this shows the best way to enter things.
During this research, you should also take your environment and how it relates to the business into consideration.
Spend a lot of time looking at the industry – everything should be considered as long as you want success.
According to research, there has been constant annual revenue growth of 1.5% in this industry from 2016 to 2021.
Furthermore, the worth of the United States barbershop market was also calculated to be around $4.5 billion in 2021.
When you look at the industry and the figures, you will be even more interested in going into this business.
However, this might change when you consider your environment, which is why we say do both.
You have to understand how your environment will see your business when it starts.
For example, starting there might be hard if your neighbourhood already has more than one shop.
You will need to do a lot to get customers to leave their former barber and start cutting with you.
One of the reasons a barber will leave his barber for you will be how close you are to him.
So, if your area has none, the chances of succeeding and converting customers around are high.
2. Work on your Niche and Business Model
There are a lot of sections to it and a lot of services that are offered at the barbershop.
This step aims to look at everything in totality and then decide which you should go into.
Some of the services you might offer in your barbershop business would include;
- Children’s haircut
- Cutting and styling for adult hair
- Facials
- Hair dying
- Beard sculpting and shaves
- Scalp conditioning and massage, etc.
What will be allowed in the barbershop, and what will be prohibited from taking place there?
Now, most times, it is going to be a sole proprietorship business, but you should make sure you are ready.
Being ready means a lot of things – carrying the business financially and having the necessary skill to run it.
However, strategic partnership is also common in the barbershop industry – everybody is your customer in the shop.
Since everybody is your customer, you always need something you might not have available.
Two common partnerships that exist with most barbershop businesses are saloons and hair product, salespeople.
The saloon partnership might also increase your customer base and the saloon owner.
The women bring their husbands to cut their hair with you, and your customers bring their men to the saloon.
Finding out the best partnership to go with will be dependent on the environment you are in and what works.
Regardless of your business model, it is also important that you create a limited liability company for the business.
This way, you get to protect your assets just in case an issue arises with the business.
3. Properly Document Things
Every business survives on documents and planning – there is no way you can do it with just one.
It is important to put everything into writing, regardless of how small and insignificant it might seem.
When you are launching your business, the documents serve as a guide and make the process of starting easy.
You will also have references which allow you to make decisions that help to make the business profitable.
As you are looking at how to start a barbershop business, there are so many documents you will learn about.
Some of them would include the following;
- The business overview will contain things like vision, overview, mission, goals and ownership of the barbershop business.
- A product and services description which elaborates on the services you will offer the general public
- The marketing analysis, which focuses on the market and your business, involves a SWOT analysis.
- A competitive analysis of your competitors shows you their strengths and weaknesses as well as how to overtake them.
- The sales and marketing document talks about things like your unique selling point and marketing strategies.
- Your management or team profile highlights the hierarchy of people you will work with, their roles and their qualifications.
- The operational plan talks about how things will flow when the business starts
- A financial plan that focuses on things like cost, how much you will charge per service, cost, cash flow, etc.
- An executive summary should be made last and will talk about the entire business plan in summary.
With all these documents available, moving forward with things in your barbershop business becomes easy and stress-free.
4. Learn and Get Certifications/Licenses
Barbing is a skilled profession, so you cannot just wake up in the morning to open a barbershop business.
The only way you can do this is if you have a lot of money to employ staff from the beginning of things.
Even if this is the case, having the skill for the sake of having it helps you understand the business better.
So, while you are preparing all the documents that will be needed for your barbershop business – try to learn the skill.
For a skill like barbing, there are schools now in some areas of the United States that teach this.
However, the more traditional way of learning is to work under someone as a barbing apprentice.
Depending on how fast you can grasp things, you will be fully immersed in the knowledge in no time.
However, learning in school these days brings the extra advantage of getting licensed, which is important.
There are a lot of other certifications you might need, depending on what type of business you are trying to run.
The more things you add to the barbing gig, the more you will need in terms of certifications and licensing.
Regardless of this, it is important to have all the certifications and licenses as you will want a smooth business running.
5. Brand Your Business to Stand Out
Branding is one of the keys to a successful business, and it does not even matter the type you are looking at.
So, you must take branding seriously when you are looking at how to start a barbershop business.
There are many steps to this branding, but it starts with getting something as small as a name.
The name of your barbershop is one of the most important aspects of the business for one particular reason.
It is the very first thing a potential customer will see first when they interact with your business.
This is why it is important to be as strategic as possible when you are trying to name your business.
Once you go past the name phase, things like your colours, logo and slogan can come in.
All these are things that customers interact with first before they get to interact with you.
This is why a lot of time and thought should be put into making all these perfect.
We even recommend hiring a professional brand strategist if you feel it might be too much for you.
How you interact with your customers also falls under branding, which should be determined.
For a barbershop business, the usual tone for interaction is usually friendly with the aim of connecting.
You will need to connect with your customers – this is the surest way of building loyalty.
6. Do all the Necessary Registrations
This is a very crucial step if you want a successful business that runs smoothly without any form of interference.
Now how stressful the business registration process is depends on where you are in the country.
There are licenses and permits from national agencies and those that are given by the state and even the local.
The goal is to ensure you have checked all the necessary boxes by getting them ready.
Even if you have plans to expand in the future, it is easy to transfer your business from state to state.
With the business name ready, you should take all the necessary steps to register your business with the authorities.
After which, the professional thing to do is to open bank accounts for the business with your business documents.
Separating business funds from personal funds will help in improving how profit and finances are managed.
Tax registration should be next in line, and this starts with getting your EIN (employer identification number).
The easiest way to do this is to visit the IRS website and fill out the forms they provide to you.
You can also use your social security number as your EIN if you operate a sole proprietorship business.
7. Implement all From the Planning Stage
The next stage is implementation, which entirely takes us to another phase as we try to start a barbershop.
Throughout this conversation about starting a barbershop business, the focus has been on planning.
Now, we are looking at implementing all the plans we have made and getting closer to starting.
The implementation stage starts with the financial plan you have drawn up for the business.
During your planning stage, there was a point you talked about how the capital required to start will come.
It could be from your funds, or you could have planned to source this cash through a loan.
Regardless of which option you choose, you must start implementing it at this point.
Once the finances are ready, location becomes the next thing you should look at.
It will be difficult to work from home, so you will need to rent a space for the business.
When trying to choose a location for your business, consider many things, but most importantly, your customers.
It has to be close to your customers; their loyalty drops to something lower with your distance.
Equipping the shop/space with all the things you will need to start will be the next thing you do.
Chairs, sterilizers, mirrors, clippers, blades, scissors, shelves, etc. – all the things you need to start should be coming in here.
8. Strategize to Market and Launching Your Business
The next big thing when you are looking at how to start a barbershop business will be marketing it.
How you market the business will determine how it goes at the end of the day.
Going online has been a productive way to market existing and starting businesses in the world today.
So your business should have social media pages to showcase what you are doing.
The next step will be offering offline packages like discounts on haircuts and other services.
Look at how the business can combine with those partnering with you to bring in more people through the door.
Also, organizing a launch can be a good way to make things pop for your business.
It could be something as simple as a free haircut on the day of the launch.
Getting as many people as to see what you do from the start makes customer attainment even better.
As such, you should put in a lot of effort to attract and satisfy your customers so that they always come back.
Strategize on ways the relationship can be natured and blossomed into something even better.
Customers are the backbone of every business, and this is the point you make sure yours are happy.
Conclusion for How to Start a Barbershop Business
The barbershop business remains one of the most lucrative ones in the world today.
There is going to be someone somewhere who needs a haircut every second of the day.
This is why we said you did good by asking us how to start a barbershop business today.
We listed eight steps, but we must say that none is more important than the other.
The goal is for you to have a successful business; the only way that works is by planning.
We wish you massive success in your entrepreneurial endeavors.
