Guy at my supply shop in Dayton said gross sales mean nothing, and that number hit me hard
I was standing in line at the barber supply place on Third Street in Dayton last week and two old timers behind me were comparing their shops. One of them said his chair rent went up twice in 2024 and the other guy goes "doesn't matter what you pull in, it matters what you keep." I keep turning that over in my head. I do about 22 cuts on a good Saturday and I used to feel pretty good about that number, but I never sat down and did the math on product, rent, and the card fees eating into it. I've been barbering 9 years and I've never once tracked my actual profit per chair. Now I'm wondering if I've been patting myself on the back over the wrong figure the whole time. Any of you keep a real book on this, like weekly net instead of just the till total, or do most of us just eyeball it and hope?