Eight franchise brands run a barbershop. Here they are beside the independent version of the same business, with each brand’s fees as it publishes them and worked out in dollars. A brand can bring customers an independent has to earn one by one. The question is whether it brings in more than it costs.
Typical for a barbershop: $180k to $560k in sales, and the owner keeps 20% to 28% after paying for its own marketing. Change either to your own numbers.
Work each brand out at
How the two sides are counted
Sales. A brand’s name brings customers an independent wins one at a time, so each brand is worked out at the sales it reports where we have them, and at yours where we don’t.
Marketing. On your own you pay for all of it, about 3% of sales here (the SBA’s usual range for ongoing marketing). The ad fund does part of that job, so it is counted once, not twice.
Survival. New franchised businesses were about 5 to 6 points more likely to make it through their first two years in Census data, and about half of all new businesses close within five years. It is not in the dollars; each brand’s details give the sources.
The independent version
Your own barbershop
Built and run under your own name
Cost to open
$50k to $197k
Annual sales
$320ktypical
Franchise fee
None
Royalty + ad fund
Noneall marketing is yours
$76,800
The owner keeps in a year, after about $10k of marketing
Selective
Sport Clips
Men's haircuts
Total investment
$237k to $581k
Avg. annual sales
$416k to $419k
Franchise fee
$30k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 5% of sales
$67k
The owner keeps in a year at $418k in sales (what it reports), after $46k to the brand
$10k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Roosters Men's Grooming Center
Men's grooming and barbershop
Total investment
$238k to $373k
Avg. annual sales
$462k to $487k
Franchise fee
$40k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 2% of sales
$85k
The owner keeps in a year at $474k in sales (what it reports), after $38k to the brand
$9k more a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Knockouts Haircuts & Grooming
Men's haircuts and grooming
Total investment
$245k to $388k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$40k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 2% of sales
$58k
The owner keeps in a year at $320k in sales (your sales), after $26k to the brand
$19k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
V's Barbershop
Barbershop
Total investment
$265k to $631k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$40k
Royalty + ad fund
6% then 3.5% + 1% to 3%
$58k
The owner keeps in a year at $320k in sales (your sales), after $22k to $29k to the brand
$19k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Diesel Barbershop
Barbershop
Total investment
$361k to $503k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$45k
Royalty + ad fund
7.5% + 1% of sales
$53k
The owner keeps in a year at $320k in sales (your sales), after $27k to the brand
$24k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Floyd's 99 Barbershop
Barbershop
Total investment
$400k to $773k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 1.5% of sales
$58k
The owner keeps in a year at $320k in sales (your sales), after $24k to the brand
$19k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Scissors & Scotch
Barbershop with a bar
Total investment
$632k to $845k
Avg. annual sales
Ask the brand
Franchise fee
$50k
Royalty + ad fund
4% to 6.5% + 2% of sales
$56k to $64k
The owner keeps in a year at $320k in sales (your sales), after $19k to $27k to the brand
$13k to $21k less a year than on your own
Taking new owners
Hammer & Nails
Men's grooming and nail care
Total investment
$694k to $944k
Avg. annual sales
Franchise fee
$60k
Royalty + ad fund
6% + 2% of sales
$58k
The owner keeps in a year at $320k in sales (your sales), after $26k to the brand
$19k less a year than on your own
Free account
See all 8 barbershop brands side by side
Every brand’s investment and fees, and what the owner keeps against running your own
The yearly sales the first 3 report, and a plus to add brands to your comparison and benchmark them in your account
Members see the sales every franchisor reports, for every brand
Free, no card. A new account accepts the Terms and the Privacy Policy. smbnest is a self-assessment tool and never takes a cut of your deal or a fee from a franchisor.
Before you sign: what to read in the disclosure document
Every franchisor must give you its Franchise Disclosure Document at least 14 days before you sign or pay. These are the parts that answer the questions above.
Items 5 to 7, the fees and the investment. The franchise fee, every other fee (technology, training, transfer, renewal), and the full opening budget, including working capital.
Item 19, what owners earn. Whether the brand states owner sales or earnings at all, and for which units. Put its figures in the boxes above in place of the typical ones.
Item 20, units opened, closed and sold. How many owners left in each of the last three years, and a list of current and former owners you can call.
Item 12, the territory. Whether you get a protected area, and what the brand can open or sell inside it.
Item 21, the franchisor’s own finances. Whether the company behind the brand is in good health.
smbnest is a self-assessment tool, not individualized advice. Fees are as each brand publishes them on its franchising page and in its disclosure document, reviewed in the month shown, and change; the figures in dollars are worked out at the sales you enter and are not a forecast. We never take a cut of your deal or a fee from a franchisor. Before you sign, speak with a franchise attorney and a qualified financial adviser, and call owners from the disclosure document.
Your guidesmbnest
The guide is an automated assistant. Answers come from this business’s model, its sources and your plan; they are general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Talk to a person