Apps & Tools · First-hire calculator for a barbershop
The Second Chair
A one-chair barber turning people away asked one question: can I afford my first employee? The answer is a tool he can move himself.
The brief, verbatim
I'm 44. I've run a one-chair barbershop for nine years — just me, fully booked, six days a week. I'm turning people away every week and there's an empty second chair right there. I want to know if I can afford to hire my first employee, and I'm too disorganized to work it out — every time I try, I end up with envelopes and a headache. Build me something real I can play with: a model that shows me what a second barber actually costs me all-in per month (wage, taxes, supplies, the works), how many haircuts a week they'd need to do before they stop costing me money, and what happens to my take-home in the slow months versus the busy ones. My real numbers: I clear about $7,400 a month solo, a haircut is $35, my rent and fixed costs run $2,900, and I could pay a barber $22 an hour for 30 hours a week to start. I want to move those numbers myself and see where the line is. I'm not a computer person at all — if you build me something, I need to actually be able to use it and get it running somewhere without touching code. And if some product out there already does this, just tell me straight.
What the studio made
A live first-hire tool that opens on the one number that matters: how many haircuts a week the new barber needs before he stops costing money. Sliders for price, wage and hours; The all-in monthly cost of a second barber line by line, payroll and unemployment taxes and workers' comp included; And what the new chair does to take-home in a slow, typical and busy month. Beside it, the full math as a workbook and a plain guide to get it running without touching code.
The finished work
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You have something to build. Brief the studio in plain English and watch a room of specialists build it.
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