Consider this week a setup week. I'm going to slowly roll out, step-by-step, what you'll need to track in order to become the prosperous barber you know you were meant to be. This issue will set the foundation for the 4-Rs that we'll talk about here in the journal and in the insiders club.
- Revenue
- Retention
- Referrals/Reviews
- Retirement
The first three must be tracked to make the retirement number a reality, which is most important.
Mental Health System — Know Your Mental and Physical Numbers
When you go to the doctor, the nurse takes your vitals: blood pressure, heart rate, height, weight, things like that. When I work with a client, I operate from the numbers that determine how mentally healthy you are.
Your mind and body keep score whether you look at the ledger or not, and two numbers matter more than the rest. The first is how many selfcare days you actually need in a month to stay level. The second is how many days you are able to work and still remain at your best. I mean sharp with clients, patient at home, and present enough to notice your own needs instead of just reacting to everyone else's.
Research out of Stanford by economist John Pencavel gives hard work a strong boundary. His analysis of worker output found that productivity falls off sharply after 55 hours in a week, and beyond 70 hours the extra time produces almost nothing more than the 55-hour week already delivered. Working longer past a certain point doesn't build your business. It spends hours you won't get back for a return you already collected.
Today, track the mental numbers:
- How many hours a day can you work and remain at your best?
- How many days a week?
- What is your selfcare routine and how often do you need to implement it? (Daily? Weekly? Monthly?)
Money System — The Three Numbers That Drive the Fourth
Every barber I work with eventually asks the same question: how am I going to retire? The answer starts with three numbers you have some control over.
Revenue is the first. Many of the barbers I talk to have a clientele and are making money beyond the chair, but they need more. They need multiple revenue streams. I talked about this in issue 4. But before we start adding revenue streams, we increase their current pricing. If your costs have gone up and your prices haven't, you are financing your business out of your own retirement account without realizing it.
Retention is the second, and this number is often driven by customer service. Increasing retention can be as easy as adding one low-cost addition for you that becomes something a client can use every visit. You can price it as a small upsell they gladly pay because they can't get it anywhere else. I have ideas, I'll share them over the next few issues. An add-on that costs you almost nothing to deliver but earns you a few extra dollars every single visit compounds faster than most barbers expect.
Referrals and reviews are the third. Most of your clients would happily refer you or leave a review. They just haven't been asked. Asking is part of the strategy, but you also have to have a place for them to post the reviews or a link they can give their friends to refer them to you. The reviews are indirect referrals. They are telling strangers how talented and reliable you are.
Revenue, retention, and referrals are the three inputs that build the fourth number. Retirement is what happens when the first three stay healthy long enough to compound.
Business System — What Numbers? How? Where?
Before you can improve any of the numbers above, you need a way to see them. If you don't currently track your numbers in any consistent way, your first move is research. Find the simplest tool that fits how you already work and commit to using it. You can ask a colleague what they are using or I can help you find it if you book a private conversation with me.
If you are already collecting the data, the next question is are you actually analyzing and utilizing it? Is the data just sitting in an app you barely open? That's not helping you, but congratulations on having the data. Now let's take the next step and see what it says about what's working.
And if you are analyzing and utilizing your numbers to understand what's working and more importantly what's not working, the final question is crucial. Are you using what you see to plan for retirement? If not, it's time to get started.
And you've already taking the first step...you're now more aware.
Did You Know?
Barbers are known for sharing what they learn. "The Wealthy Barber," published in 1989 by David Chilton, told the story of a fictional barber named Roy who dispensed financial planning wisdom to his clients from the chair, built around one core principle: save and invest ten percent of everything you earn.
The book sold more than two million copies and became a Canadian financial classic, and the principle it borrowed from traces back even further to "The Richest Man in Babylon."
You can't wait until you are wealthy to start saving and investing. You have to save and invest to become wealthy.
From the Chair
Everything you need is here! One link, all the resources, click here!
While you're in the chair this week waiting on your next client, be sure...
- You're subscribed to the Prosperous Barber Journal. Click here
- You've shared this journal issue with a barber in your circle.
- Answer the questions and try the exercises I suggest.
- Watch the current episode of the "What Keeps You Up at Night" video podcast, I talk about my own retirement challenges.
- Explore this week's Less Than 30 option. Each week we offer a session that takes less than 30 minutes and costs less than $30.
Everything you need is here! One link, all the resources, click here!
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If this issue made you think of someone, forward it. You probably know at least one barber who needs it. And if you aren't yet subscribed, make it official: prosperousbarber.com/journal
See you sooner. Love you muchly.
Kiné
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