Opening A 'Modern' Barbers
Discussion
pheonix7 said:
Business Plan and Cash Flows all completed, finance in place.
I'm still undecided between running a 'staff' model or 'rent a chair'. And then from that if it's 'rent a chair', is it a fixed price or a profit split.
How much do you pay for a general cut and how much would you pay?
this seems a bit confused. you have a business plan and finance but you don't know what the plan is or what you will charge? I'm still undecided between running a 'staff' model or 'rent a chair'. And then from that if it's 'rent a chair', is it a fixed price or a profit split.
How much do you pay for a general cut and how much would you pay?
In answer to your questions, you can mix staff and rent a chair. A place near me does this. What you can charge will depend on local competition, not what PHers in other towns pay.
I'm pretty sure I said this in the last thread discussing new barbers but £32?
The rare times I get someone else to cut my hair it's a zero all over and it's £6, although the last guy I went to was new and only took £5. Kurdish, Palestinian, Ghanian, I don't care- who's cheapest and emptiest this week?
It's not Desmond's- I'm not interested in hanging around, playing games or any other nonsense and I'd expect most men outside a small 20 something demographic will be the same.
It's not a complicated business- don't complicate it.
Although having said that there's a place in Glasgow which promises to spend at least 30mins with everyone and charges them £25 for the privilege. Maybe it is just me.
The rare times I get someone else to cut my hair it's a zero all over and it's £6, although the last guy I went to was new and only took £5. Kurdish, Palestinian, Ghanian, I don't care- who's cheapest and emptiest this week?
It's not Desmond's- I'm not interested in hanging around, playing games or any other nonsense and I'd expect most men outside a small 20 something demographic will be the same.
It's not a complicated business- don't complicate it.
Although having said that there's a place in Glasgow which promises to spend at least 30mins with everyone and charges them £25 for the privilege. Maybe it is just me.
technodup said:
The rare times I get someone else to cut my hair it's a zero all over and it's £6, although the last guy I went to was new and only took £5. Kurdish, Palestinian, Ghanian, I don't care- who's cheapest and emptiest this week?
I don't think you're the target market somehow. Where I am in the south east, it's £15 for a hair cut in a Turkish barbers and that includes a drink (beer, coke, tea, Turkish coffee), hot towel, hair washed after the hair cut and an arm & neck massage.
The do all of the above plus a cut-throat razor shave for £27
They have a 50" TV with MTV permanently on and a few copies FHM kicking about.
I used Toni and Guy once for my pre-wedding hair cut and it was £34 and save for the lovely pair of boobs in my face, wasn't particularly good. It was too bloody hot in there (hair dryers going like the clappers) for a start !
The do all of the above plus a cut-throat razor shave for £27
They have a 50" TV with MTV permanently on and a few copies FHM kicking about.
I used Toni and Guy once for my pre-wedding hair cut and it was £34 and save for the lovely pair of boobs in my face, wasn't particularly good. It was too bloody hot in there (hair dryers going like the clappers) for a start !
Great comments guys, thanks. Especially the ones about waiting. Seems this is a really key point.
RE Pricing, we are set at an average spend of £12, it's a case of trying to validate that price with as many people as possible. I think £12 is good for what will be on offer, the key will be footfall. To make the plan work we need four Barbers working per hour cutting on average 1.8 people each. With the right location and promition I think this is achieveable but will only know once we get going.
RE Pricing, we are set at an average spend of £12, it's a case of trying to validate that price with as many people as possible. I think £12 is good for what will be on offer, the key will be footfall. To make the plan work we need four Barbers working per hour cutting on average 1.8 people each. With the right location and promition I think this is achieveable but will only know once we get going.
I'm in Swansea, the same as Issi, but I've got more hair than him!
I pay a £9 and the 10th cut is free, great barbers, friendly, very busy at the moment, but they take their time and do a good cut, s
te music on the Tv though, magazines and papers, not noisy.
People are happy to wait, for a decent cut and trim..
I pay a £9 and the 10th cut is free, great barbers, friendly, very busy at the moment, but they take their time and do a good cut, s
te music on the Tv though, magazines and papers, not noisy. People are happy to wait, for a decent cut and trim..
Waiting time is a key issue for me, too. I work 9-5-30 Mon-Fri, which leaves no opportunity to get may hair cut during the week. I generally have loads of stuff to do on Saturdays, so waiting for half an hour plus to get my hair cut is a big inconvenience.
I would happily pay a premium to avoid wasting a chunk of my Saturday, so perhaps segmenting your market with a 2-tier pricing structure might work? Eg basic haircut £10 on weekdays, with discounts for kids, students, OAPs etc but on Saturdays it’s £15 for everyone.
I would happily pay a premium to avoid wasting a chunk of my Saturday, so perhaps segmenting your market with a 2-tier pricing structure might work? Eg basic haircut £10 on weekdays, with discounts for kids, students, OAPs etc but on Saturdays it’s £15 for everyone.
bogie said:
10 years ago living down South, I used to pay £10 for a cut in local town, rarely waiting more than 10 mins
These days up North in rural area, I pay £5 for a mobile hairdresser. I dont know how she does it for that, obviously does a few in the area same day. Often does the missus at same time
Barber shop to me is about convenience, I want to be in there as short at time as possible and £12 max for a trim
She can cut your hair whilst doing your missus?! There's an image...These days up North in rural area, I pay £5 for a mobile hairdresser. I dont know how she does it for that, obviously does a few in the area same day. Often does the missus at same time
Barber shop to me is about convenience, I want to be in there as short at time as possible and £12 max for a trim
Hmmm... I can see what you're attempting to do OP, but as others have said, most blokes will go along and if there isn't a queue or there's a minimal queue will go in, go to choice B or call in at choice A later on / another day...
1) Make sure your staff are good at cutting hair! I used to go one, but they had a change in staff and then the service went downhill.
2) Try and make sure queues are short. This relates to above - there is one lady at our local place that we go to who is slooooooow!
3) Keep it simple, keep it clean and tidy.
4) Make a difference - this is the bit you seem to be wanting to focus on.
Ours offer cheaper cuts for Armed Forces and also have OAPs during the week. Saturday - no discounts.
Maybe offer a midweek late opening, say a Thursday which is adults only - i.e. no children. So that those without children but who work can avoid the inevitable long queues on the weekends or school holidays.
Give a lolly to all children who are well behaved - our two sons always look forward to getting a lolly at the end. Even though they're just out of a C&C tub. Makes quite a difference to them.
Have Sky Sports on or something similar.
Newspapers, have a couple of the usuals and the local rag(s).
If you want to offer other stuff, maybe a free coffee (self serve) while you wait?
Maybe some kind of loyalty card, with a free haircut every 10 cuts or a free winter warmer if you have enough cuts through the year and get a haircut in December or January or something along those lines. e.g. Whisky while you wait! or mulled wine.
In an ideal world, as a customer you want to have no queue and feel valued and welcomed. On the flip side of that, as the business owner, you want it rammed and to make as much money as possible! There will be a fine line between the two. Trying to manage the queues will be an interesting one.. Maybe there's room for an App or txt service or similar..? e.g. Someone comes in, the queue is huge, txt them once the queue drops and reserve a space or something...
1) Make sure your staff are good at cutting hair! I used to go one, but they had a change in staff and then the service went downhill.
2) Try and make sure queues are short. This relates to above - there is one lady at our local place that we go to who is slooooooow!
3) Keep it simple, keep it clean and tidy.
4) Make a difference - this is the bit you seem to be wanting to focus on.
Ours offer cheaper cuts for Armed Forces and also have OAPs during the week. Saturday - no discounts.
Maybe offer a midweek late opening, say a Thursday which is adults only - i.e. no children. So that those without children but who work can avoid the inevitable long queues on the weekends or school holidays.
Give a lolly to all children who are well behaved - our two sons always look forward to getting a lolly at the end. Even though they're just out of a C&C tub. Makes quite a difference to them.
Have Sky Sports on or something similar.
Newspapers, have a couple of the usuals and the local rag(s).
If you want to offer other stuff, maybe a free coffee (self serve) while you wait?
Maybe some kind of loyalty card, with a free haircut every 10 cuts or a free winter warmer if you have enough cuts through the year and get a haircut in December or January or something along those lines. e.g. Whisky while you wait! or mulled wine.
In an ideal world, as a customer you want to have no queue and feel valued and welcomed. On the flip side of that, as the business owner, you want it rammed and to make as much money as possible! There will be a fine line between the two. Trying to manage the queues will be an interesting one.. Maybe there's room for an App or txt service or similar..? e.g. Someone comes in, the queue is huge, txt them once the queue drops and reserve a space or something...
eps said:
2) Try and make sure queues are short. This relates to above - there is one lady at our local place that we go to who is slooooooow!
There's one I've been to where the girl will talk and talk and talk to me, the other girls and the people waiting but she can't cut and talk at the same time. So it takes an eternity.She's not the worst looking but even so it does my tits in. Get in, get cut, get out. For a lot of women it's a recreational thing, they enjoy it, magazines, coffee, chatting rubbish etc so time isn't a key issue but I think guys have a bit to go before we're at that stage. With some exceptions.
Some interesting stuff posted so far I think.
I know nothing about barbering or owning a barbers shop, but I think I may be more towards your type of customer as I will happily pay £15 and up for a trim if I like the place... I'm slowly losing my hair though so I better make the most of these places while I can
From what I can see, there are two gents barbers shops in my local town that are doing really well, flat out busy all the time, and happily charging gents £12-15 and upwards for a trim, compared to other places charging £6 or whatever.
I use them both on a regular basis (depending on which one has the smallest queue at the time I want to go).
Here is why I think they both do well and can charge double the other smaller gents barbers around town.
Both places have barbers (and female barbers) who cut very hair well, so we can discount that fact from the list of reasons.
Barbers shop 1:
Hipster/Rockabilly type place, where you get your hair cut by chaps who have full sleeve tattoos, beards, 50's hair and a packet of cigarettes tucked into their rolled up T-shirt sleeve.
The decor in the place is amazing. The whole thing has been pretty much clad in rough reclaimed timber and stained darker brown, Belfast sinks, shelves made out of what appear to be old forklift pallets, black and white tiled floor, proper red leather and chrome barbers chairs from the 50's, stainless steel industrial light fittings. Skateboard decks all over the walls as decoration. You get the idea. It's proper 50's Rock 'n' Roll biker gang stuff.
They have nice big leather chesterfield sofas for you to wait on and a big wooden coffee table in front with lots of magazines on from the current month.
They have music playing, not too loud, and it's not Radio 2 or some other radio drivel, but a decent playlist of Jazz, Rock n Roll, Soul, etc.
The queue is never too big and they get through people quite quick without making you feel at all like they rush you.
They have a good selection of additional products for sale on the shelves such as waxes, pomades, tonics. Even sell a range of nice combs, shaving stuff, and all that kind of kind.
The place has a really cool vibe about it.
Free Wifi while you wait, and they have a glass front Beer fridge where you can help yourself to a beer or cans of coke/Perrier water if you want, plus a Nespresso Machine is available. All for free.
Barbers Shop 2:
This place takes a slightly different approach and calls itself a 'Vintage Barbers'.
They have done the place out in more of a wacky antique shop type way, with lots of of furniture, Farrow and Ball type paint colours, church pews for waiting, pool table, Tables and chairs outside, red and white barbers poles, Parquet flooring, old and wonky lampshades etc.
They also play decent music all the time and not just have the radio on. Stuff like Soul, disco, RnB etc.
The sort of people that go in here are more your suit wearing office workers and.
Like the other shop they give away free drinks to people.
Both shops:
What they both do, is go the extra mile for the customers: Trimming of eyebrows with every cut (if you need it), trimming of ear hair, proper tidying up of neck and stray face hair using a razor and shave gel, and they both place a hot towel on your neck for a few mins before they do they tidying with a razor blade. They both have a good selection of products on the shelves to apply to you after the cut and use of razors.
Both shops do mostly just walk-in's with no appointment needed, and also take a few appointments over the phone.
They both are open late (7-8pm) several nights of the week, which is a massive help for many 9-5 people who simply can't get to the barbers at other times (who wants to spend a saturday morning getting their haircut?).
So... due to my mere observations of being a customer at these places, I would say go for it
Proper Barbering seems to be undergoing a huge resurgence at the moment with money coming in the direction of those shop owners who have worked out that if you give a much better service in a much nicer and more fun environment, you can charge twice what the old fashioned places are charging, and attract better types of customers as well.
One thing I would absolutely suggest is going to one of the Ted Baker Grooming Room barbers shops in London and get a Haircut and shave (The Full Ted Service) in one of them before you plan any more of your business. Experience it and then steal their whole decor, ideas, and concept.
The TB Grooming rooms are knocking it out of the ballpark for gents barbering in my opinion. They are charging £28 for a haircut and £49 for a full shave and haircut. They are flat out busy with it and once you've been to one it's easy to see why.
No point in re-inventing the wheel, just pinch Ted's ideas
Hope that helps from a customers point of view?
I know nothing about barbering or owning a barbers shop, but I think I may be more towards your type of customer as I will happily pay £15 and up for a trim if I like the place... I'm slowly losing my hair though so I better make the most of these places while I can
From what I can see, there are two gents barbers shops in my local town that are doing really well, flat out busy all the time, and happily charging gents £12-15 and upwards for a trim, compared to other places charging £6 or whatever.
I use them both on a regular basis (depending on which one has the smallest queue at the time I want to go).
Here is why I think they both do well and can charge double the other smaller gents barbers around town.
Both places have barbers (and female barbers) who cut very hair well, so we can discount that fact from the list of reasons.
Barbers shop 1:
Hipster/Rockabilly type place, where you get your hair cut by chaps who have full sleeve tattoos, beards, 50's hair and a packet of cigarettes tucked into their rolled up T-shirt sleeve.
The decor in the place is amazing. The whole thing has been pretty much clad in rough reclaimed timber and stained darker brown, Belfast sinks, shelves made out of what appear to be old forklift pallets, black and white tiled floor, proper red leather and chrome barbers chairs from the 50's, stainless steel industrial light fittings. Skateboard decks all over the walls as decoration. You get the idea. It's proper 50's Rock 'n' Roll biker gang stuff.
They have nice big leather chesterfield sofas for you to wait on and a big wooden coffee table in front with lots of magazines on from the current month.
They have music playing, not too loud, and it's not Radio 2 or some other radio drivel, but a decent playlist of Jazz, Rock n Roll, Soul, etc.
The queue is never too big and they get through people quite quick without making you feel at all like they rush you.
They have a good selection of additional products for sale on the shelves such as waxes, pomades, tonics. Even sell a range of nice combs, shaving stuff, and all that kind of kind.
The place has a really cool vibe about it.
Free Wifi while you wait, and they have a glass front Beer fridge where you can help yourself to a beer or cans of coke/Perrier water if you want, plus a Nespresso Machine is available. All for free.
Barbers Shop 2:
This place takes a slightly different approach and calls itself a 'Vintage Barbers'.
They have done the place out in more of a wacky antique shop type way, with lots of of furniture, Farrow and Ball type paint colours, church pews for waiting, pool table, Tables and chairs outside, red and white barbers poles, Parquet flooring, old and wonky lampshades etc.
They also play decent music all the time and not just have the radio on. Stuff like Soul, disco, RnB etc.
The sort of people that go in here are more your suit wearing office workers and.
Like the other shop they give away free drinks to people.
Both shops:
What they both do, is go the extra mile for the customers: Trimming of eyebrows with every cut (if you need it), trimming of ear hair, proper tidying up of neck and stray face hair using a razor and shave gel, and they both place a hot towel on your neck for a few mins before they do they tidying with a razor blade. They both have a good selection of products on the shelves to apply to you after the cut and use of razors.
Both shops do mostly just walk-in's with no appointment needed, and also take a few appointments over the phone.
They both are open late (7-8pm) several nights of the week, which is a massive help for many 9-5 people who simply can't get to the barbers at other times (who wants to spend a saturday morning getting their haircut?).
So... due to my mere observations of being a customer at these places, I would say go for it
Proper Barbering seems to be undergoing a huge resurgence at the moment with money coming in the direction of those shop owners who have worked out that if you give a much better service in a much nicer and more fun environment, you can charge twice what the old fashioned places are charging, and attract better types of customers as well.
One thing I would absolutely suggest is going to one of the Ted Baker Grooming Room barbers shops in London and get a Haircut and shave (The Full Ted Service) in one of them before you plan any more of your business. Experience it and then steal their whole decor, ideas, and concept.
The TB Grooming rooms are knocking it out of the ballpark for gents barbering in my opinion. They are charging £28 for a haircut and £49 for a full shave and haircut. They are flat out busy with it and once you've been to one it's easy to see why.
No point in re-inventing the wheel, just pinch Ted's ideas
Hope that helps from a customers point of view?
Edited by NinjaPower on Friday 26th June 18:03
CaptainSensib1e said:
This might be a crazy idea, but I've always thought it would be good to have a barbers in a pub. Often after work I'll either go for a pint or a haircut, if I could get both in one place it would be awesome. Maybe I should go on Dragon's Den with gold like that.
This is genius.... You take a numbered ticket when you go into the pub and then wait your turn.... Very low overheads for the barber, who pays the landlord an agreed fee.... I don't actually go to pubs much myself, but the place I go to charges about £12 and I usually bung them £15...if there is more than one person waiting I try the other place in town.An alternative idea would be for people who equate their time with money, you could jump the queue depending on how many quid over the standard price you are prepared to pay..... So you go in and there's 4 people waiting, so you say "3 quid over" and if people won't match it you jump the queue...
Thanks for the additional posts guys, especially EPS and Ninja. Ninja, you are the 'target' customer, so it's really interesting to hear your thoughts.
Some good comments on the thread, lots of food for thought. The late night openings was one I'd considered but looks like it's a must do.
Some good comments on the thread, lots of food for thought. The late night openings was one I'd considered but looks like it's a must do.
Hi dude.
About 7 years ago, I decided to start my own business in a wealthy, South Coast city.
I spotted what I thought was a niche in the market - so I found an empty shop unit, and set up the only 'one stop shop' salon in town which had hairdressing, beauty, massage, nails, botox, sunbeds and spray tanning all under the same roof.
I knew nothing about any of it, but coming from a business background I decided that A) it couldn't be that hard to learn about hair, tanning and beauty (it wasn't) and that B) I would use my skills to start / promote / run the business, and leave all the actual work to the 'professionals' who knew what they were doing, by employing staff.
I built it up to a nice little business over 4 years, by which time I was getting a bit bored of it (and all the politics). Someone made me a decent offer that I couldn't refuse, so I sold up. It is still going now though. It made a profit from day one, probably because I wasn't trying to be a hairdresser first and business owner second? In that time I met a hell of a lot of other people in the trade, and quite a few other salons came and went (remember this was happening right in the recession) because they weren't run as sharp businesses. The owners tried to do hair all day long, and hope that the business would sort of take care or itself. It doesn't.
There is so much that you need to think about, consider and work on relentlessly from day one if you want to do this. I have a lot of hard-won knowledge about what works and what doesn't, that I wish someone had told me about before I started!
With regard to staff, employing them or renting chairs - the short answer is no, don't employ them! Chair rental is common - but there are a whole bunch of politics to consider too.
It is a bit of a minefield - many people in this industry are, how can I put it? 'Challenging' to deal with? Anyway, just to say, by all means PM me and ask away, if I can help then I will. All the best.
About 7 years ago, I decided to start my own business in a wealthy, South Coast city.
I spotted what I thought was a niche in the market - so I found an empty shop unit, and set up the only 'one stop shop' salon in town which had hairdressing, beauty, massage, nails, botox, sunbeds and spray tanning all under the same roof.
I knew nothing about any of it, but coming from a business background I decided that A) it couldn't be that hard to learn about hair, tanning and beauty (it wasn't) and that B) I would use my skills to start / promote / run the business, and leave all the actual work to the 'professionals' who knew what they were doing, by employing staff.
I built it up to a nice little business over 4 years, by which time I was getting a bit bored of it (and all the politics). Someone made me a decent offer that I couldn't refuse, so I sold up. It is still going now though. It made a profit from day one, probably because I wasn't trying to be a hairdresser first and business owner second? In that time I met a hell of a lot of other people in the trade, and quite a few other salons came and went (remember this was happening right in the recession) because they weren't run as sharp businesses. The owners tried to do hair all day long, and hope that the business would sort of take care or itself. It doesn't.
There is so much that you need to think about, consider and work on relentlessly from day one if you want to do this. I have a lot of hard-won knowledge about what works and what doesn't, that I wish someone had told me about before I started!
With regard to staff, employing them or renting chairs - the short answer is no, don't employ them! Chair rental is common - but there are a whole bunch of politics to consider too.
It is a bit of a minefield - many people in this industry are, how can I put it? 'Challenging' to deal with? Anyway, just to say, by all means PM me and ask away, if I can help then I will. All the best.
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff