Barbers, unlike tailors, are gems that need to be treasured. And everyone knows this, so they command a lot of respect. If you want to try your hands at this respected craft, there are a few things you need to know:
Get wallpapers with Ludacris on every one of them
See, this is an age-long tradition, and it works. If you want anybody to take you seriously, have different wallpapers of people rocking cool hairstyles. It doesn’t matter if you can carve out these styles or not; nobody cares about that. At the centre of these wallpapers and pictures, there must be Ludacris staring back. This is the icing on the cake – the one person that will establish your credibility.
Have a banging playlist
This is a fool-proof way to get people to your shop. The loud music blaring from the speakers is the map that will direct their steps to you. If you fail at this, you can only record some mediocre success. You should be really concerned if a customer enters your shop without breaking into some dance moves or nodding their head in rhythm to whatever music is playing.
Your shop should double as a game centre
Your hustle must have a side-hustle. A spot inside your shop should be reserved for TVs and game consoles, preferably PS 3, and the latest football games. It just adds to the atmosphere of the shop and the overall barbing experience people will get from it, to be honest.
Rock some flamboyant hairstyle yourself
Your craft is show-biz of sorts. The way your hair looks will tell people if they are in safe hands. Also, you are allowed to go overboard with it – and you should really go overboard with it. Play with different hairstyles and splash them with different colours as you deem fit. The bottom line is that your hair has to draw attention to you.
Have your apprentices hover around you and your customer
Are you even a real barber if you don’t have one or two apprentices learning under you? The rule is simple; if you’re one of the best to ever do it, people will want to learn under you. And when is the best time for them to learn? Every time you have a customer. Have your apprentices stand over the customer and watch. Don’t ever ask your customer if they are comfortable with that. Also, if you are quite confident in your abilities, hand them the clipper sometime and ask them to have a crack at the customer’s hair.
Don’t know how to read the room
Granted, you need to have skills, but you also need to give your customers the best experience ever. There are different ways to do this but go for the lousy one. You have to talk to them from the moment they take a seat on the swivelling chair to the moment they leave. Ignore all the signs that might point to the fact that they don’t want your voice ringing in their ears. To be honest, they don’t know what they want, but you do, so you have to give them.
Never have change
This is of utmost importance. Every time you finish a cut and you are handed a note that is higher than you fee, you have to ransack your pockets and drawers for change. You won’t have enough, by the way. So you scurry to the next shop and look for it. There is a method to it, and you need to learn how to execute it effectively. It’s part of the experience after all.
