For new barbers starting out in the industry, it's important to consider how many clients you need to keep busy and bring home a sizeable income. One way to build your book is to consider the potential hours within the day (while also considering the real hours of productivity each day and how to fill capacity, maximize quality and obtain your revenue goal.) Here are a few ways to fill your book and make sure that you're maximizing your potential.

1) Focus on your time. One of the best ways to begin conducting your day is to take a look at your per-day hours. How many clients can you fit into a 9-hour day? Well, the truth is, as many as you want or need. That's the beauty of our industry. To understand your capacity, look at how long each service takes and then look at the schedule of a typical week. How much time is being booked and how many total clients are you seeing? This is where we can start making adjustments.

2) Consider the cost of your services. In addition to reviewing the hours planned for services, it’s important to look at the cost of the services being scheduled. How can you combine these factors into one smooth experience for the client AND into a worthy investment of your time? Barbering has traditionally been at a lower ticket price for far more reasons that we can explain here today, but taking a moment to "do the math" is never a bad idea to help you strategize. Think about ways you can add additional services to each appointment or map out the next few appointments for your client to help them achieve a specific look. This brings us to…

3) Focus on the customer experience. You should always consider your client's needs before their arrival, during the visit, and after they leave. When a client has a great experience and feels “heard” they’ll remember to re-book or go for the add-on you suggest during their next appointment. Like we mentioned in point #2, mapping out your client’s next few appointments or drafting an action plan to help them get a certain look can put extra money in your pocket now and guarantee more money in the future. Need help perfecting the experience your customers have? You can use our Make More Money with Clients online class.

MiladyPro Tip: Depending on your demographics, what one service may be titled or provided in one area, may not be the exact same type of name, service or even price for the matter. A "blowout" in cosmetology means to use a round brush to blow dry hair providing elasticity and/or straighten while the same "blowout" in barbering would mean a lower temple fade & nape fade. Even further, that same "blowout" is called a taper fade. Understanding proper verbiage could be key to some additional revenue and connection with your clients. You always want to be clear and consistent with your questions to make sure everyone is all on the same page.

Now let’s put it all together with one example:

It may take you 30 minutes to provide a standard service & one hour to complete a full service (full service could include: mini facial, brow touch up, beard, etc.) If this is the case, you can either do 18 standard haircuts, 9 full-service haircuts or mix it up a bit and do 3 full service & 12 standard haircuts within a day. This should give you an idea of how to structure day-to-day time, services & become creatively appealing to your clients. Suppose your price for a standard 30-minute haircut is $25 and your full service is $50. You want to know “whom” your target clients are and whether or not it’s a $25 client, a $50 client, or both. Now, if you scheduled your day to provide 6 standard haircuts and 6 full-service clients for a total of 9 hours, you will have earned roughly $450 for the day (not including tips.) Is this a good day for you? If yes, great! If not, how would you adjust your day? Take a moment to think, pen your ideas, and plan it out.

Practicing these disciplines will put you in a position to show your clients the value you have for them while providing the best service in a timely manner. This is always a plus! A nice twist to the old saying, "quality should be significantly greater than quantity" because if your services are timed to perfection, the buck will come. Just remember: work hard, have fun, and never put a cap on your capacity. 

Photo: Shutterstock | Parilov

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