Soapbox: Chair Rental and the Future of Barbering

"I  have been in the barbering industry for 26 years. I started cutting hair when I was 17 years old, and I went on to run my own shop at 23. Since then, I’ve won Wales’ Barbers of The Year 2021- 2022 and 2023-2024 as well as Welsh Business Woman of The Year 2022 at the National Business Women’s Awards. I have seen so many changes during my 20 years of running a business and survived some very difficult times, but one thing I’m starting to see have an impact on our industry is chair rental in salons.

"I invested in professional business coaching which changed the way I think and run my business and gave me an entrepreneurial mind set as a barbershop owner. For me, when you employ staff, you become a real entrepreneur, and when you rent your chair space your become a landlord. I believe you lose control over your brand and risk your brand’s reputation if your chair renters are unreliable or unprofessional, whereas with employed staff you have more control in how you set your standards. When you employ staff, you are in complete control and you can deliver that personal touch; from opening hours and prices to uniforms, retail and customer service. It’s a common misconception, but with self- employed staff you cannot legally tell them what to wear, what times to work and how to conduct their business. I do understand the employment model comes at a cost, and this is the reason why more salon owners are turning to chair rental.

"I believe that you can only make a decent wage from chair rental if you already have a following. For newly qualified barbers, the self-employment model doesn’t work financially. They will be left with a small income after paying their chair rental, plus they don’t receive the benefits that come with being employed, which seems unfair for those starting out in the industry. Whilst more salons are turning to renting their chairs to save on costs and time spent running a business, in the future we may see fewer employment models and less newly qualified barbers coming into the industry, because they won’t stand a chance in a chair rental environment.

"So, how do you run a barbershop successfully as an entrepreneur? You need to make sure prices are right for you; do not follow other salons as they have different financial circumstances to you and could be undercharging themselves. Keep your staff accountable with daily target sheets and ensure that they are profitable by hitting three times their wage each week. Employing a barber that’s not bringing in sales will weigh you down financially. We are a professional highly trained and skilled industry, and we should be charging clients for our skill and time just like any other profession. We need to level-up and set the standards instead of focusing on being cheap. If we can create opportunities to grow the industry by employing staff and supporting newly qualified barbers, we’ll see a generation of entrepreneurs – not landlords.”