How to open barbershop

Barbershop as a business

Have you decided to open a barbershop or buy a franchise? It's a good idea to invest! There are many beauty salons for women, but what about men? That's why barbershops are getting more and more popular nowadays.

Barbershop conversations are irrefutable proof that heads exist for the sake of hair

Karl Kraus — a writer

A barbershop is a special place of male power that provides beauty services for men. You can get a haircut, shave, and other valuable services for men's health and beauty here. The number of barbershop clients multiplies every year, and the reason is simple: the 21st century has shown that males want to feel handsome, just as women tend to be beautiful.

Usually, only men work in barbershops. These beauty salons were considered a male area that women could not enter. However, now, there are many professional female barbers.

How to set up barbershop services & prices

Let's take a look at the main services provided at barbershops together with the average prices:

• Haircut – $25-40

• Razor haircut – $20-30

• Father and son haircut – $35-45

• Haircut & styling – $30-40

• Clipper cut – $15-25

• Skin fade – $25-40

• Skin fade sides – $20-35

• Hot towel head shave – $35-45

• Hot towel face shave – $40-45

• Beard trim – $10-200

• Beard styling – $15-20

• Beard & mustache styling – $20-25

• Wax job – $8-15

• Brows styling & Wwaxing – $10-20

• Facials – $10-15

Checklist on starting a barbershop

1. Become an expert

   It'll be a great advantage if you know how a barbershop works. If not, find someone acquainted with the beauty salon's business or, even better – have a barbershop.

2. Understand services & prices

   Make sure that you understand the services of your future barbershop and their prices. We've mentioned the primary services and prices before, but every barber/owner can add something. The main rule is to be sure that you can provide quality services.

3. Research the target audience

   Make sure you know who'll visit your barbershop. You work for people. That's why it's essential to understand what they like and need.

4. Research the market & competitors

   You have to know all the pros and cons of the nearest competitors. This way, your barbershop will stand out as you'll understand how to work better.

5. Calculate your budget

   Understand how much you can invest in a new business. If you don't have enough money, try to find an investor.

6. Make a business plan

   A barbershop business plan is a roadmap for your male beauty salon. It's essential to make a good one.

7. Establish a legal form of business organization

   The best is to consult a specialist who'll advise what will be better in your case. Usually, companies like barbershops use sole proprietorships or LLCs.

8. Licenses and permits

   Consult about licenses as you'll need many of them for opening a barbershop. The good news is that after you've got a cosmetology license, all the other permits will be extra easy to do.

9. Naming

   Be creative! A catchy salon name is a must-have for a successful barbershop.

10. Design a unique logo

    Logo, slogan and website help to stand out and get more clients.

11. Location

    Decide on the location to rent or buy a good place for your future business.

12. Select the style of your barbershop

    This includes colours, fonts and signage. As a barbershop is a male area, its style has to be pleasant for males. That's why it's better to use the "male" colour scheme: black, white, brown, grey or dark blue shades. The fonts used in the design of the premises and advertising materials are better to be "brutal" with a "masculine" character. The signage should attract the attention of the target audience – men.

13. Furniture

    Don't be afraid to spend on quality furniture. This way, you won't repurchase it and overpay because something breaks. If you are low on a budget, consider buying the used furniture. This way, you can find good things and save.

14. Select the right booking system

    A barbershop software helps manage client base, online appointments, finances, staff and assets. And the main plus is 24/7 online booking: don't lose clients.

15. Create your team

    Maybe, one of the essential details of a successful business. You have to hire a good administrator and professional barbers. Make sure they understand their role in the team, as your success depends on their collaborative work.

Let's find out how much it costs to open a barbershop and how to start a business from scratch.

How to open a barbershop without any money

Disclaimer: It's impossible to open any business without expenses. At least you'll invest your time and energy. However, there are a few ways to save:

• Minimize all the initial expenses

• Find an investor who'll finance your project

Business plan for a barbershop

A barbershop business plan is a roadmap for your future company. It has to include all the goals, pros&cons, risks, etc. But, shortly speaking, it's a scheme of the work of your new business.

A business plan helps to analyze the work of your barbershop, track the development of the business, avoid possible problems or find solutions to the existing situations. A thought-out barbershop business plan will be a good argument for choosing your project if you need a sponsor. It's a rule that people ready to fund startups do so only after a detailed study of the business plan.

Components of a successful business plan:

• Presentation

  Goals and potential of your business

• Income plans

  Services and products you're going to sell

• Expenses

  All the expenses needed for the business project

• Target audience

  Who you'll work for and the market's size

• Competitors

  Pros and cons

• Marketing

  Ways of attracting clients

• Team

  Roles of staff and partners in achieving the goal

• Control points

  Aims and their deadlines

Barbershop: initial expenses

The starting expenses for opening a barbershop depend on the location, size and type of business. Each detail influences your business plan and financial costs. Let's take a look at the expenses that are needed for opening a luxury and economy barbershops:

• Economy class: $50-100 thousand

• Premium class: $100-400 thousand

Here are the expenses you have to be ready for while opening a barbershop from scratch:

• Rent or purchase of premises

  Make sure you have enough space as for opening a barbershop you need at least 50 meters + with the covid restrictions clients will feel safer in the spacious salon.

• Construction works

  Decide whether you are okay with cosmetic repairs or maybe significant changes are needed.

• Equipment

  You'll need a set of barbershop equipment. We advise you to invest in quality to avoid troubles later.

• Out-of-home advertising

  This critical detail helps with attracting clients. It's better to get noticeable signage, style business cards and leaflets.

• Materials

  Together with barbers, decide which materials (products, equipment) you have to get.

• Fire fighting equipment

  Safety comes first. Prepare your barbershop for possible dangerous situations by establishing a fire fighting system.

• Information and marketing expenses, including website

  Your main aim is to attract attention and then provide quality services. A website is essential to advertise your barbershop and get more customers. You can get a free website with online appointment booking using EasyWeek salon software.

• CRM software for salon

  EasyWeek CRM system is a must-have for every barbershop. You'll get 24/7 online booking, intelligent scheduling, notifications and business analytics.

• Organization of your barbershop

  Consult what you need for opening a barbershop in your state. Usually, you'll have to open an LCC or sole proprietorship to start a beauty salon.

• Cash register and cashless payment terminal

  Thanks to the cash register, all the transactions go through government agencies. It allows you to pay taxes without any difficulties.

• Licenses

  To open a barbershop, you'll need a set of licenses and permits. Check which permissions you'll need with your state, and remember that getting all of them takes time.

Barbershop: regular expenses

The list of barbershop regular expenses includes:

• Staff commission

• Rent

• Payment of utility services

• Materials (renewing products, equipment)

• Marketing

Is it possible to save?

Yes, thoughtful planning is the key! We've prepared a checklist on minimizing expenses while opening a barbershop.

1. Understand your financial situation: don't dream about unattainable profits. If you don't have enough money – try to create a strong business plan to attract investors' attention.

2. Negotiate the rental holidays for the renovation period with a landlord. They often agree to help a young business.

3. Consider buying used furniture. The used furniture can be of good quality. Just make sure you understand how to check what you are buying.

4. Create a website by yourself: Use Tilda, for example, to create a free website. Or sign up for EasyWeek salon software, a personal page that works like a website.

5. Distribute responsibilities for maintaining social networks among staff: sign up with Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to promote the barbershop.

6. Create your logo, style leaflets and business cards: You can do it using free services like Canva.

These simple life hacks will minimize your expenses and save time. You can also buy a ready-made franchise. It is considered to be a safer way that has almost no risks.

Franchise for a barbershop

There are more and more barbershops, so companies with successful cases have already launched franchises. Support of the management company and recognizable name helps a lot while starting a new business.

Advantages of a franchise:

• You will get a complete business plan: you can see all the pros and cons.

• The management company will support, recommend and assist you.

• All the services have been already tested.

• You will get a salon booking system with 24/7 online booking, widget, website, notifications, etc. You'll also get a client base, which helps with managing customers. CRM is a handy tool for getting new clients and developing any company. Even if you want to open a barbershop yourself, there are many affordable CRM systems. Let's take a look at one of them.

Barbershop booking software

We've already mentioned that smart scheduling is a must-have, essential today. Global pandemic changed us, so more and more clients want to book services, sitting at home near the computer without any risks. And, that's right. But why would you come to book a service if it is bookable online?

EasyWeek barber salon booking system is a handy tool for managing your business online.

The barbershop software offers:

• 24/7 online booking;

• Customizable widget;

• A free salon website;

• Notifications: SMS, Push, email;

• Client base;

• Inventory module;

• Sales management;

• Business analytics and much more.

Except for the valuable functions, the pricing is extra pleasant. In addition, EasyWeek has a free plan for private barbers and a set of PRO plans for big salons or salon chains.

Another advantage of using EasyWeek software is simplicity. The system will guide you through all the steps and even make a website without your help – fill in the data into the system while registering and add it to your website.

Conclusions

Opening a barbershop is a good idea for investing. Nowadays, men already don't believe in the old-school stereotypes that beauty is for women; they want to feel handsome too. That's why a thought-out barbershop will make a fortune.

Thoughtful planning is the key while starting any business. We advise you to start with a business plan or franchise – why not? Anyway, think about a quality CRM system. With EasyWeek salon software, you can get many innovative tools like 24/7 online booking, a website with a custom domain, business analytics, etc. And the best that every customer can try the EasyWeek system for free!