How to Make Barber Shops Profitable in 2023?

If you’re wondering how to improve barber shop profitability, then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve put together a ton of tips and strategies that many successful barber shops use to boost their business and see more profit.

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1. How Can You Make Your Barber Shop Profitable?
2. Increase Your Customer Base
3. Boost the Frequency of Clients’ Visits
4. Get Clients to Spend More Every Visit
5. Reduce Barber Shop Expenses
6. Use Salon Software for Business Insights
7. Conclusion

How Can You Make Your Barber Shop Profitable?

Independent contractors and everyone operating their own barber shop all want the same thing- the satisfaction that comes with running a successful business and watching it grow.

If you find yourself asking how to run a successful barber shop, a great place to start is by doing some market research.

While successful barbers always have some things in common (like the right training, a barber license and good relationships with clients), success also depends on other factors like your target market, business location and the costs involved.

So, how do barber shops make money? Let’s take a closer look at how a barber shop owner can bring in new customers, boost profits with loyal ones and reduce business operating costs.

1. Increase Your Customer Base

At first glance, it might seem tempting to just charge customers more for services, but in the long run this is not always the best strategy. Often, a barber shop business can go further by focusing on their client base- bringing in new clients and converting them into loyal customers.

The average men’s haircut costs $28 without any added grooming services attached. If you get just ten new clients a month, that’s $280 right there. Imagine what can happen if they also book hot shaves or facial treatments. The possibilities are endless.

Find a Niche Market

If you’re wondering how to make a barber shop profitable, this is a sure fire way to set yourself apart from the competition. Find your target market.

Barber shops cater to a variety of clientele, whether it’s barbershops targeting businessmen, students or those looking for a specialized skill like shaved hair designs or eyebrow cutting. Start by doing some online research to see what your competitors don’t offer that clients in your area would pay good money for.

Make Connections

A smart barbershop owner understands the power of the local market, especially if you’re running a small business.

A great marketing strategy is to reach out to a popular gym, coffee shop or retail business nearby and cross-promote. You can each refer customers and keep of stack of business cards handy.

Provide Online Booking Options

This will help you to bring in new clients and make it much easier for existing ones to book when it’s convenient for them, rather than waiting for them to call a receptionist and risking losing the booking. Offering online scheduling will save your staff time (and you money), too.

To learn more please check out our post on How to Write a Barber Shop Business Plan.

2. Boost the Frequency of Clients’ Visits

The next step for barbershop owners is to make sure that existing clients come back more often (and aren’t tempted to visit other barbers). So, how can you do this?

Stay Active Online

Keeping up with your social media accounts, business website, and any client reviews is especially important if you want to build their loyalty and get them excited about any upcoming promotions or services.

Post regular photos of your work and make sure to build the hype about any new retail products, sales or services. If you’re excited about your business, clients will be, too.

Use Email Marketing and Booking Reminders

Anyone in the haircare services industry will tell you how important it is to remind clients about bookings- you want to avoid no shows at all costs. Software for salon owners can help you to send out automatic reminders via email and text message, as well as promotional emails.

Rock That Loyalty Program

Rewarding loyal customers is not only good for business, it also makes for stronger relationships. If you’re a barber shop targeting families, consider offering a discount for multiple family members. If your clientele includes young professionals, a referral bonus might work well.

3. Get Clients to Spend More Every Visit

This strategy is one we’ve already touched on a bit, and it works really well with the others. Getting your customers excited about barber shops services and eager to invest in upgrades or indulge in additional personal care is another awesome strategy where everybody wins.

Let’s look at some ways to do this.

Upselling During Appointments

Whether you’ve expanded your business offerings or have the same menu, you can suggest upgrades or services that compliment what a client is booked for. This might be a scalp massage or hot towel shave, or could include a fresh new style and some beard grooming.

Upgrade Your Skill Set

You can justify price increases or make some exciting additions to your service menu by investing in new training for your barbers and cosmetology workers. You might even think about acquiring some premium shaving equipment or new tools to serve clients better.

Retail Sales

Retail products that appeal to your clients’ demographic and meet their needs can mean a serious revenue boost for your barber shop business. Train your team to get to know each product and be prepared to make recommendations.

4. Reduce Barber Shop Expenses

With all of the expenses that can occur, some may wonder “Is owning a barber shop profitable?” The answer is that it definitely can be, and one of the steps towards making a profit in this business is keeping your expenses under control while still keeping quality high.

Keep an Eye on Costs

If you don’t already have a business bank account, then you need one. Separate your personal assets from your business expenses to make tracking costs and profits easier. Many banks also offer promotional credit cards or special rates for small businesses.

You might also want to consider using accounting services for bookkeeping and financial advice, even if it’s on occasion.

Don’t be Overstaffed

You may not even realize you’re doing it, but staff wages are a huge portion of a barber shop’s business expenses. Consider using salon software to track busy periods and optimize your schedule.

Cross-training your team to help each other and take on admin work like updating the website and social media pages during slower periods can also be a great way to avoid unnecessary staff.

Be Space Smart

Keeping your barber shop’s environment organized and tidy will not only impress customers and make your staff’s lives easier, it will also cut down on lost time and revenue losses due to expired inventory.

To learn more please check out our post on Barber Shop Expenses.

5. Use Salon Software for Business Insights

Software for salon and barber shop owners can not only help keep your shop operating smoothly, it can give you valuable insights that save time and money.

You can set your team’s schedules by looking at data showing your busiest times/days, check on your most popular services and products and even track and reorder inventory automatically.

Additionally you can offer clients easy online booking, view client information, and send out automatic appointment reminders.

FAQs

How much profit does a barber shop make?

This will be different depending on many factors such as your business model (booth rental can mean steady income but not big changes in profits compared to traditional shops, for example), your location and the services you offer.

The average yearly profit for a barber shop owner starts at about $35,000, but can be a lot more depending on your situation. Averages in your state will most likely vary, so check out the websites for small businesses in your area and seek professional financial advice when needed.

Conclusion

So, how much does a barber shop owner make a year? The answer depends entirely on the owner and the shop.

If you’re wondering how to improve barber shop profitability after reading this article, there is one more resource you can’t ignore- your team. Go over some of these ideas with them and come up with a plan together- they’re your first point of customer contact and your most valuable resource.

Citations

The economics of the profit rate
https://ideas.repec.org/b/elg/eebook/153.html

What is profit?
https://www.jstor.org/stable/239255

Market orientation, service quality and business profitability: a conceptual model and empirical evidence
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/088760