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Pros of Becoming a Barber

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A barber is a worker who cuts hair and shaves or trims facial hair. Although a barber used to be a salon where gentlemen would come to get their hair and beard trimmed, it has become a growing industry for personal expression and creativity. There are both personal and professional benefits to becoming a barber, if you are considering starting a career working as a barber.

Lack of Demands

One of the main benefits of being a barber in a shop is the lack of demands of a busy workplace. While there may be many customers wanting to get their hair cut or beard trimmed, the barbers work together as a team and help each other by taking customers to the barber chair and completing the trim. Besides performing cutting and trimming services, the barber at a shop may only be responsible for personal cleaning around the barber chair.

Creativity

While some customers want a simple trim, others desire a detailed design or logo. The barber profession allows you to be creative and test your skills. If you do extensive amount of design work on people’s heads, ask them if you can take a picture for your portfolio. Having a barber portfolio can help expand your options and help you gain more clients.

Career Growth

The barber profession is one that provides personal growth and career opportunities. While a barber may work in a barber shop, she can still put together a portfolio and use her creative skills for fashion shows, motion pictures and music videos, if her work is excellent.

Own Business

If a barber does not enjoy working in a shop with other barbers, she can start her own barber business. While it is hard work and can take time, it is a rewarding option to control hours, choose your clients and perform work you enjoy. Starting a barber business requires time-management skills and marketing and communication skills.

Being Social

Another benefit of being a barber is the ability to socialize with customers. Rather than talking about projects and deadlines, a barber can talk about music, movies, fashion and personal interests with the customers. If one customer prefers not to talk, another customer may want to chat about everything. Since a hair trimming may not take more than 20 minutes total, a barber may speak with a wide variety of customers throughout a single work day.

References
Writer

Based in Toronto, Mary Jane has been writing for online magazines and databases since 2002. Her articles have appeared on the Simon & Schuster website and she received an editor's choice award in 2009. She holds a Master of Arts in psychology of language use from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.