I spent years behind a chair.
And I think the industry has got itself into a stupid race.
Faster cuts.
Cheaper cuts.
More heads through the door.
Ten minutes.
Next.
Ten minutes.
Next.
Ten minutes.
Next.
That is not efficiency.
That is pressure.
I think a proper professional men’s haircut should be around £25, and the customer should get 20 to 30 minutes of someone’s time.
Enough time to do the job properly.
Enough money to make the job worth doing.
Stop Racing the Person in Your Chair
A ten-minute haircut sounds efficient until you have to do six of them an hour.
Then do it again.
And again.
All day.
Different hair.
Different requests.
Different personalities.
Someone is late.
Someone wants a skin fade when they booked a trim.
Someone changes their mind halfway through.
Someone wants to talk.
Someone wants silence.
And the clock keeps moving.
That pressure catches up with people.
Hands.
Back.
Shoulders.
Head.
Mood.
You cannot spend your working life racing the person sitting in front of you.
Eventually the cut suffers.
Then the customer suffers.
Then you do.
Give Them 20 to 30 Minutes
Twenty to thirty minutes gives you room.
Room to look at the hair.
Room to ask what the customer actually wants.
Room to tell them when something will not work.
Room to cut properly.
Room to check your work.
Room to style it.
Room to show them how to manage it at home.
And sometimes room to have a conversation.
That matters.
Hairdressing and barbering have always been human businesses.
£25 Is Fair
I think £25 for a professional men’s haircut is fair.
For the customer.
And for the person holding the scissors.
Four £25 cuts over two hours brings in £100.
Ten £10 cuts over the same period brings in the same £100.
But look at the working day.
One gives you breathing room.
The other gives you pressure.
Same revenue.
Very different stress.
Very different service.
And probably very different haircuts.
I know which business I would rather run.
You Have to Earn the £25
This is not an argument for putting the price up and carrying on doing average work.
If you want to charge more, become worth more.
Learn.
Improve.
Look at shape.
Understand density.
Understand hairlines.
Understand faces.
Understand what will still look good three weeks later.
A customer is not paying £25 for twenty-five minutes.
They are paying for everything you learned before they sat down.
The appointment is simply where they receive it.
Better Products Matter
The finish is part of the haircut.
You can spend half an hour creating a great shape and ruin it in thirty seconds with the wrong product.
Use something good.
Explain what it does.
Show the customer how much you used.
Show them how to recreate the finish.
That is not hard selling.
That is professional advice.
And if they buy the product, the economics improve without another person walking through the door.
A £25 haircut and a £25 styling product is a £50 customer visit.
Same appointment.
No extra haircut required.
That is smarter than shaving another three minutes off every customer.
Better Experience Matters
Premium does not mean chandeliers.
It means giving a damn.
Clean shop.
Clean tools.
Appointments roughly on time.
A proper consultation.
Good atmosphere.
A haircut checked before the cape comes off.
A proper finish.
Small things.
People notice them.
Cheap Has a Cost
There will always be somebody willing to cut hair for £10.
Fine.
Let them.
But cheap pricing usually demands volume.
Volume demands speed.
Speed creates pressure.
Pressure creates mistakes.
And rushed haircut after rushed haircut can turn a job people once loved into something they dread.
That is the part nobody puts on the price board.
Cheap has a cost.
Sometimes the barber pays it.
Your Time Is the Product
Hairdressers and barbers sell something they cannot manufacture more of.
Time.
You can buy another clipper.
Another chair.
Another box of product.
You cannot buy another Tuesday afternoon.
Once those 20 or 30 minutes have gone, they have gone.
So give the customer the time.
Cut their hair properly.
Use good products.
Give them a proper finish.
Then charge enough to make the job sustainable.
For me, that means around £25 for a proper men’s haircut.
Not ten quid for ten rushed minutes.
A good barber should be able to do good work, take their time and still make a decent living.