The 7 Figure Barber : Ladders of Making Money for Barbers
Ignore Google. The average Barber Salary is not $35,000. Google doesn’t know better because barbers have a history of underreporting taxes which likely contributes to inaccurate estimates. For this blog, I want to talk about the differences between the 5-figure barber, the 6-figure barber and the 7-figure barber. Yes, the million dollar barber. Believe me, they are out there.
Nathan Barry wrote a blog called “The ladders of wealth creation: a step-by-step roadmap to building wealth”. He introduced a visual of 4 ladders. The higher you climb, the higher your earning potential. The difficulty and skill set required gets more and more advanced as you move from ladder to ladder. It’s a tremendous visual that inspired this blog post.
Let’s adapt the 4 ladders of wealth creation for barbers. As you read, consider what ladder you are currently climbing. What skills do you need to jump to the next ladder?
Free Money Management Template
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Free Money Management Template _
Making Money Behind the Chair
The majority of barbers are on this ladder. There’s nothing wrong with this, you may be here for your entire career and make a solid income that provides for your family. Your income will be determined by your haircutting skills and customer service skills. If you show up to work consistently and provide a great service, you’ll be just fine. But, depending on the location and the shop you are working at, it might be challenging to make 6 figures.
What this can look like:
W2 Employee: paid hourly + tips
Commission Shop: 60/40 or 70/30 splits
Salaried Manager: Franchise, Corporate Establishment
Renting a Chair with the ability to set your own prices and service menu
Making Money Behind Your Chair
You are the boss. You call the shots. You filed for your LLC or S-CORP. On this ladder, you probably still cut hair, but you’re now making money through the other chairs. Barbers are paying you booth rent. Barbers are splitting commission with you. When the barber sells a product, you also get paid.
You’ll need to be business savvy to succeed on this ladder. You will need to understand how to get a business license, manage profit and loss, manage inventory, hire and manage barbers, leverage a booking software, negotiate leases, partner with local businesses, run successful marketing campaigns to keep the shop busy and more. These are skills that ladder one doesn’t have to worry about, but you do.
Depending on how many suites or shops you own and the number of barbers that are on your team, you are probably making 6 figures.
What this can look like:
Owning your own suite
Owning a barbershop + cutting part-time
Owning multiple barbershops + cutting part-time
Making Money Beyond the Chair
We work in a multi-billion dollar industry. Companies that provide barber tools, styling products and technology spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing. They understand the value of barbers who have influence and they have partnered with them to sell their products.
On this ladder, you have become a consultant and will need to learn more advanced skills. You are no longer negotiating leases with the landlord. You are negotiating contracts with brands. You will need to learn how companies run, understand marketing budgets, quarterly planning, negotiating contracts and licensing of content. You’ll need to develop public speaking skills, how to design a powerpoint presentation, how to design and edit content for social media and more.
You are a kid in a candy store. Your eyes are opening. You can make money beyond the chair and the shop. Depending how you execute this ladder while also executing strategies from ladder 2, you could be pushing $250k.
What this can look like:
Teaching live workshops
Hosting barber events/expos
Locking in Affiliate Marketing partnerships
Monetizing YouTube/TikTok/Instagram Creator
Landing Paid Brand Sponsorships
Becoming a Paid Brand Ambassador
Making Money Selling Chairs
No, I don’t literally mean selling chairs. Unless you are Purcy or Takara Belmont. I mean you sell your own products. Welcome to the world of making money while you sleep. On this ladder, the sky’s the limit. You own the brand. It’s yours. But this is a different world of responsibility.
You do not get here overnight. It takes intentional skill development. You’ll need to learn product design, product roadmaps, supply chain, customer onboarding and support. You’ll learn revenue forecasting, budgeting, creating standard operating processes and managing managers.
One interesting observation about this ladder is that many of these individuals are not actually barbers. But, they likely have surrounded themselves by influential barbers (ladder 3) to consult them on industry trends.
What this can look like:
Selling Digital Products: online courses and ebooks/books
Selling a patented product that you own
Providing a Software as a Service
Listen to my Podcast
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Listen to my Podcast _
Industry Examples
If you look close enough, there are examples all around us. Let’s take a look at 3 barbers who are incorporating these various ladders together.
Vince the Barber
He cuts hair (celebrities), founded a barbershop (Grey Matter LA), frequently lands brand sponsorships (NFL, Google, The Shop), is a brand ambassador (Dior & Gillette) and founded a company that sells physical products (ByApptOnly). I met Vince at BarberCon LA and chatted for a bit. His humility blew me away. I think Vince has one of the most impressive resumes in the game right now. Also, I have 2 bags from ByApptOnly and they are legit!
He cuts hair, owns 6 barbershops (Headlines), is monetized on YouTube (400k subscribers), sells digital products (online courses and his 6 figure mentorship program), teaches live workshops, founded a company that sells physical patented products (Tomb45) and founded a company with a monthly subscription (PieAccounting). I met Bossio and he lives up to the hype. I think he is one of the most innovative and influential leaders in our industry. His resume speaks for itself.
I’m pretty sure Jay has low key retired from cutting hair, he makes money owning his barber suites/shops (Major Luxury Suites), running his barber academy (Major League Barbershop & Academy), partnering as a Brand Ambassador (Director of Community Relations for Squire, Creative Consultant for Conair aka Babyliss) and founded the world famous CT Barber Expo and Las Vegas Barber Expo. I am very grateful to have had multiple opportunities to learn from Jay. His story is truly inspiring and his impact in the industry is tremendous. His influence is bigger than we think.
So, what ladder are you on?
It takes skills to make money behind the chair, owning the chair, beyond the chair and selling chairs. When you evaluate it this way, it’s easier to recognize the differences between the 5 figure barber, 6 figure barber and 7 figure barber. I hope their stories are inspiring to you and represent what is truly possible within our industry.
So, enough about them. Let’s talk about you. Everyone has different goals. And like Biggie said ‘Mo Money, Mo Problems.’ Making millions isn’t always the goal. Making enough to support your family might be. And depending on your location and situation, you can definitely support your family with 5-figures.
Let’s close with a few questions to think about:
What ladder are you on?
What ladder do you want to be on?
If you want to jump to another ladder, what skills do you need to develop right now?
*Footnote. These ladders will make you money and making money is different than investing money. Someone can be amazing at making money but terrible at investing it. I’ll save that for another post.
**I host a podcast called Beyond Barber School that features more stories from barbers, educators and founders that are elevating the barber industry in and out of the shop. Check it out.
Written by Matthew Mendoza
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