Saw a stat that 40% of barbers quit in their first year. Is that real or just scare talk?

I was reading some industry report from 2023 and it said 4 out of 10 new barbers don't last 12 months. That number seems HIGH to me. Did any of you almost walk away that first year or is this just some statistic they use to fear monger new guys?

2 comments

2 Comments

stella_foster4d ago

That line about "fear mongering new guys" actually hit me because I used to think the 40% stat was just made up to scare people off. I figured barbering is a trade, you learn it, you do it, how hard can it really be? But after watching three new guys come through my shop in the last two years and two of them quit before summer, I started paying attention. One guy couldn't handle the slow days where you're just sitting around hoping someone walks in, another one got frustrated because he thought he'd be making bank right away but the tips were tiny. I went back and looked at my own first year and honestly I almost quit twice myself, once when a customer yelled at me for messing up his fade and another when I barely made rent. So yeah I think that number is real, it's not about the skills it's about the grind and the patience it takes to build a steady client list.

the_nina4d ago

I'd push back on that 40% number. I've been in this game since 2015 and watched maybe ten new guys come through my shop. Only one quit. The rest are still cutting hair and making a living. The ones who struggle usually have bad habits from the start - showing up late, not cleaning their station, scrolling on their phone when they should be networking with customers. That fade guy who yelled at you? That happens once and you learn from it. The slow days? Every job has slow days. If you can't handle a Tuesday afternoon with no customers then maybe the issue isn't barbering, it's that you expected a trade to be easy. I made $18k my first year and still stuck with it because I knew it would take time. The 40% quit rate gets thrown around to explain away people who just aren't cut out for this work.