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So you want to be a barber? Great! I'm going to share with you how much barbers make per year, month, and week. In this article, we will cover everything from how much money do barbers make per year to what does a typical day looks like for most people in the profession. Let's dive in and find out just how much a barber makes per year.
How much a barber makes depends on their location and the number of haircuts they provide. However, industry averages point to an average salary of $35,000- $40,000 per year. This equals roughly $17 to $20 an hour.
However, this number drastically changes depending on a barber's location. In California, the average salary rises to $38,000 - $45,000 per year. This is because California has some of the highest rent prices in America.
For example, Barbers who live in New York City earn an average salary of $39,000 -$50,000. A good rule of thumb is the higher the living costs are, the more services costs.
Given an average of $35,000 a year, that's about $2,917 per month.
Finally, dividing the amount of money they earn per month by 4, Barbers make on average about $720 per week.
Like any service industry that accepts tips, it's common for barbers not to report the cash tips they earn on their taxes. So in order to give a proper estimation of how much a barber makes a year, we can do a little bit of math.
Let's say a barber works 6 days a week, has a few sick days and takes federal holidays off every year. That's an average of about 300 working days per year.
Now let's assume that a barber works 8 hours a day and provides 5 haircuts. Assuming this barber is in Michigan, the average cost of a men's haircut is about $25. That equals $125 per day and $750 per week.
That would equal about $39,000 before taxes per year. Right around our industry average.
However, if this barber makes $3 in tips for every haircut at 30 haircuts a week, they would bring in an extra $4,680 per year. That's a grand total of $43,680. Performing 1 more haircut per day would increase their annual income to over $52,000 a year including tips.
Barbers can make great money depending on their clientele, their location, and how much they charge per haircut.
For example, a barber in a lucrative location may charge $75 a haircut. Working 6 days a week and providing 5 haircuts a day would earn that barber over $117,000 a year!
With the assumption that the average American male gets a haircut every 3-4 weeks, that means you need 90-120 customers paying $75 a haircut.
However, before you get too excited, there's a reason the industry average is much much lower than this. Like any industry, you can't charge $75 for a haircut unless you're great at what you do. It takes time to build up a clientele, get reviews, and build a rapport.
Barbers can make great money if they work really hard to perfect their craft and market themselves every day. It's not impossible, but it's no easy feat either.
Another reason why the average annual salary of a barber is lower is because of the fees associated with renting a chair. Depending on the location and the space the barber is renting, they may have to pay a percentage to the shop owner or be paid by the shop owner. These commissions can be as high as 30%.
You could also simply rent a chair, and depending on the location this could cost anywhere from a hundred to a few hundred dollars a week. Our barber making $117,000 a year may need to spend $300 to rent a chair per week, or $15,000 a year.
However, if you have the initial capital to rent out your own shop, it could allow you to keep a majority of the profits to yourself. Additionally, if the shop is large enough, you could have other barbers rent chairs from you and give you 30% of their profits.
Social media can be a huge help when trying to grow your barber business. By building a following on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok you can attract new customers as well as promote your services. It's also a great way to remind your current clients to come back and schedule a haircut.
Depending on if you're renting a chair or if you own your shop, having a professional website to promote your business can be very beneficial. By creating an online presence, customers will get more of an idea of who you are and how professional the barber experience is at your location.
Better yet, in today's digital world people love scheduling appointments online. It's much more convenient for you because you don't have to manage your phone as much and easier for your customers.
The best way to get customers is through your past clients. If you want to earn more money, it's important that you provide quality service and build relationships with each client. Not only will referrals help fill up your shop during slow times but they are also less likely to leave for other barbers if they have good experiences working with you.
Listing your barber business on online directories such as Yelp, Google Business, and Bing can be a great way to get more customers. The key is ensuring that you have good reviews from past clients so prospective customers feel comfortable booking an appointment with you.
If they see a lot of negative feedback it will make them much less likely to consider you as an option.
Finally, digital advertising can be a great way to get customers into your shop. You don't need much capital to start advertising online and it's an easy method that you can test out with small amounts of money. While the initial customer acquisition cost may be high, if your customer retention is more than a few months, the initial cost may be worth it.
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