What Are the Monthly Running Costs of a Barber Shop?
A barber shop’s cost table is simple: a small shop, one or two chairs and often the barber himself. Material cost is very low. This branch’s silent cost lies elsewhere: customers who wait in Saturday’s queue and leave, and chairs sitting empty on weekdays. 💈
Short answer: excluding material purchases, monthly running costs sit between ₺40K and ₺130K.
The flow: lines, balance, mistakes, break-even and fit.
The price of keeping the doors open
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- Fixed costs
- Variable costs
- Invisible cost: the lost Saturday customer
They gather in three groups.
Fixed costs
Rent ₺12-40K, an apprentice or second barber ₺0-55K, booking software, chamber fees and accounting ₺3-6K.
Variable costs
Blades, towel laundry, foam, disinfectant, electricity and water cost ₺4-12K.
Invisible cost: the lost Saturday customer
In a walk-in shop, every customer who waits in Saturday’s queue and leaves is a lost session. Dozens a month cost more than any bill. A booking system prevents most of this loss.
Where is the flexibility?
Light.
The weight of fixed costs
When the owner works as the barber, fixed costs are only rent and small bills. So a barber shop is among the branches that weather quiet weeks most easily.
Three spends to avoid
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- 1. Working walk-in
- 2. Keeping prices fixed for years
- 3. Buying cheap hygiene supplies in bulk
All three start in the chair’s hours.
1. Working walk-in
Lost customers on busy days and empty chairs on quiet ones both pull profit per session down.
2. Keeping prices fixed for years
Against inflation, a fixed price grows the cost ratio every year.
3. Buying cheap hygiene supplies in bulk
Poor towels and blades wear out fast; cheap buying turns expensive.
The line from loss to profit
Think in customers.
A worked example
A barber with ₺70K monthly costs and a 70% service margin covers costs at around ₺100K monthly revenue. At an average ₺500 per service, that’s about 200 customers a month, eight or nine a day. In the weeks before holidays this number comes within a few days. The margin mechanics are in the barber shop profit margin article, the monthly net band in the barber shop earnings article. 🧭
Which founder does it suit?
For founders who enjoy working with loyal customers and keep costs simple.
How were these ranges worked out?
The ranges show where real businesses’ monthly bills, current tariffs and sector reports overlap. Your costs settle somewhere inside, depending on area and team. Method on our methodology page. 📐
📝 From the Field
A barber was turning away customers who couldn’t fit in on Saturdays, while sitting and waiting in his chair on Tuesday mornings. For a month he counted those he sent away and found the figure matched a large part of his weekly revenue. He moved to bookings; Saturday’s rush spread across the week. At a barber’s, costs hide in the customer turned away at the door. 💈
📖 Quick Glossary
Running costs: the amount paid every month apart from goods sold. Break-even point: the monthly sales at which profit is zero. Booking system: an arrangement in which customers reserve their time in advance. Chamber fee: a regular fee paid to the trade chamber.
⚡ In Short
Monthly costs ₺40-130K. 📊 A light table. Three lines inflate costs: working walk-in, fixed prices, cheap hygiene supplies. Example break-even: ₺70K costs at a 70% margin need about ₺100K revenue, 200 customers a month.
🎯 Next Step
Let’s work out your chair hours and cost table together: quote form · free digital audit. 🤝
Frequently Asked Questions
Sık Sorulan Sorular
Beard design, facial care and product sales bring extra income from the same chair.
Someone working walk-in in a weak location waits at an empty chair. For a salon with wider services, hair salon running costs; for a product-led branch, salon supplies running costs are good alternatives. The rest of the beauty family is on the sector page.
In the example, ₺70K of costs at ₺500 average price need about 200 customers a month.
It does, but a full second chair more than pays the wage; grow the client list first.
With no refrigeration or big devices it’s low; hot water and lighting are the main costs.
In inflationary times at least once or twice a year; loyal customers accept small, open increases.
Source: Zendesk Blog