The hair cut industry is continuing on its growth trajectory with more and more barbershops coming up. For young people, it is an exciting industry to be involved in. They are making a living from it, VICTOR ODIASE and OBETO CLINTON report
Hair cut business was an occupation for the old but today young people have chosen it because the career presents many opportunities and perks that one may not have even considered.
Some of these include flexible hours and rewarding work in a creative industry. Few trades like barbing offer as many opportunities to open ones own successful business.
For this reason, new gentlemen’s barber shops have taken over Lagos .They are established by young people, most of them graduates of other disciplines. They provide haircut services including shampooing, cut and styling. They also specialise in the executive contour style.
One of those happy with barbing as a business is Mr. Babatunde Fadejo. He operates from Ilaje area of Bariga, Lagos State.
He started the business in 1999 and up till now he has no regrets. He said: “I am a graduate of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) .I studied English and Literature and graduated in 2003. After my youth service, I searched for a job to no avail. The ones I saw were not rewarding jobs. Meanwhile, before gaining admission to the university, I was a learning barbing .In 1999, I opened my own saloon.”
For him, the business is profitable.
In his late forties, Babatunde uses the money he gets from barbing to feed his family. He said: “I started with charging people N70 then for haircut, but now I charge as much as N500.” He makes efforts to ensure the customer receives his personal service from the moment they set foot in his barbershop.
He discovered that excellent communication skills are a big part of the barbing culture.
For one customer, he spends approximately 40 to 50 minutes. He always encourages his customers to try something new. His barbering abilities included skin fades, beard shaping, and scissor and clipper over comb. He also offers styling advice to those who wanted direction on their personal look.
He considers himself lucky to have a base of regular customers who would occasionally drop by.
A young man in his early 20s, Oghenetega Ebiuwe, owns a barbing saloon in Bariga market. The business has offered him the opportunity to meet and interact with people from all walks of life. In return, he is happy to play a big part in making people look their best.
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Ebiuwe has been able to build a range of clients who come every week asking for different hairstyles. This makes the job less repetitive and exciting. One of the challenges he has encountered is dealing with clients demanding a haircut that is not suitable for their face, shape. Some come in without making up their mind about what haircut style they want and may struggle to express what haircut they want. Using his experience, he unleashes his creative side to try out a cut which his client adopts for a permanent style.
For him what makes a good barber is the ability to create sharp and modern barber haircuts, along with providing an outstanding service for clients. This helps him to get more tips.
Because of the state of the economy, sales have not been going smoothly.
His words: “Before, I used to make between N7, 000 to N8, 000 a day but now I make between 3,000 to N5, 000.”
Having done the business for some time, Ebiuwe sees a perfect haircut as a combination of facial structure and hair type.
Another barber, Johnson Chibueze owns a saloon at Olowu Street around Bariga axis. He sees the business as lucrative. He said: “I am able to feed from the little money I have been making through this business. In a day I can make as much asN5, 000. This is what I use in of feeding my wife and a one -year old daughter. My education ended at O Level because my parents were not financially able to help me further my education.
Mr. John Alibi is another barber doing well. A family man, Alibi started the business in 2011.
A graduate of Agriculture Education, College of Education, Oro, Kwara State in 2005, Alibi taught in many schools but wasn’t satisfied with the pay. He had to quit. He learnt barbing for almost a year before going into it. He said: “I taught in schools but I saw the pay was not good enough .For this I went into barbing.
He earns at least N1000 Naira during working days but more during the weekends. He believes keeping the community-centric to everything he does really sets his businesses apart from others.
A haircut at the salon typically takes an hour, which a growing number of men have grown to appreciate. Most customers are men in their 30s and 40s.
Most of the barbers keep TV sets to provide entertainment for their customers. One experience common to all of them are situations were some customers come to the barbershop every day in the afternoon and sat there late , reading newspapers, listening to the radio and watching the world go by.