When you work as a barber, you want to ensure the time and talent you put into each cut is represented in your earnings. But you also want to ensure that you’re offering fair and transparent pricing to customers.

Finding that balance is easier said than done. You want to create a pricing strategy that reflects your experience, services, investment, and the types of clients you want to attract, all while staying competitive in your area.

Fortunately, there are ways to solve this puzzle. If you’re dedicated to making a barber price list that matches your services perfectly, these tips can help you manage the process while building customer trust and remaining profitable.

Determining Your Barbershop’s Gross Operating Cost

Your prices will vary depending on stylist experience, location, and competition. But at a minimum, you’ll need to determine how much to charge for your business to survive and thrive.

With that, the most critical step in establishing your price list is to work out how much your business costs to operate. From there, you can set prices that will meet your financial needs.

Step 1: Identify Operational and Overhead Costs

First, identify your daily operating and overhead costs—those recurring expenses you rack up from day-to-day operations.

In a barbershop, these might include:

• Products (shampoo, shaving cream, etc.)
• Equipment (scissors, clippers, blow dryers, etc.)
• Furniture
• Monthly rent
• Licensing requirements
• Utility fees
• Wi-Fi
• Wages and payroll
• Insurance
• Business licensing
• Operational and booking software
• Marketing costs (if applicable)

When calculating your total expenses, make sure to include even the most marginal costs like an extra pack of combs. Accounting for even those seemingly insignificant expenses means you’ll have a more accurate picture of your total budget.

Step 2: Determine Your Profit Margin

Next, determine the profits you want to earn each year. Whether you’re starting with $50,000 or aiming for $100,000, meeting that number is the key. It will let you gauge whether the pricing you set has you just breaking even or puts you on the path to a prosperous future.

Step 3: Calculate the Cost for a Single Haircut

Now that you’ve determined the amount of money you need to earn annually, you can work backwards to come up with the right price for your services.

• Divide the number you need to earn by 12 for a monthly breakdown
• Divide your monthly breakdown by 4 to find your weekly breakdown
• Divide your weekly breakdown by the number of days your barbershop is open each week to find your daily breakdown

You can continue breaking this number down by hours in a day and minutes in an hour. All of these insights can give you a clearer picture of how much you need to earn to make good on your budget vs. turn a profit.

Once you’ve completed these calculations, you’ll have the gross per-minute operating cost for your barbershop—the amount of money your business spends per minute.

Step 4: Determine the Average Time to Deliver a Service

The next step of this process is to estimate the average time it takes for you or your barbers to deliver a great haircut or service.  

Let’s say it takes around 60 minutes to complete a haircut and beard trim. Multiply the average time this service takes by the operating cost per minute to determine your service price. So, if your gross operating cost per minute is 50 cents, a 60-minute service comes out to be $30.00.

Continue this process for each service you offer to determine its appropriate price. Be sure to consider services that may take more or less time, such as:

• Classic men’s haircut
• Fade haircut
• Beard trimming and grooming
• Haircut consultation
• Straight razor shave
• Kid’s haircut

Research Styling Prices in Your Area

Aside from ensuring you’re earning the minimum required to cover operating costs, you also want to make your pricing competitive. There’s really only one way to determine whether your haircut costs and service prices are competitive: by sussing out those of your competitors.

Take a day to look up other barbershops in the area to see how they price their services; then, adjust your haircut styles for men and shaves according to those.

Alternatively, you may decide to advertise your services at a lower rate than theirs to draw in more clients. This may be profitable for newer barbershops, but it’s not recommended for established businesses. If you’ve been in the neighborhood a while, your expertise and barbershop reputation can be used to your advantage when pricing.

Consider Implementing Price Tiers

Tiered pricing is another way to set prices for your barbershop services. With this method, you’ll price based on what each member of your professional barber team brings to the table.

For instance, are some stylists actively attending classes? Does any of your talent have unique skills that aren’t common in your area? Tiered pricing typically falls into four categories:

• Stylist reputation
• Stylist demand
• Stylist experience and education
• Product quality and price

As a general rule, the more qualified a professional barber or expensive the products, the higher you can price. So, be sure you know how to find a good barber for your team.

Plan, Price, and Prosper with SQUIRE

When building out your barbershop pricing list, it’s important to consider all the relevant factors. But no matter what price list you arrive at, be sure your customers know what to expect from your business.

Put your prices and services front and center with SQUIRE—the only solution designed exclusively to help barbershop business owners and managers minimize friction and drive profitability.

SQUIRE is the all-in-one platform that helps you manage bookings, organize schedules, and plan pricing. Available on the web, iOS, and Android, discover how SQUIRE lets barber professionals streamline their operations. Get started by requesting a demo with us today.