First month recap and Valentine's Day giveaway!
*whew*
Now that I've had a second to catch my breath, I'm going to elaborate on the whirlwind that has been 2018. I will preface that for the past year, I had been told there was no walk-in clientele that came into the salon, and that I would need to provide my own clientele. Leaving the barbershop downtown, I accepted this as the new reality and for a year I worked on marketing myself to make it sustainable. Fortunately, I was able to watch as The Barber Story grew organically without the need of a walk-in clientele due to the success of my efforts, and not relying on a reputation of a shop.
The move out of the salon into my own shop was only 300 feet down the same street, and I maintained the mentality that the neighborhood didn't have a lot of walk-in clientele to offer. Before he came on, I set the same expectation that we probably wouldn't have any walk-in clients for a while and we would both need to keep actively marketing ourselves to get to a point to be busy. Almost two months later, I recognize that there are two things that I underestimated. In keeping my brand's name for the barbershop, I opened up with the existing brand recognition that had been established the year prior on yelp and google. I also failed to estimate how the area would respond to a modern barbershop. Boy howdy, has it ever been in kind.
I am so grateful that Jimbo got his online booking set up because the amount of advance bookings from new clients is more than what we were expecting. Walk-in clients have been popping in on a regular basis to see what we have to offer, and it's been great to see that we've been able to transform a few curious faces into returning familiars.
On a more personal growth side of things, holy crap. My personal schedule has been filling up a few days in advance. Since the year started, 4 out of the 5 days in my work week have been booked out solid before the morning's coffee has had a chance to brew (Monday is my slowest day for those interested). This time last year I was averaging about 4 services a day, now I'm closer to 12 on a normal day, with my busier days getting up to 16. And the crazy part to me is that this is all during the slowest season in the industry. Typically there is a peak right before the winter holidays, and then it slows down in colder months with a small spike around valentine's day, and then spring break is the beginning of the busy season. With as busy as we've been getting, I might actually start looking for a 3rd barber sooner than my original plans of June.
In the meantime, I want to gloat about our clients. I love that #LoiteringEncouraged has been taken literally and we've had gamers bringing in their Xbox controllers to coworkers bringing six-packs in to hang out after their service. The past two months haven't felt like work because I've been constantly reminded why I love being in a barbershop over a salon, it's all about the community. With the first few months going by so great, I wanted to both say thank you to the community that gave me a platform to get my idea out into the world, and use the new platform to introduce myself to the larger Treasure Valley community. With that, The Barber Story is throwing a giveaway over on our facebook page, here's how it works.
- Like The Barber Story on Facebook
- Share this post & comment the name of a friend that you want to see cleaned up before 2/14/18.
- That's it. On 2/5, a handful of winners will be selected. If your name is chosen, you get a free shirt designed by Adam Rosenlund and the friend you mention will get a complimentary grooming from The Barber Story before Valentine's Day.
I am so excited about everything that has happened in the past three weeks, but so much more is in store for the next 49 and I can't wait for you all to get to see it all with me. Now that my homework is all done, I'm going to try and enjoy a weekend. Make sure to get your appointments booked in advance, and I'll see you back at The Barber Story on Thursday.
-Chris