₦airaland Forum

Good evening wonderful people.

I will go straight to the point.

I presently work as a barber in small street side shop I rented less than 2 years ago.

The reason I moved to my present shop is so that I can be close to my uncompleted house which happens to be in the same town as my present shop even though the distance is quiet long enough to require motorcycle transportation from my uncompleted house to my present shop and vice versa.

It was the day I moved into my uncompleted house that I also moved to my present shop and I have been shuttling between home and shop since then.

For some weeks now, especially since the commencement of the rainy season, I have been having a strong urge to leave my present shop and move permanently to my house to be living there and also doing my barbing business.

This is because, I usually barb neighbors in my house in the morning before I set out to go to my shop, meaning, they already know me as a barber and I already have a shop built as part of my house exterior for the purpose of using it as a barbing salon later.

The advantage of permanently relocating and working from home includes, I will be the only barber serving the entire rural community and hopefully make money doing so. The stoppage of the daily 1k I spent on okada transport from home to shop and vice-versa, an opportunity for me to fully concentrate on farming my small backyard which is always overgrown with weed and always disturbed by trespassing neighbors and grazing fulani cows whenever I plant crops like corn or cassava.

The main disadvantage is that, the area being rural, is not yet electrified by NEPA even though the process is ongoing with the procurement of a transformer and it is likely to take a long time. And the community is not yet as populated as the community of my present shop.

I have a standby generator I intended to use along with battery operated clippers to overcome the power issue.

My present barbing salon is doing fairly well, and leaving it would mean taking the risk to leave my present loyal customers and start all over again with my neighbors and other possible customers.

I am a single guy with no kid or wife yet and enjoys my lone company as an introvert.

I will like to hear your informed opinion on whether I should take the risk or not?

It's better you develop he habit of leaving home to go to work. Baring neighbours alone might not be enough on the long run.

Maintain your old place
Get an apprentice or someone to deliver daily
To do the barbing for your customers
Then rotate both of una between home and shop
Like that you kill a bed with two stones

God is telling you to start raising boys, mentees in your craft. Train more than three because of possibility of dissapointment. Later station two in one, two in another and begin to open branches here and there

You fit dey operate the two at once, find a stylist to operate your present shop and make you dey operate the one for your house yourself, you just need to dey check up on the stylist once or twice a week.

Wise men done give OP all the good advice. Congratulations on you enterprise.

You can get the rechargeable clipper to save cost

You said you want to go straight to the point yet you dey write epistle.

Anyhow sha what I would do is to maintain the two places: Go to the shop in the mornings, and open the home salon in the evenings. Train guys, find a trusted one among them to help you manage the shop later.

Reach out to me for affordable solar product to help you power your house shop with as little as you can afford to save you the cost of fuel by 70percent. Helam Technology Ltd on Facebook.

Phoenix873:
Good evening wonderful people.

I will go straight to the point.

I presently work as a barber in small street side shop I rented less than 2 years ago.

The reason I moved to my present shop is so that I can be close to my uncompleted house which happens to be in the same town as my present shop even though the distance is quiet long enough to require motorcycle transportation from my uncompleted house to my present shop and vice versa.

It was the day I moved into my uncompleted house that I also moved to my present shop and I have been shuttling between home and shop since then.

For some weeks now, especially since the commencement of the rainy season, I have been having a strong urge to leave my present shop and move permanently to my house to be living there and also doing my barbing business.

This is because, I usually barb neighbors in my house in the morning before I set out to go to my shop, meaning, they already know me as a barber and I already have a shop built as part of my house exterior for the purpose of using it as a barbing salon later.

The advantage of permanently relocating and working from home includes, I will be the only barber serving the entire rural community and hopefully make money doing so. The stoppage of the daily 1k I spent on okada transport from home to shop and vice-versa, an opportunity for me to fully concentrate on farming my small backyard which is always overgrown with weed and always disturbed by trespassing neighbors and grazing fulani cows whenever I plant crops like corn or cassava.

The main disadvantage is that, the area being rural, is not yet electrified by NEPA even though the process is ongoing with the procurement of a transformer and it is likely to take a long time. And the community is not yet as populated as the community of my present shop.

I have a standby generator I intended to use along with battery operated clippers to overcome the power issue.

My present barbing salon is doing fairly well, and leaving it would mean taking the risk to leave my present loyal customers and start all over again with my neighbors and other possible customers.

I am a single guy with no kid or wife yet and enjoys my lone company as an introvert.

I will like to hear your informed opinion on whether I should take the risk or not?

Some users out of good intention have advised you to open 2 barber shops, but I think this move would be extravagant and you might incurr too much costs which might affect both businesses.

Why not maintain your current shop and have apprentices working under you. This way, you can always the chance to go for home service or come late to the shop in the morning (if you're barbing customers in your home area).

Since your home area is not yet populated to give you the kind of customers you need to be worth the risk, you might just leave things as they are or rent out the homefront shop.

My 2cents.

Thank you for sharing your story so openly it shows you are thoughtful, hardworking, and thinking long-term. From everything you’ve shared, relocating your barbing business to your home seems like a smart and strategic move, especially considering you already have a ready-made shop structure, growing interest from your neighbors, and a clear way to cut daily expenses. Serving a rural area where there’s little to no competition could help you build strong customer loyalty fast. Plus, saving the ₦1,000 daily transport cost adds up to over ₦30,000 a month that’s significant, Yes, the power issue is a challenge, but your backup generator and battery clippers can hold things together until NEPA fully connects the area. If you're consistent and offer quality service, word of mouth will quickly spread in the community especially since you’ll be the only barber there. It’s a risk, yes, but a calculated one. Since you’re single and able to adapt, now may be the best time to take that leap. Growth often starts outside our comfort zones and it sounds like your home has great potential for both business and peace of mind. Go for it but plan well, stay visible in the community, and stay committed. Wishing you the very best! 💪🏾✂️🌱

I would advise that you still maintain your old barber shop for the time being

DEXTROVERT:
Maintain your old place
Get an apprentice or someone to deliver daily
To do the barbing for your customers
Then rotate both of una between home and shop
Like that you kill a bed with two stones

OP, just follow this advice.

18 more characters needed.

Grateful for all the advices and opinions, they have given me valuable insights to ponder on.

The majority opinion leans towards maintaining my present shop while also working towards maximizing my house shop. I will put that in mind.

Unless I get several other admonitions like the one give by jaymoney1, encouraging me to take the risk and relocate home permanently, I am inclined towards taking the easier option of maintaining the status quo. Thank you all very much. I welcome further opinions from others.