A successful business is a result of successful planning. The same applies to a barber shop business. Although the business model used is pretty straightforward, still, if the owner wanted to have a barber shop that’s blooming, thriving, and the next big thing, a lot of thought processes should go into coming up with a business plan. A business plan does more than just outline the steps needed to be taken in operating a business; it provides clarity when making decisions, showing the pros and cons of each strategy. More importantly, it provides transparency, especially when it comes to the financial aspects of the business. There are a lot of formats that you can use when creating a barbershop business plan. What’s important is that the core elements are included in the making of a business plan. Step 1: Executive Summary An Executive Summary provides the outline of the business’s purpose and goals. It gives a short overview look into the target market, the market’s condition, the business opportunity, as well as the marketing strategy and the financial highlights of the business. The executive summary also includes a brief history of the business and a mission statement. The Mission Statement should state the purpose and goals for putting up a barbershop business. It is also a reflection of the business’s culture and values and should inspire and motivate its reader. Step 2: Market Analysis A Market Analysis is a study done on the current market’s condition. It looks into if there is a need for a particular product or service, and also provides supporting proof for a business opportunity. It also includes doing a customer analysis. Customer analysis is done through target market segmentation, by dividing the customers according to demographic classifications such as age, gender, location, income, lifestyle, et cetera. A competition analysis is also made. Oftentimes when studying the market, the SWOT Analysis is applied.In a barber shop business plan, SWOT analysis refers to the Strength of the business, meaning, what are the qualities that made it stand out and unique; Weaknesses, the factors that are limiting the growth and success of the shop, such as lack of funding, lack of manpower, weak marketing strategy; Opportunities are those aspects that the shop could take advantage of to further its success, as the use of social media platform to advertise, hiring an influencer to promote the shop, et cetera; Threats are those that could potentially harm the business, for instance, the increasing presence of competing barbershops within proximity, an increase of building rental fees, and even unforeseeable circumstances, such as a health crisis like the current pandemic. Step 3: Marketing Plan The purpose of having a Marketing Plan is to increase target market leads through marketing and sales strategies. Writing out a marketing plan for a barber shop involves creating a goal and a timeline. It should lay out the foundation of what is the goal, the purpose, and when it should be achieved. The marketing strategies and the sales strategies provide the support the marketing plan needs through identified action items. A Marketing Strategy is the “how-to” process of achieving the business’s desired goal. For barber shops, a marketing strategy could be an increased presence in social media or social networking platforms as an advertising campaign.Another example would be promotional offerings, such as offering value-added services, like free shave for every haircut availed, or free massage or shoe shine while waiting customers are waiting for their turn. Another marketing strategy could be promoting a new haircut or promoting the skills of their barbers that could achieve the looks of those A-list red carpet celebrities. A Sales Strategy supports and implements the marketing strategy through properly positioning the business in the market. While the marketing strategy is generally focused on creating customer leads, sales strategy is all about the ways of generating the revenue stream. For social media advertising, a sales strategy creates engaging content that makes the reader click on the link of the offered promotion, or else head to that barber shop to avail their services. Another sales strategy is hiring influencers to promote the shop through their popular channel platforms. Step 4: Financial Plan The Financial Plan section provides the financial health outlook of the barber shop business. It shows how viable or feasible the barber shop business plan is. A financial plan typically includes a balance sheet, that shows the assets, liabilities, and equity of the business; a profit and loss statement, which shows how the barber shop is making its profit, versus the actual or estimated costs and expenses; as well as a sales forecast, a revenue projection stemming from the marketing and sales strategies. Future investors, or lending institutions, wanted to see the actual financial condition of the business, as well as if the sales forecasts are realistic and measurable. Meaning, the forecast has more than a 50% chance of the profit being realized. A financial plan is also a guide for the barber shop owner to keep track of the revenue stream, using it as a basis to make some revisions in the marketing plans as necessary.