Thing s you need to budget
for when opening a Barbershop.
Barbershop on a Budget
By Dimitri Matheou - Owner of Geezers and Cutlers Barbershops
Barbershop on a Budget
By Dimitri Matheou - Owner of Geezers and Cutlers Barbershops
When
I opened my first barbershop in 1988, I had a budget of £5,000.
£2,000
for the first quarters rent, £500 security deposit, £180 solicitors fees, £80
shop insurance, £30 BT connection £300 shop sign (fascia) £20 stock. There were
probably one or two other items that I have neglected to add, but you get my
point.
This
left just under £1,900 to fit the shop out.
I
used the carver from our dinning room as my cutting chair, not hydraulic!
I
purchased a bathroom mirror from B&Q for my cutting station and cut down a
piece of skirting board to create a shelf beneath it for my tools. I cut the
rest of the skirting board into 2ft & 3ft-shelving length’s and used these
to display my products around the shop with a few bits I picked up from a car
boot sale. The brackets were the
cheapest I could find.
The
skirting board seemed to be a cheap alternative to many things I found, and
I additional enhanced its usage and made my own picture frames from it. I couldn’t
afford to buy styling pictures and such from the wholesalers, so instead I
purchased an angle cutter from B&Q for £20 and used it to help me make my
own frames. Once they were all cut out and put together using cheap glue and
cardboard, I took measurements and went down to the glazier, and had the glass
cut out for them. I used post cards and cheap prints to put inside of them and
the stain from the garden fence to give them a bit of colour.
The
flooring cost me £70. It was a cut off that some one had left over, so I
purchased it and put it in myself. I remember having to be very accurate when
doing so, because I didn’t have any skirting left to put around the floor, so
if I cut in too much it would look like there was a hole in the floor.
The
shop was a new shop and had just been constructed so all the wall and ceiling
were bare plaster, never been painted before. I found the cheapest paint I
could get my hands on and went to work. I even made my own toilet roll holder
out of a broken broom handle.
Lighting
and electrics nearly killed me! £275 but I was no electrician.
Business
cards and a small add in the local paper came to another £60.
Waiting
chairs came in at £15 a piece x 6 =£90
3 x waste
bins + broom, dust pan, till & small desk, magazine table, kettle cups,
takings book, lollipops and jar to attract the kids, toilet brush, boxes of
tissues etc.
A 8
month pregnant wife new mortgage, 24 years old with no savings with no way of
paying the first months mortgage.
Was
I afraid? No!
Barbering
is all about confidence and originality. Failure is not an option unless you
allow room for it.
Within
my first year I took over £47,000, over 3 x what I had been earning at my
previous place. The shop was in an affluent area, and at the time had been voted
one of the top 5 most expensive areas to live in in the UK. My clientèle were
mostly professional people, parking outside the shop in their Mercedes, porches
and Rollers. Chairmen CEOs, Directors businessmen TV celebrities. In fact one
of my first regulars was Sir John Mills, the actor who later became a dear
friend of mine.
The
kids were mostly from private schools and the mothers all came in wearing their
designer wear. 2 years later there were 4 of us cutting hair in that little
287sq ft. shop. 26 yrs. later it’s still going strong and since have opened
another 10.
My
point.
Money
doesn’t make a successful barbershop. You do.
Hospitality,
character, originality, professionalism, skill, and confidence. Never forget who’s
paying the bills. Your customers! Treat them with respect. Be nice to their children,
they’re your future.
Back to the beginning.
What
do you need to budget for?
Well
its isn’t for the most expensive things you can find, as some people will tell
you.
The
most important thing is to set yourself a budget and stick to it!
Make
sure you have enough money in your account to sustain you for the next 6
months. That means pay your rent and shop expenses together with your general day-to-day
living costs. Things are not as easy as they were 25 years ago. There are more
and more barbers opening every day, and many will under cut you to try and put
you out of business. I know they have tried with me on many occasions. The
hairdressing industry is the largest service industry on the high street today.
Pick your spot well.
Know your area, the people in it, do your research, make price comparisons and most important of all……ADVERTISE……..!!!! Its false economy not to.
There’s
not point in having Million $ salon if no one knows your there,
There
are more and more hairdressing suppliers popping up every day, so sourcing your
products is not a problem, in fact it’s the fun part.
Be
original, on many occasion I have bought mirrors from places like John Lewis,
even antique shops, instead of paying the over inflated prices that some of the
more well know suppliers ask.
The equivalent
styling station from a well-known Italian company would have cost me £1,800
each.
Its
not what you spend its how you spend it.
If you are going to splash out:
Then
make sure you have a decent floor to stand on. Good flooring is essential if
you can afford it. It’s a pain in the back side if you have to replace after a
couple of years, as most floor layers will want you to empty the entire
contents of the salon before they start.
A
decent frontage, with a visible sign advertising your services. Most people
will walk past a shop day in, day out for years and still not know what’s there
unless it shouts out at them. Get peoples attention
I
believe in spending a large chunk of my budget on advertising. Newspapers &
Leaflets. Offer introductory discounts like 20% off with this add till the end
of the month. Keep the coupons and see what kind of response you get. This will
inform you what works best in your area, newspapers or leaflets. If you can run
a regular add in the local paper for at least 6 wks. They will normally give
you a heavy discount for regular advertising. Keep knocking them down, you will
be surprised how much you can get it for.
Decent
barbers chairs are always a good investment, but can cost you any where from
£1,200 upwards. Yes many suppliers will offer you finance deals but try and
keep your overheads down at the beginning. First make sure you can pay the
rent! £350-£500 will get you a decent enough chair that will last you for the
first 2-3 years, just remember to keep tightening the screws. It’s easy to
borrow money but paying it back can be tough.
Good
lighting is important if you want your clients leaving with a step free cut.
Try and get a decent clean light running through the salon with no shadows. It doesn’t
have to be expensive. Don’t go to John Lewis for this, a
decent electrical wholesaler will do fine.
And
lastly the one thing no barber should ever compromise on! A good quality
scissors.
Bellow is a picture of my
1st shop 3 years after opening. Averaging over 450-500
clients a week.
All on a £5,000 budget
That’s
about it!
But
before you do anything, write a business plan. But only if you want to succeed?
It
isn’t rocket science, and not everyone can run his or her own business but if
you get it right you will never look back.
Just
remember a good chef doesn’t always make a good restaurateur. But most
importantly a great barber doesn’t always make a good business man/woman.
Know
your limitations and be the best in what you do.
