State Of The Barber Industry: The 6 Figure Barber
This article originally appeared in my newsletter, theGuideline. Sign up and get trending barber content sent right to your inbox every Monday.
In case you missed last week's newsletter, we are running a special mini-series to close out 2023. Each week, we will share a theme related to the current State of the Barber Industry.
The themes are based on compiling observations from the content we have shared throughout this year. Let's talk about the next theme.
2023 was the year of the 6 figure barber. Everywhere we looked, it seemed like somebody was talking about how to become a 6 figure barber.
There were e-books, online courses and mentorship programs titled 6 figure barber this or $100k barber that. Social media was flooded with gurus talking that talk. At times it felt inspiring and other times felt cringe worthy.
Multiple paths
Similar to cutting hair, there are different paths to becoming a 6 figure barber. Instead of arguing over which path is the best, let’s just agree that barbers can make much more money than Google thinks we can.
What happened to hiding from Uncle Sam?
Here’s my question though: how did we go from hiding our income aka under reporting taxes, to all of a sudden publicly announcing how much money we made yesterday on social media? Some find it shocking that barbers would even post how much money they make in one day, for fear that the IRS is watching. Gotta make sure it all lines with that tax return you know?
Financial Empowerment Movement
Possibly sparked by influencers like Earn Your Leisure, there is a financial education and empowerment movement sweeping the culture. Millennials and Gen Z have become extremely interested in buying crypto, investing in the stock market and getting into real estate.
As we witnessed financial education content trending across social platforms, barbers wanted to join the conversation. It’s as if someone lit the Bat-signal to summon all the $100k barbers to reveal themselves.
So…why does this matter?
At the end of the day, the only person who should care about how much money you make is you. The problem is that many barbers don’t even know how much money they make. That’s the whole reason why I created the 21 day barber budget challenge at the beginning of the year.
We need to know how much money is coming in and how much money is going out. There’s really no point in trying to be a 6 figure barber if you don’t even know when you cross the $100k line.
I think all the educators making these courses and content can at least agree on that.
Written by Matthew Mendoza
Licensed barber, educator and consultant based in California. He is passionate about helping barbers pass their barber exam, develop their business and diversify their income. He hosts a podcast, writes a weekly newsletter for the modern barber and offers 1-on-1 consulting.
