Have you ever wondered what it takes to start a successful and highly profitable
barbing salon business
in Nigeria? The barbing salon equipment, tools and kits needed to make
your business a huge success and the talk of the town? Or how to draw a
good barbing salon business plan?
You’ll find answers to
all of those questions in this guide.
After carrying out an
absolute feasibility study on barbing salon businesses in Nigeria, I decided to
share this guide with as many as are interested in setting up a standard
barbing salon business in Nigeria.
But before we begin to dive deep into the main lesson I’ll start from
basics because of people who might be finding some terms confusing or
difficult to understand due to grammatical differences.
What is a barbing salon?
In Nigeria, a barbing salon is basically a shop people visit to get
haircuts; other services may include hair treatment, dying, dreading and
other beauty-related services.
Many barbershops in Nigeria render all the aforementioned services,
so that explains why Nigerians prefer to call it a barbing salon.
How much do barbing salon owners
make?
The answer to that
question is subjective, as there are many factors that will determine how much
you can make from a salon business.
Factors include:
- Location
- Quality of
shop & services
- Number of hours
put into the work
- Cost per
head for haircuts, etc.
The average price for haircuts in Lagos suburbs is ₦300; while in
towns like Lekki, Victoria Island, Magodo, etc. you may require within the range
of ₦700 to ₦1 000 for one haircut.
Bearing all that in
mind, for 20 haircuts a day, a salon located in Lagos suburbs will rake in ₦8 000
per day; while a salon located in the town could rake in as much as ₦20 000 a
day.
Established salons in
busy areas cut way, way higher than just 20 hair per day.
If we calculate on the
high side, ₦ 20, 000 per day × 30 days in a month gives you ₦600 000/month.
So in summary, a well-established
salon in a good location could earn as high as ₦600 000 monthly, which is above
the ₦500 000 I promised.
Consider the extra ₦100
000 a bonus. 🙂
With all the figures above, it’s not hard to judge that some barbers are actually millionaires. Some of them earn a lot higher than degree holders.
Barbing salon kits, tools &
equipment:
Every business
requires certain kits, tools and equipment to be run effectively, so does a
barbing salon. However, you can do without some of those appliances and kits,
while some of them are extremely important and can’t be overlooked.
To run an effective barbing salon business you need the following kits, tools & appliances:
- Standard rotatable barber chairs
- Quality Clippers
- Standby Generator
- Sterilizers
- Standing fans, ceiling fans, and/or Air Conditioners
- Cover Clothes
- Wall mirrors
- Cosmetics (Hair creams, sprays, dyes, relaxers, conditioners, facial powders, etc.)
- Miscellaneous tools (combs, scissors, blades, tissue papers, etc.)
- Towels & towel warmer
- Entertainment system
- Waiting-chairs
- Lightning, wiring & power sockets
- Furniture (decorations, cupboard, tables, etc.)
- Barbing salon pictures & wallpapers, etc.
Barbing salon business plan in
Nigeria
At first, I thought of publishing a barbing salon business plan in
PDF format for easy download; but then again I had a reconsideration and
thought of just posting it here since the whole process is not so
complicated. Barbing salon is surprisingly very easy to setup.
Notwithstanding, you
must still have a good business plan in place so that you don’t get stranded
along the line.
1. Discover a lucrative location
Location matters a lot
in any business. So, if you’re really interested in making a minimum of ₦500
000 per month from your barbing salon, you must discover the most lucrative
location around you.
What defines a
lucrative location?
- Highly
populated
- Good value
per haircut
- Not too
many established potential competitors
The above three requirements
are the most important things to consider when choosing a location for your
business.
2. Find out what it costs to set up a Barbershop in your location
If you’ve been asking the question “what does it cost to set up a
barbing salon in Nigeria?” The answer to that question is: there’s no
definite cost required.
It all depends on your
location and how big you want to start.
Some salons could cost
you as much as ₦2 000 000 to start up; while some can go for as low as ₦200 000.
Most lucrative
locations usually require more capital. But the good thing is, your capital
will be realized within the first few months of launching the business.
Also, if you want to
start a salon that can accommodate just one barber, then you’ll also end up
spending less. But if you want to start up a salon that can accommodate as much
as 4-6 barbers, you’ll end up spending more.
Furthermore, the number, quality, and size of gadgets and appliances
also contribute a lot to the overall cost required to set up your
barbing salon.
3. Rent and furnish your shop
When you find a good location, make sure you snap up that location as
soon as possible. The reason is, you never can tell how many people are
having the same plans as you.
Good locations are usually hotcakes. If you’re staying in a very busy
town, then I believe you’ll get a better picture of what I’m saying.
I earlier made mention
of the barbing salon kits, tools and equipment needed to run a successful
business.
Everything I listed above is extremely important. Some people do not
like patronizing salons that default in any of them. So if you really
want to make ₦500 000 you must not default on any of them.
4. Give your barbing salon an epic name
Branding plays an
important role in the success of any business; that’s why you must choose an
epic and memorable name for your barbing salon.
A name that’s interesting,
intriguing and easy to remember.
I believe some of the
barbershops you can recall now have easy-to-remember names. If they didn’t you’d
have found it difficult to recall their names.
Another reason you
need to give your business an epic name is that it’ll have a greater chance of
spreading fast within your community and it’ll be very easy for people to
describe your barbing salon to others.
5. Employ quality barbers
This depends on how you plan to run your business. Do you want to be
the one working there, or you want to employ barbers that will work for
you and give you daily or weekly returns.
Whichever it is, you
must be ready to deliver the best quality services to customers that come to
your shop.
If you’re the one that will be in charge of your barbershop, then you
must learn all how to barb. In fact, you must be an expert barber.
If you’re not an expert barber, I’d advise you to stay clear of your business and learn for a while from another person.
The reason is, a new business must deliver only the best services. If not, you’ll lose customers even before you make them.
On the other hand, if you’ll be making use of the services of other
barbers that will give you daily or weekly returns, then those barbers
must possess all the qualities necessary to grow a new shop.
Don’t entrust your new
shop to the hands of a learner. If you do, your business will be on the road to
failure.
6. Get a license
Make inquiries about what license you need to get for your business
as applied to your location. This will help you avoid any form of
embarrassment from government or union officials.
7. Create awareness around your location
What do you do before
and after you launch a new business? Do you just sit in your shop waiting for
luck?
If you want to succeed
at your barbing salon business, then you must create an early awareness immediately
you launch your business.
Here are ways you can
create awareness for your new business:
- Banners
& Posters
- Fliers
- One-on-one
conversations
- Advertisement
(Local radio or TV station)
- Social
media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
Creating awareness is not limited to the options above. Just find out what’s convenient and easy for you.
8. Make good early impressions
In the barbing salon business, the first impression matters a lot.
Bad news spread faster than good news. So, if you want to succeed in
your business, don’t give the community any bad news about your
business, especially not within the first few weeks.
When people visit your
shop, give them the best treatment possible. Be friendly and polite to
customers; and above all, give them the best haircut possible.
With all that, you’ll win over new customers and the news about your salon will spread like wildfire in your community.
I have shared tips that can help you start a successful barbing salon business in Nigeria. If you have any contributions to this piece, you can let us know using the comment section below.
Every opinion is welcome
🙂