FROM THE CHAIR

JAMES ( JIMMY ) O’BRIEN

2023 HAS STARTED WITH A BANG!! AFTER YEARS OF HARD TIMES FOR ALL BUSINESSES IT SEEMS THAT PERIOD HAS PASSED AND IS NOW BEHIND US. LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE, IT’S ALL UP FROM HERE. AGAIN, I START BY ASKING ‘WHERE IS YOUR BUSINESS GOING? WHAT IS THE PLAN?’ WITH THE WORD RECESSION NOW IN THE CONVERSATION ALONG WITH RISING INTEREST RATES, UPDATING YOUR BUSINESS PLAN IS SOMETHING YOU SHOULD DO NOW. WAGES ARE GOING UP, RENT IS INCREASING! START HAVING A PLAN IMMEDIATELY. LOOK INTO ACQUIRING A BOOKKEEPER TO HELP YOU SETUP A CASH FLOW FORECAST. IT IS YOUR NUMBER ONE TOOL IN BUSINESS.

Barber shop owners need to take on more apprentices now! If not, the pain in finding staff will become harder and harder. Senior barbers are asking for $30 or more an hour.

I think that is great, but you need to be able to bring in 3x the wage. This has been the industry standard for as long as I have been in barbering. Recruiting barbers from other businesses, specifically apprentices, are an incessant occurrence at the present time. While we are funding the training and development of these apprentices they are being poached by other businesses prior to the completion of their qualification. Rather than cowardly undermine other chains and purposefully headhunt barbers, who have spent money and time to educate these apprentices, employers should be investing their own finances and offering job vacancies to young and unemployed members of the community, who are interested in obtaining a barbering apprenticeship. More stores are opening but the increase in training doesn’t match the growth in apprentices. I receive so many emails each week from people who want to start barbering but shop owners don’t want to put them on because they have no experience. Just remember, someone gave you the opportunity so let’s pay it back! I respect all business leaders, specifically in an industry like barbering, where it has expanded so quickly. As a result of this development and the requirement to maintain industry standard, healthy competition between chains is expected. However, barbers should also be working together to strengthen the trade in its entirety. I have partnered up with The Barber Academy to help with the education of my apprentices. So, I asked Gareth, CEO and Founder, to describe what The Barber Academy is about.

The Barber Academy’s vision for what their students experience, learn and achieve at their institution, is a meticulously well thought out program that culminates from the benefits of his years of experience in the Registered Training Organization trade across many varied industries.

Couple this with their enthusiasm for the Barbering and Men’s Grooming Industry and their tendency to think outside the box in terms of how they gather all the information and skill sets, both practical and theoretical, Gareth feels their students need to complete their courses at The Barber Academy. And we see not only a cracking team of highly skilled in-house educators but also many specialists from all facets of the industry involved to achieve the goal of giving their students the best start they can. The results are speaking for themselves with the numbers of Barber Academy Alumni successfully being placed in employment upon graduating.

More barber schools, more apprentices and let’s work together to build a barber industry that continues to grow for years to come.

Barber Expo 2023!! I can’t wait to go to a barbering expo again, it has been too long.

A big shout out to the team at Cutthroat Journal for hosting such an amazing expo. Beers, barbers and banter…

Live fast & look sharp

Jimmy Rod