Plan B Business
Beauty

Stop running on walk-ins
and start running on a booked book.

We work with barbershop owners doing $300K-$2M in annual revenue who are tired of unpredictable foot traffic and barbers leaving for chair rentals elsewhere. Our 12-month engagement gets you to disciplined appointment-first model, retail revenue, and a shop that compounds.

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Industry Reality

8 patterns we see in >70% of barbershops

80%
frequency

70%+ of revenue from walk-ins - no booked book

Root cause: Shop never adopted booking software. Customers expect walk-in. Slow Tuesdays, packed Saturdays, 2-hour waits.

What we do: Deploy Booksy or Square Appointments. Shift to 70% appointment / 30% walk-in within 6 months. Barbers see steadier income, customers stop waiting, owner can forecast.

75%
frequency

Service price stuck at $25-30 when market supports $40-55

Root cause: Owner-barber set prices 8 years ago. Fear of losing the regulars. No tiered service menu.

What we do: Tiered service menu: classic cut ($30-35), premium cut + beard ($45-55), signature service ($65-85, includes hot towel, scalp massage, neck shave). Annual 5-8% price increase discipline.

85%
frequency

Zero retail revenue (pomades, beard oils, accessories)

Root cause: No display, no barber upsell, no commission. Owner sees retail as 'not what we do.'

What we do: Curated retail (4-6 SKUs, not 30). Barber commission of 15-25% on retail sales. Target $8-15 retail per ticket within 12 months. Retail at 8-15% of revenue is the goal.

70%
frequency

Barber retention crisis - top barbers leaving to rent chairs elsewhere

Root cause: Below-market commission split (40/60 or 50/50 in their favor isn't enough). No book ownership, no benefits, no clear path to chair-rental partner.

What we do: Restructure to 60/40 (barber/shop) with clear book ownership rules. Health stipend. Path to chair-rental partner at 18 months. Cap of 3 chairs reserved for employee-barbers, rest are rentals.

65%
frequency

No client retention discipline - 40%+ never return after first visit

Root cause: No rebook prompt at checkout. No SMS reminder system. No first-visit follow-up.

What we do: Mandatory rebook prompt in Booksy or Square at every checkout (target 70%+ rebook rate). 48-hour SMS thank-you with rebook link. Win-back campaign for 60-day lapsed clients.

85%
frequency

No membership or subscription revenue

Root cause: All transactional. No reason for client to commit beyond their next cut.

What we do: Membership tiers: Classic ($65/mo - 2 cuts), Premium ($95/mo - 2 cuts + 1 beard trim + 10% retail), VIP ($145/mo - unlimited cuts + priority booking + 15% retail). Target 25-35% of clients on membership within 18 months.

75%
frequency

Less than 100 Google reviews with 4.5 average

Root cause: No systematic review request. Barbers don't ask. Owner doesn't enforce.

What we do: Post-service SMS review request automated in Booksy. Cash bonus to barbers for review milestones. Target 400+ reviews at 4.8+ within 12 months.

70%
frequency

No corporate / event revenue (groomsmen, executive grooming)

Root cause: Shop never marketed to weddings, fraternities, executive offices.

What we do: Groomsmen package ($300-600 for party of 4-6). Executive on-site service for local offices. Pre-prom and back-to-school packages. Target 8-15% event revenue within 18 months.

Benchmarks

The numbers we hit

KPIMarket avgPlan B targetAfter 12 mo
Average ticket (service + retail)$28-38$55-75$48-65
% revenue from appointments (not walk-in)20-40%70%+55-75%
Rebook rate at checkout25-40%70%+55-70%
Retail % of revenue0-3%10-15%7-13%
% clients on membership0-5%30%+20-32%
Barber annual retention rate40-55%85%+70-88%
Google reviews count60-130400+250-450
Engagement Model

What working with us looks like

  1. 01

    Month 1: Shop + book audit

    We pull 12 months of Booksy or Square data. Service mix, rebook rate, barber productivity, walk-in vs appointment ratio. You leave with a written 90-day plan.

  2. 02

    Months 2-3: Service menu + rebook discipline

    We launch the tiered service menu. Mandatory rebook prompt deployed. SMS thank-you and reminder flows live. Review request automation in Booksy or Square.

  3. 03

    Months 4-6: Retail + membership

    Curated retail SKUs deployed with barber commission structure. Membership tiers launched, starting with top 30 clients. Win-back campaign for 60-day lapsed clients.

  4. 04

    Months 7-12: Barber comp + corporate

    Barber compensation restructured to 60/40 with clear book ownership. Groomsmen and executive grooming launched. Membership base at 20-30% of clients. We shift to monthly cadence.

Common questions from barbershops owners

What size shop is this for?−
Sweet spot: 3-12 chair shops doing $300K-$2M annual revenue. Below $300K, you're a single-chair operator and need different help. Above $2M (multi-location), you typically need a full-time GM.
We're chair-rental only. Does this still apply?+
Partially. Chair-rental shops have different unit economics (you're a landlord, not an operator). We help with rent structure, common-area management, shop-wide marketing, and retail revenue (which the shop owns even if cuts are individual). About 40% of our methodology applies; we adapt the rest.
Booksy vs Square Appointments - which do you recommend?+
Booksy for barbershops with strong walk-in (their app drives bookings to your shop). Square Appointments for shops already on Square POS with appointment ambition. We help you choose based on your situation. We don't sell software.
Our barbers refuse to push retail. How do we change that?+
Common challenge. Three levers: commission (15-25% of retail sales, paid weekly), training (5-minute weekly product education), and culture (owner-barber models retail upsell on their own clients). Within 6 months, 60%+ of barbers are upselling without prompting.
What about beard salons / beard-only shops?+
Yes, the methodology applies. Beard specialists command $55-95 per service with stronger retail attach (beard oils, balms). The unit economics are even better than general barbershops.
We don't take walk-ins at all - is appointment-only viable?+
Yes, in the right market. Premium barbershops in dense urban areas can run appointment-only at $75-150 per service. Suburban shops usually need some walk-in capacity. We model your specific market before any commitment.
Who does the work?+
Ligal Frish and Eitan Eshtemaker - the two co-founders. Direct access, no associates.
What's your fee structure?+
Diagnostic: $1,500 one-time. Advisor: $3,500/month (most shops, 12-month). Partner: $8,500+/month (multi-location or fast-scale).
Do you handle marketing?+
We handle strategy, offers, and funnel structure. We don't run Google or Meta Ads. We partner with vetted local agencies if needed.

Stop waiting for walk-ins.

30-minute strategy call. We'll diagnose your top 2 levers and tell you if we're a fit. No pitch. No pressure.

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