Chair rent or commission: which actually pays more

The difference in one line

Rent is fixed. You pay the same whether you do fifteen cuts or fifty. Commission is a share. The shop takes a percentage of whatever comes through the chair, so a quiet week costs you less and a busy one costs you more.

That single difference decides everything else. Rent puts the risk on you and the upside with you. Commission shares both.

Where they cross over

There is always a point where the two are worth exactly the same. Below it commission wins, above it rent wins. Finding it is one sum:

Break-even takings = weekly rent ÷ the shop's percentage, as a decimal.

At £170 a week rent against a 40% commission deal, that is 170 ÷ 0.40 = £425 a week. Take less than £425 and commission leaves you better off. Take more and every extra pound is worth more on rent, because the rent has already been paid.

Most full-time barbers clear £425 comfortably, which is why rent tends to win for anyone with a settled book. It is also why shops offer commission to new starters — it protects the barber while they build, and protects the shop from carrying an empty chair.

Why rent feels worse than it is

Rent comes out on Monday whether or not anybody walked in. That is a real psychological cost and it is worth naming. But the number to judge it on is not the rent, it is what share of your takings it eats.

Under a fifth is comfortable. Over a third and the chair is setting the terms rather than you — either the rent is too high for the location or the diary is too quiet for the rent.

The thing nobody mentions about commission

On commission, a price rise is shared with the shop. Put your cut up by £2 on a 40% deal and you keep £1.20 of it. The shop takes 80p for doing nothing differently.

That is not an argument against commission, but it does change the sums on raising prices, and almost nobody does it before deciding.

From Jamie: “I’ve always been on a split, mostly 50/50 and 60/40, with a short spell paying weekly chair rent. The split is easier when you are starting and you have no idea what a week looks like. Once you know your book, the rent stops feeling like a risk and starts feeling like the cheaper option.”

Questions worth asking before you sign

• Does the rent include products, towels and laundry, or are those on top?
• Who pays the card machine fees, and at what rate?
• Is there insurance cover, or do you need your own?
• Does the rent drop in January and February, or do you carry the quiet months alone?
• How much notice on a rent increase?
• If you take a fortnight off, do you still pay?

That last one catches people out. On most rent deals a holiday costs you twice: the takings you did not make and the rent you paid anyway. Worth knowing before you book anything.