Elevating the Game: How to Become the Best Barber in the Game

The best barbers aren’t born, they’re made. While the barbering industry continues to grow, the basic tenets of barber-hood have not. If you want to become the best barber in the game, if you want to outcompete the fly-by-night barbers on social media, and if you want to earn your clients’ undying respect, these are the 4 rules you need to abide:

1) Have the Right Tools

A barber is nothing without clients, but clients don’t stick around long if your tools are bare-minimum. Clients expect an experience at the barbershop, your tools are a key part of your trademark. Elevate your essentials to create an environment that’s worth returning to again and again. At The Rich Barber, we design our products to meet the daily needs of barbers and the aesthetic standards of their clientele.

Best-sellers like the 10. Sec Blade Setter and the 1 Min. Blade Modifier have changed the way barbers maintain and use their equipment across the world, while reimagined classics like the Flash Comb, Razor Holder, and Barber Cape elevate the in-shop grooming experience to new levels. Beyond the doors of the barbershop, products like our Pro Rich Shampoo & Conditioner Set maintain hair and scalp health to make haircuts look and feel their best. 

2) Dedicate Yourself to your Craft

Dedication means spending time not just on your client, but on yourself. To become the best barber in the game, you have to hone your craft in and outside the barber shop. Maintaining a high standard of self-grooming, self-discipline, and self-love is necessary in order to give your client the full attention they deserve.

When you’re the one in the chair getting a haircut, you don’t want your barber spacing out and thinking about their personal issues. Clients are there for a service, and providing that service with professionalism means putting aside your feelings for your goals. That means putting away your fears, doubts, and apprehensions to achieve the goal you’ve envisioned for yourself.

Remember: it’s not about doing everything today, it’s about doing something everyday.

3) Brand & Market Your Talents

We live in a world that can be shallow, impatient, and easily distracted. No matter how talented and driven you are, you can’t expect to become well known and materially successful without informing the world of your abilities.

Branding, marketing, networking, and technological infrastructure are the cornerstone of modern success. When someone needs a haircut, they take out their phone and search for it. If you’re a barber and your shop doesn’t come up in Google, chances are you might never reach the full potential of your earnings.

It’s essential that young barbers and entrepreneurs begin by building their business online. Engage with your audience on social media, encourage community discourse and reviews, and most importantly, do a job that’s worth writing home about! When your clients are happy with your work, they’ll tell everyone where that work gets done.

4) Stay Humble and Grateful

No matter what heights of fame and fortune you achieve, no one will stand in your corner if you don’t stay humble, grateful, and respectful. The ability to remain honest and kind even in the light of success and wealth is the ultimate testament not just to being a great barber, but a great human being.

People, clients, friends, family - everyone respects the individual who, despite their circumstances and their successes, remains grounded, loyal, and sensible. The true reward of building a legacy is not what you enjoy here and now, but what that legacy will mean to others far into the future. The true goal is to be a role model, not a rockstar.

Whether it’s your teammates, your clients, your neighbors, or just somebody on the street, kindness is king. The ultimate lesson to learn is that we rise not by lifting ourselves up, but by lifting up others.