I'm in Nice, France right now, and I walked past a barbershop the other day that charges €30 for a kids cut. That was the base price, but they also offered other kid services. This shop only cuts kids, but there are some that are barely charghing this for adults. Btw, this is $35 in USD.

That made me think about two things that affect your mental health, your money, and of course, your business.

This Week's Focus

The two points are:

• Price yourself right for your target market
• Find your niche, stick to it, and make a name for yourself

This issue we are going to address the first one and next week I'll talk about finding your niche, sticking to it, and how to make a name for yourself.

Mental Health System

When your price is too low, your stress is too high. I mentioned a few of these last week, like worrying about your bills while you are working and saying yes to every client because you want to feel safe financially, even when you have family functions or need to rest.

But there are other mental pressures that come up when your price is too low.

• thinking about the barber next to you who is priced right and wondering how they are able to do that and keep their clientele
• feeling rejected and wondering if there is something wrong with you when your clients complain about the price
• deciding that you can't raise the price if your clients are already complaining
• thinking about a side hustle or another job because the money gap keeps getting bigger

These thoughts distract you from what you should be doing. Giving the best customer service you can, looking for ways to innovate, and being totally present with your clients.

When you are priced too low, you feel it, but your clients feel it too. They may not say it out loud, but they can leave the shop feeling like something was missing, and then they go and pay another barber the price you should be charging.

That is the part that creates even more confusion. You start to wonder why they would pay someone else more, but complain when you try to move your price closer to where it should already be.

Low pricing can also lower the quality of your service without you meaning for it to happen. If you do not have enough money left to buy better products, replace tools, take a class, fix what is broken, or give yourself room to breathe, the client experience starts to feel it too.

Then the cycle gets heavier. The less money you make, the more stressed you feel. The more stressed you feel, the harder it is to serve well. The harder it is to serve well, the easier it is to believe you can't raise your price.

Your first action this week:

Admit you have a fear of rejection.

I know that's a lot to ask, but whether you're ready to admit it or not, this question may push you to the next step:

What stress would go away if I made $500 more per week?

Money System

How does $500 more per week sound to you? Does that number sound small or large?

It's about $2,000 more per month, and most of the barbers I talk to can get there by raising the price of their cut by only $10. Barbershop owners, especially those who also cut, can raise the price of the cut by the same $10 to $15 and raise booth rent by $25 to $50 to give themselves a $4,000 to $5,000 a month raise.

This is why pricing connects to the Money Cycle: Earn, Grow, Protect, Gift, and Enjoy.

When your price is too low, the first part of the cycle is already blocked. You are not earning enough from the work you are already doing, so it becomes harder to grow the business, protect your household, give generously, or enjoy the life you are working so hard to build.

A small price adjustment can change the whole flow of the business. That extra money can help you buy better products, upgrade tools, pay bills on time, save for slower weeks, invest in support, and stop making every decision from pressure.

It is not just about charging more. It is about creating enough room for the business to breathe.

Business System

One client I worked with in the US set a goal to get to $30,000 per month in his person income. So we had to first raise the shops revenue to raise his take home pay. He was already at $20,000, but he wanted more. The best part was he knew it was possible. He started with a Clarity Session with me and then went into the Design Phase. 

In the Clarity Session we determined what was holding him back from doing the things he knew he needed to do. Most of it came from what his parents taught him about money and success. With that clarity we moved into the Design Phase. As he listened to the Async audio sessions I made for him he became more confident and able to let go of his old money program. 

We noticed a few things he could do to get closer to the goal, and it wasn't about getting new clients. He was already cutting five days a week and was booked most weeks. What I encouraged him to do was to increase the value he was giving to the client and his staff and that way he could increase pricing and booth rental rates.

So here's the plan we created for him:

• raise the price of the haircut by $10, and if any of his clients weren't able to pay it, he could refer them to another barber in his shop
• raise his booth rent by $50 a week because he was helping the barbers get clients, and they were making enough to pay it
• add an internal product that he and the barbers could sell, with the barbers getting a flat-rate incentive on each product sold
• add a coaching product because he already owned three shops and wasn't ready to add a fourth, so he decided to teach what he had learned launching and growing barbershops
• add one premium service that clients were already asking for, but the shop was not currently offering

This was his plan to get his personal income to $30,000 per month. It would take him a few months to reach the full goal, but it did not take long to adjust the pricing, clean up the offers, start creating his first coaching product, and get him on a clear path.

In 30 days, he went from wanting more money to knowing exactly where the money could come from. That kind of clarity lowers stress because the business has direction.

Inside the Prosperous Barber Network

I'm building the world's largest global barber network offering mental health and money systems. The Prosperous Barber Network is for experienced barbers who already have a working business and want to build onto it with more structure.

This is not about starting from scratch. It is about taking the skill, trust, knowledge, and client experience you already have and turning more of it into systems.

The Founding Beta is open now.

Inside the network, you get immediate access to:

• Visualize Your Prosperous Life: an Async session is a powerful exercise that will help you see your true desires personally and professionally without anything in the way.
• Chair Sessions 101: a downloadable ebook giving you the exact framework you need to control the conversations you have with clients so you don't take on their stress and feel weighed down at the end of the day.
• one discussion topic each week with other barbers helping you take action toward your vision

The "stress and money" series will be added soon. You're already in, so there's nothing for you to do. You'll get a notification when it's ready.

This is for barbers who are committed to building systems for their business and don't want to do it alone. It is for barbers and shop owners who want to build with support, rhythm, and community.

Join the Prosperous Barber Network Founding Beta.

Did You Know?

When you raise your prices, some clients may complain even if they can afford it. A complaint does not always mean the price is wrong.

Sometimes it means the client got used to receiving more value than they were paying for. Your job is not to build your pricing around the loudest complaint. Your job is to build your pricing around the business you are responsible for running.

This is also why niching down matters. When you are clear about who you serve and the experience you provide, your price makes more sense to the right people.

From the Chair

In between clients, take time to lower your stress using one of the mental health tools I offer.

Also, start to think about what you can do to get your business to the right price if you find you're not already there. You do not have to jump to the highest price in your market overnight, but you do have to stop pretending low prices are not costing you something.

If you want to build with us, the Prosperous Barber Network Founding Beta is open now.

Join the Prosperous Barber Network Founding Beta.

I'll see you sooner. Love you muchly!

Kiné

P.S. Send this issue to a barber you respect. Tell them to click here to subscribe.