The barbershop launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 51 steps in 8 phases, 24 of them specific to a barbershop. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan51 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
A barbershop makes money by keeping chairs full and barbers happy.
Typical for one unit is $180,000 to $560,000 a year; the owner keeps 20 to 28% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
~50% survive 5 years. Roughly half of all new U.S. employer businesses are still operating after five years.
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: if a busy shop with loyal barbers and a solid lease is available at a fair price, and you can keep the barbers through the transition, buying delivers cash flow and a clientele you... Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
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Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
Opening a barbershop is mostly chairs, stations and the room around them.
The itemized cost to open9 lines
- Barber chairs, shampoo stations, towel cabinet & laundry: $4,200 to $27,800A commercial hydraulic barber chair runs about $830 to $3,900; a backwash shampoo unit about $800 to $3,300
- Stations, mirrors, front counter, waiting & retail fixtures: $3,300 to $18,900
- Shop tool kits & station smallwares: $600 to $9,500Many barbers bring their own clippers and shears
- POS hardware, TV, Wi-Fi & cameras: $500 to $7,000
- Sign & barber pole: $1,800 to $7,300
- Opening back-bar & retail stock: $2,000 to $8,000
- Build-out & shampoo plumbing: $15,800 to $66,000The biggest swing; a second-generation shop needs a refresh, a raw shell needs walls, lighting, power and new drains
- Licenses, permits, fees, insurance & deposits: $10,000 to $32,000State shop license, building and sign permits, lease review, first premium, lease and utility deposits
- Initial working capital: $12,000 to $20,000Payroll and marketing through the ramp and 3 to 6 months of reserve
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- SBA 7(a) loan (Up to $5M · up to 10 yr (25 with real estate) · 75-85% guaranteed)The usual way to open or buy a shop: it funds the build-out, chairs, working capital or the purchase price.
- SBA 504 loan (Up to 25 yr · real estate & major fixed assets)For owners buying the building too.
- Equipment financing (Secured by the equipment)Chairs, backwash units and stations can be financed or leased through the dealer or an equipment lender, secured by the gear itself, which keeps cash free for the build-out.
- Seller financing (Often 5-20% of price · 3-7 yr)Common when buying an existing shop.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
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Find and secure the spaceone to three months
Like any storefront, a barbershop lives and dies on location.
What decides it for this business: steady foot traffic, right neighborhood demographics, strong visibility & signage, easy parking or walkability, complementary neighbors.
One call to the planning desk with the address: is this use allowed there, and what will it take (, permits, health department plan review, fire sign-off)? A space that needs a change of use can add months.
Rent, free months for the , who pays for what, the and the renewals, subject to financing and permits. The lender needs this letter or a draft lease to take your application.
After: ,, renewal options, increase caps, what the landlord adds on top of rent, and what happens if you have to leave. For a location business the lease is part of the purchase price.
After:at minimum; property, workers’ compensation and the rest as the business needs. The landlord asks for a certificate at signing and the lender at closing.
Walk the floor plan and the equipment list, then get contractor quotes. The lender wants the quotes; the health department wants the plan.
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Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the or draft lease, the and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
After:The lender approves against the ; you sign the lease once approved; the loan closes against the signed lease and the insurance certificate. Ask for the to match the or longer.
After:
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Permits and the build-outone to three months
Barbering is a licensed trade in every state: each barber needs a license, and so does the shop itself.
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:The health department reviews the layout, the sinks, the refrigeration and the finishes before you build. Building first and fixing later is the most expensive mistake in food.
After:For any , new shampoo bowl plumbing or station circuits, pulled by your contractors and closed out by inspection.
After:Local approval for the storefront sign and barber pole, usually with the landlord’s sign-off too.
Register your or corporation and get a city or county business license.
State registration to collect tax on the retail product you sell.
A shop or establishment license from your state barber board (a combined barbering and cosmetology board in some states), usually issued after an inspection of the finished shop.
Every barber who cuts in the shop, booth renters included, needs a current state barber or cosmetology license displayed at the station.
A public performance license (ASCAP, BMI and others) if you play music in the shop.
Fire-marshal review of exits, extinguishers and load, after the build and before the .
After:Local sign-off that the space is approved for a barbershop, before the doors open.
After:Local sign-off that the space is approved for a barbershop, before the doors open.
After the build, with the refrigeration cold, the facility clean, a certified manager on site and the final menu in hand. The permit comes after the inspection; post it where customers see it.
After:
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Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
Online booking, rebooking reminders, and waitlists fill chairs and cut no-shows; barber-specific tools also manage each barber’s book and commission.
A POS built for service businesses handles tips, splits commission, and rings up retail, and card processing is part of every , so the rate matters.
Barbering licenses for the shop and chairs, plus general and professional liability, are to operate, and protect you when a service goes wrong.
A dedicated account separates service , booth rent, and retail from personal money, essential for clean books and any future sale.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Federal plus state withholding, unemployment and workers’ compensation once you hire.
After:Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Owners usually post the jobs a month out and hire two to four weeks before opening so training happens before the doors open.
Open & setup: Sanitize stations, check the day’s bookings, and ready the shop. Daytime: Barbers run a mix of booked regulars and walk-ins. After-school & evening: The kids’-cut and after-work rush.
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
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Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
Empty chairs & utilization; Barber pay & retention; Rent & location.
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
You are building an asset you can sell.