When Finding Qualified Barbers Becomes Harder Than Running the Shop

Marcus opened his Ontario shop three years ago with a clear vision. The chair rental model made perfect sense to him. Experienced barbers would bring established clients, manage their own schedules, and he would collect rent while building something bigger than a single chair operation. What he did not account for was how quickly those chairs would become empty and stay empty. One barber relocated closer to home. Another decided mobile work suited him better. The third simply stopped showing up one day without explanation. Now Marcus spends more time scrolling through job boards and calling barber schools than he spends cutting hair.

"Finding someone who actually wants to show up and build something is harder than finding customers."

That comment appeared in a barbering forum earlier this year and pulled in dozens of replies from shop owners across California sharing similar experiences. Empty chairs mean more than lost rent. They mean turning away walk-ins, disappointed regulars asking where their barber went, and constant pressure wondering if the shop can survive when you cannot find people to fill it. The struggle to staff California barber shops has moved from inconvenient to existential for many small shop owners trying to build sustainable operations.

The Numbers Behind California's Barber Staffing Crisis

According to a 2023 National Barber Association survey, 72% of barbershops reported difficulty finding qualified staff, with 46% citing turnover as a significant concern. But numbers do not capture what it feels like to run a shop where you are constantly one person short, where every phone call might be another barber giving notice, where you are doing three jobs because you cannot find anyone else.

California barber schools produce graduates, but not enough stay in the industry long enough to become the experienced professionals shop owners need. The gig economy pulls people toward flexible side work rather than committing to a chair. Some new barbers burn out fast when they realize how physically demanding the work is. Standing all day, repetitive motion, and the toll it takes on wrists and backs become apparent quickly. Others discover they prefer the freedom of mobile work over working in someone else's space. A few just were not ready for how much goes into building and keeping a client base in a competitive market like the Inland Empire.

The shops that do find people often face a different challenge. They hire barbers who need more training than expected, which means more time invested, more supervision required, and more risk until they are fully competent. One Ontario shop owner mentioned training three new barbers in six months, only to have all three leave before the year ended. The time and money invested in training walked right out the door, and the cycle started over.

Making Difficult Choices When Perfect Candidates Do Not Exist

Some shop owners get creative. They offer better commission splits, flexible schedules, or sign-on bonuses. They partner with local barber schools to create apprenticeships. A few even cover training costs for promising candidates. These approaches work sometimes, but they require resources many small shops do not have.

Others adjust their business model entirely. Instead of trying to fill every chair, they operate smaller, focusing on quality over capacity. They stop taking walk-ins and move to appointments only. Some add retail products or other services to make up for revenue lost from empty chairs. These are not ideal solutions. They are adaptations to a reality where finding qualified people became harder than any other part of running a shop.

"Every empty chair is a risk I cannot control, and every new hire is a risk I have to manage until I know they are solid." 

When the person describing this reality says they must manage risks whether chairs are full or empty, they reveal the impossible position many shop owners occupy. You are managing risks whether you hire quickly or wait for the perfect candidate who might never appear. The physical and mental strain of juggling multiple roles while short-staffed creates its own problems. High-stress work environments affect business owners differently than employees, particularly when the burden of keeping operations running falls on one or two people carrying the weight of an entire shop.

What Happens When You Are Short-Staffed and Something Goes Wrong

Coverage conversations usually happen after something goes wrong, not before. But staffing shortages create specific risks that shop owners might not consider until they are dealing with a claim. An inexperienced barber making a cut that requires medical attention creates liability. A rushed cleanup job that leads to a slip and fall exposes the business. Equipment not properly maintained because nobody has time compounds risks. Clients leaving unhappy and posting reviews about subpar service makes attracting new clients even harder.

According to reporting from the Public Policy Institute of California in June 2025, California's labor market continues to lag behind national averages, with 5.4% unemployment compared to 4.2% nationally. Small businesses across the state report struggling to find and retain qualified workers across multiple industries. The barbering industry faces these same pressures, compounded by specific licensing requirements and physical demands that narrow the candidate pool even further.

California Employment Development Department data from communications in April 2025 highlights that California's 4.2 million small businesses employ nearly half the state's private sector workforce. These businesses report that workforce challenges remain one of their top concerns, with recruiting and retention issues affecting operations across industries and regions. For barber shops throughout the Inland Empire, these are not abstract statistics. They are the daily reality of trying to build something stable when one of your most important resources remains frustratingly hard to find.

Professional liability coverage protects shops when services do not go as planned. General liability addresses accidents that happen on premises. Workers compensation becomes mandatory the moment you hire that first employee, and California does not negotiate on this requirement. Fines start at $10,000 and escalate from there, plus potential criminal charges for noncompliance.

Understanding Protection When Operations Are Stretched Thin

The question is not whether protection matters. The question is whether shop owners understand how staffing challenges change their risk profile and whether their coverage reflects that reality. Training new barbers more frequently makes professional liability more relevant. Running a shop where you are doing multiple jobs at once makes general liability more important. Hiring that first employee makes workers compensation non-negotiable under California law.

Shop owners need to consider how often they are training new people, how much supervision inexperienced barbers require, and what happens during the learning curve when mistakes are more likely. They need to think about whether they have proper protocols for cleanup and safety when they are juggling reception, cutting hair, and managing operations simultaneously. They need to understand that empty chairs change the shop's risk profile just as much as hiring inexperienced people does. In fact, we recently covered how unlicensed barbers add even more risk inside a shop. You can read that post titled, Want to Work in a Barbershop without a License.

"The cost of barber policies can vary depending on factors such as coverage limits, location, size of business, and the barber's experience. On average, barber coverage can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars annually."

This range exists because every shop faces different risk exposures based on how many people they employ, how experienced those people are, what services they offer, and how they manage day-to-day operations. 

Building Operations That Can Handle Staffing Volatility

No one opens a barber shop planning to struggle with staffing. The vision involves busy chairs, satisfied clients, maybe building something they can eventually expand or pass on. Reality tends to be messier. You hire someone who seems great in the interview and quits after two weeks. You invest in training someone who leaves for a shop paying 50 cents more per cut. You watch experienced barbers go mobile or retire without anyone ready to take their chair.

The shops that make it through these challenges are not the ones with perfect solutions. They are the ones that adapt, that build systems to handle turnover, that invest in training even when expensive, that recognize which risks they can control and which they need to transfer. They understand that running a shop in 2025 means accepting that staffing will probably be harder than it should be, and figuring out how to build sustainable operations anyway.

Creating documentation systems helps. Standardizing training protocols provides consistency. Building relationships with local barber schools creates pipelines for new talent. Offering competitive compensation and building positive culture helps with retention. But even shops doing everything right still face challenges when the broader labor market works against them. Small service businesses across industries face similar challenges balancing operational demands with proper protection while managing workforce volatility.

What Separates Success From Survival

Some shop owners eventually find their people. Others learn to run leaner operations. A few close because they cannot make the numbers work without full staff. The difference often comes down to how well they managed everything else while dealing with the staffing challenge.

• Their client relationships matter.
• Their reputation in the community matters.
• Their financial cushion for dealing with slow periods matters.
• Their protection against problems that show up when already stretched thin matters significantly.

Shops that acknowledge the reality of current labor market conditions and plan accordingly tend to fare better than those waiting for conditions to improve. Building resilience means having systems that function even when short-staffed, having coverage that protects when mistakes are more likely, and having financial reserves that allow you to weather volatility without making desperate decisions.

The shops that make it are not the ones that never face challenges. They are the ones that build operations capable of handling challenges when they arrive, that protect themselves from preventable problems, and that remain focused on providing quality service even when conditions are not ideal. California barber shops can build sustainable operations despite staffing challenges, but doing so requires the following:

• realistic assessment of risks
• proper protection
• commitment to building resilience into every aspect of the business

Coverage That Protects Barber Shops and Independent Barbers

Staffing gaps, fast turnover, and inexperienced barbers change how much risk a shop carries. This is where the right coverage matters for both shop owners and the barbers working in the space.

Barber shop insurance protects the business if a service goes wrong, if a client is injured in the shop, or if equipment is damaged or stolen. Independent barbers renting a chair need their own professional liability coverage to protect their work and avoid exposing the shop owner.

Shops with employees must carry workers compensation in California. Chair renters are responsible for their own coverage, but many shop owners still ask for proof of insurance from each barber to avoid unnecessary exposure.

If your shop is growing, rebuilding, or just trying to stay consistent during staffing challenges, the right protection keeps you from taking on risks you cannot afford. Contact Farmers Insurance - Young Douglas to review your options and get coverage built for California barber shops and barbers.

Sources:

• Public Policy Institute of California. Preparing California's Economy for 2025 and Beyond. June 11, 2025.
• California Employment Development Department. Small Business Big Impact. Spring 2025.
• National Barber Association. Industry Survey on Staffing Challenges. 2023.

Disclosure: This article may feature independent professionals and businesses for informational purposes. Farmers Insurance - Young Douglas collaborates with some of the professionals mentioned; however, no payment or compensation is provided for inclusion in this content.