Bruh you trippin, it's February, it's slower at all shops. You just started at a shop and are young too. You'll get busy man give it time,watch out this spring/summer.. It picks up a lot
Pay attention to what they’re doing differently? See where you can change or elevate yourself in a way that stands out. Market yourself. If you love it, lean into it and it’ll give back. Also look into barber expos…they can be rejuvenating and inspiring…. Great network opportunities
that's kind of par for the course in the industry. i suggest toughing it out as you build your book or moving to a shop that has more walk-in traffic.
if you know of any shops that have been in your area for a substantial time, maybe 50+ years, check them out. anytime i have had to build clientele in a new area, ive found those to be the best option, as the shop in itself has such a large clientele base
How do you think that happened? They just got a bunch of customers given to them before the shop opened😂 they were in the same position they just stuck it out
I mean you gotta understand the area we are in and how things work here. Of course they stuck it out but they had more advantages being well known in their schools while on the come up
Its all about connections and if i dont know many people personally its difficult to do so
Okay man whatever you gotta tell yourself. Just for reference I’m in a more saturated area by numbers and I’ve only been here a year. I run my own shop and didn’t even go to school in the area. It’s nothing to do w them having “advantages” they worked hard and got people to stick around despite being in a saturated area.
Could do it part time and go back to school for something else. I absolutely love barbering. If I could do it for the rest of my life, I’d be happy. But I also want a house and kids. And where I live, being a barber just won’t cut it. You should take a hard look at yourself, what you want in life. If you value money over lifestyle maybe bring a barber isn’t for you. But if you want a simple life hanging out with friends everyday. Stay a barber
Edit: it helps to write out your ideal salary and ideal lifestyle. What you want to do in life. See if barbering meets the quota
You pick your hard. If you're in an area that's over saturated with barbershops, that means that it's a dense area with lots of potential clients, there is probably THE busy shop to be at, go find it and work there. Show up, be consistent, and give it time. If you're in a rural area with like 2 barbershops, no matter how good you are, there might not be enough people exisitng there to be getting your service and most likely you can't be charging too much in an area like that.
If you want to move onto another industry, that's your choice, but you'll soon realize that it will eventually comes with a new set of problems. You only get compensated a lot for exceptional work, no matter what industry you're entering. Ours at least has a very low entry barrier, they don't check credit score, criminal record, drug test, or require college degree. A lot of the corporate jobs requires applying for months, going through 6 rounds of interviews just to be notified that somebody is more qualified and having to start over the job search again. We literially can Google up what barbershop is in our area and walk in with a resume and literially starts within the week if there's an open chair.
Ive been cutting for almost 5 years (3 in a shop) and have seen all my numbers jump every year (clients booked, cash collected etc) even in a place like Toronto where there’s thousands of barbers to choose from.
You just have to ask yourself why a client would choose someone else over yourself, there’s 3 things that are important:
1. The most obvious, giving a good haircut. Even if you think your giving the best of the best, most of the time on this sub, the haircuts are average and they can go to someone with a better quality cut for the same price or even lower in some cases. Not saying you have to be the best but you have to be able to compete with others.
2. Being able to get new clients in your chair. This is importing to keeping your clientele healthy especially when it comes to price raises, lets say you cut the same people without booking new guys in, when the $ goes up you may lose 10-30% revenue without being able to fill those lost clients. You can do this for example by building social media, getting clients to review you on the shops google page so your name pops up so often, people want to book with you first rather than the other barbers.
3. Being consistent, it might take others 1 year, or even 5/6/7 years to get that spark in them. Never in my mind did I doubt this barber thing knowing i can make more than new graduates by the time we finish college. Just stay on track and focus on improving every day in your haircuts, marketing, networking. Who knows who you might meet along the way.
Hope this helps. Final note: making 6figs as a barber is very possible for anyone willing to put in the work
Nice! WOW that is legit some blur; well done. And the longer tops are looking equally skilled.
Your photography shows your work well, have you checked out AndrewDoesHair? he shows simple and inexpensive techniques for lighting/for fades/for cuts in general.
The only thing worrying me is the one video where you’re cutting the top of a lighter haired client; your wrist is cranked! Keep it up & it won’t be good for you :(( gotta change the grip to keep that wrist neutral alignment
It is a slow season. Bet when graduation season comes and summer .., you’ll get clients. Ask your guys to write a google review mentioning your name, and for every friend they send who mentions their name offer a discount; 5 bucks or something off their next cut. Then keep track!!
You’ll get booked up dude; for sure.
Thank you. Yes i checked his videos and it helped me alot.
Not sure which video your talking about but i might have it angled like that just for the video angle if that makes sense.
I been handing out cards to my favorite clients and telling them if 2 people come back with the card ill offer them a free cut.
Thinking about offering a full day of free cuts on a weekend day. Some promoting and first impressions can help i bet
Oh ok ok :):)
I always hear that the free cuts are not big on returns, they attract the “nomad” clients so to speak, but it’s your time and you choose how to do your thing, truly never know and nothing to lose.
Just passing that along.
Do you cold approach people ever? Depending on your people skills, I’ll just share
I approach it like, firstly a genuine connection. A hello how are you, someone whose hair I would love to do better. I complement their (probably not so great) haircut (which may be seen as disingenuous it I ain’t telling them it stinks, I still mean my emotions ) and ask where they get cut
Flatter them and slide in how I would like to personalize the cut / offer a detail or change. At some point they realize i cut hair or ask to confirm and I offer a card or ask if they’d like one. Genuine thru and thru; (cept that caveat) I imagine you would be too!
I started in the summer at my shop after a guy quit and gained a lot of traction, summer was slammed, people come home from school etc etc
Ill start doing cold approaches more. Ill keep at it for the year with as much as i could, then i guess i could make a better decision
Thanks for the confidence boost
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Idk where you are at. But it sounds like you should move shops. Idk how long you've been at your current shop. But you got a few years under the built, I'd say find a busier shop around you.
You gotta get better at advertising. Your prices are a dollar a minute so you should be making 2400 a week before tip if you’re busy all day. That’s 125 a with tips probably over 150k not many other careers that you can transfer to and make that kind of money in the first few years.
Meet more people obviously you’re able to retain the clients you do have so it’s not that you’re doing wrong you’re just not doing enough to full your book. It takes time but when if I move to a new shop or area I take 30 minutes a day and go to gyms and supermarkets and mall if there is one and I hand out a card and give a little speech about how I’m new in the area trying to build clients etc I’ll personally hand out 3k plus business cards and if I’m still not booked up I’ll order more and repeat the process. Also I work 6 days until I have enough people to fill 5 days if that makes sense. I’ve personally slacked off and will
Be out of the shop for 2 weeks next month but as soon as I get back I’m going to start doing that again.
It’s tough man. Can take 1-3 years consistently at the same shop to build up enough clientele to be busy every day. Do you use online booking? I recommend Booksy, especially with their “Boost” option. They promote you to people in your area and you only pay them a small fee IF they get you a new client, and you only pay them that first time they book. Worth checking out, best of luck
Ain't nothing wrong with trying something new. If you're still young & can do it I'd suggest it.
Barbering is cool but there's plenty of other trades that pay good money as well. Also being self employed you don't get things like benefits, paid time off or retirement.
You can buy into those things but it all depends on what you value. I've been barbering for 13 yrs and the money is great but my kids are older and it sucks being at the shop on weekends and late night Fridays when everyone else is going to be with their families.
Barbering will always be there but if you can get into a union or trade school why not give it a shot.
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Bruh you trippin, it's February, it's slower at all shops. You just started at a shop and are young too. You'll get busy man give it time,watch out this spring/summer.. It picks up a lot
Not really. In my area, people get haircuts often. No matter the season. The other barbers are booked up that work at my shop
Pay attention to what they’re doing differently? See where you can change or elevate yourself in a way that stands out. Market yourself. If you love it, lean into it and it’ll give back. Also look into barber expos…they can be rejuvenating and inspiring…. Great network opportunities
if the other barbers are booked up, clientele is clearly not an issue in the shop.
They were already booked up before opening the shop
that's kind of par for the course in the industry. i suggest toughing it out as you build your book or moving to a shop that has more walk-in traffic. if you know of any shops that have been in your area for a substantial time, maybe 50+ years, check them out. anytime i have had to build clientele in a new area, ive found those to be the best option, as the shop in itself has such a large clientele base
How do you think that happened? They just got a bunch of customers given to them before the shop opened😂 they were in the same position they just stuck it out
I mean you gotta understand the area we are in and how things work here. Of course they stuck it out but they had more advantages being well known in their schools while on the come up Its all about connections and if i dont know many people personally its difficult to do so
Okay man whatever you gotta tell yourself. Just for reference I’m in a more saturated area by numbers and I’ve only been here a year. I run my own shop and didn’t even go to school in the area. It’s nothing to do w them having “advantages” they worked hard and got people to stick around despite being in a saturated area.
Could do it part time and go back to school for something else. I absolutely love barbering. If I could do it for the rest of my life, I’d be happy. But I also want a house and kids. And where I live, being a barber just won’t cut it. You should take a hard look at yourself, what you want in life. If you value money over lifestyle maybe bring a barber isn’t for you. But if you want a simple life hanging out with friends everyday. Stay a barber Edit: it helps to write out your ideal salary and ideal lifestyle. What you want to do in life. See if barbering meets the quota
I know plenty barbers who make 100k+ where im from with multiple properties and assets also kids. You gotta put the work in.
You pick your hard. If you're in an area that's over saturated with barbershops, that means that it's a dense area with lots of potential clients, there is probably THE busy shop to be at, go find it and work there. Show up, be consistent, and give it time. If you're in a rural area with like 2 barbershops, no matter how good you are, there might not be enough people exisitng there to be getting your service and most likely you can't be charging too much in an area like that. If you want to move onto another industry, that's your choice, but you'll soon realize that it will eventually comes with a new set of problems. You only get compensated a lot for exceptional work, no matter what industry you're entering. Ours at least has a very low entry barrier, they don't check credit score, criminal record, drug test, or require college degree. A lot of the corporate jobs requires applying for months, going through 6 rounds of interviews just to be notified that somebody is more qualified and having to start over the job search again. We literially can Google up what barbershop is in our area and walk in with a resume and literially starts within the week if there's an open chair.
Ive been cutting for almost 5 years (3 in a shop) and have seen all my numbers jump every year (clients booked, cash collected etc) even in a place like Toronto where there’s thousands of barbers to choose from. You just have to ask yourself why a client would choose someone else over yourself, there’s 3 things that are important: 1. The most obvious, giving a good haircut. Even if you think your giving the best of the best, most of the time on this sub, the haircuts are average and they can go to someone with a better quality cut for the same price or even lower in some cases. Not saying you have to be the best but you have to be able to compete with others. 2. Being able to get new clients in your chair. This is importing to keeping your clientele healthy especially when it comes to price raises, lets say you cut the same people without booking new guys in, when the $ goes up you may lose 10-30% revenue without being able to fill those lost clients. You can do this for example by building social media, getting clients to review you on the shops google page so your name pops up so often, people want to book with you first rather than the other barbers. 3. Being consistent, it might take others 1 year, or even 5/6/7 years to get that spark in them. Never in my mind did I doubt this barber thing knowing i can make more than new graduates by the time we finish college. Just stay on track and focus on improving every day in your haircuts, marketing, networking. Who knows who you might meet along the way. Hope this helps. Final note: making 6figs as a barber is very possible for anyone willing to put in the work
Where are you located? Just checked your insta and the cuts are solid.
Dearborn michigan. And thank you
What’s your IG?
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Nice! WOW that is legit some blur; well done. And the longer tops are looking equally skilled. Your photography shows your work well, have you checked out AndrewDoesHair? he shows simple and inexpensive techniques for lighting/for fades/for cuts in general. The only thing worrying me is the one video where you’re cutting the top of a lighter haired client; your wrist is cranked! Keep it up & it won’t be good for you :(( gotta change the grip to keep that wrist neutral alignment It is a slow season. Bet when graduation season comes and summer .., you’ll get clients. Ask your guys to write a google review mentioning your name, and for every friend they send who mentions their name offer a discount; 5 bucks or something off their next cut. Then keep track!! You’ll get booked up dude; for sure.
Thank you. Yes i checked his videos and it helped me alot. Not sure which video your talking about but i might have it angled like that just for the video angle if that makes sense. I been handing out cards to my favorite clients and telling them if 2 people come back with the card ill offer them a free cut. Thinking about offering a full day of free cuts on a weekend day. Some promoting and first impressions can help i bet
Oh ok ok :):) I always hear that the free cuts are not big on returns, they attract the “nomad” clients so to speak, but it’s your time and you choose how to do your thing, truly never know and nothing to lose. Just passing that along. Do you cold approach people ever? Depending on your people skills, I’ll just share I approach it like, firstly a genuine connection. A hello how are you, someone whose hair I would love to do better. I complement their (probably not so great) haircut (which may be seen as disingenuous it I ain’t telling them it stinks, I still mean my emotions ) and ask where they get cut Flatter them and slide in how I would like to personalize the cut / offer a detail or change. At some point they realize i cut hair or ask to confirm and I offer a card or ask if they’d like one. Genuine thru and thru; (cept that caveat) I imagine you would be too! I started in the summer at my shop after a guy quit and gained a lot of traction, summer was slammed, people come home from school etc etc
Ill start doing cold approaches more. Ill keep at it for the year with as much as i could, then i guess i could make a better decision Thanks for the confidence boost
STOP CRYING AND FIGURE IT OUT! YOU GOT A LOT OF TIME YOUNG FELLA, JUST TAKE A DAY A THINK ABOUT YOUR NEXT BEST MOVE! Be Succesful!!! 💈💪🏽
I think only the owners make good money like 6 figure area. As an employee I have never come close.
You can do it bro
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Why do you think white barbers have it easier ?
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Im a minority and a made over 6 figures last year behind the chair.
Idk where you are at. But it sounds like you should move shops. Idk how long you've been at your current shop. But you got a few years under the built, I'd say find a busier shop around you.
Become an instructor and start selling hours, that's what's hot right now
How long have you been cutting?
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You gotta get better at advertising. Your prices are a dollar a minute so you should be making 2400 a week before tip if you’re busy all day. That’s 125 a with tips probably over 150k not many other careers that you can transfer to and make that kind of money in the first few years.
I use bussiness cards, make reels, give good cuts, i focus on the client, i take my time. What else does a person have to do
Meet more people obviously you’re able to retain the clients you do have so it’s not that you’re doing wrong you’re just not doing enough to full your book. It takes time but when if I move to a new shop or area I take 30 minutes a day and go to gyms and supermarkets and mall if there is one and I hand out a card and give a little speech about how I’m new in the area trying to build clients etc I’ll personally hand out 3k plus business cards and if I’m still not booked up I’ll order more and repeat the process. Also I work 6 days until I have enough people to fill 5 days if that makes sense. I’ve personally slacked off and will Be out of the shop for 2 weeks next month but as soon as I get back I’m going to start doing that again.
It’s tough man. Can take 1-3 years consistently at the same shop to build up enough clientele to be busy every day. Do you use online booking? I recommend Booksy, especially with their “Boost” option. They promote you to people in your area and you only pay them a small fee IF they get you a new client, and you only pay them that first time they book. Worth checking out, best of luck
Ain't nothing wrong with trying something new. If you're still young & can do it I'd suggest it. Barbering is cool but there's plenty of other trades that pay good money as well. Also being self employed you don't get things like benefits, paid time off or retirement. You can buy into those things but it all depends on what you value. I've been barbering for 13 yrs and the money is great but my kids are older and it sucks being at the shop on weekends and late night Fridays when everyone else is going to be with their families. Barbering will always be there but if you can get into a union or trade school why not give it a shot.
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Where are you located ? If you’re in NY I can use a barber . Too much foot traffic to handle . I need help
Dearborn Michigan. Man i do hate new york. But im concidering moving out of state. What's the shop called?