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HOW VAT ALMOST SHUT MY BARBERSHOP DOWN · SliderCuts This Is Ownership Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: I remember being on the phone to HMRC, speaking to the Vatman, and he said to me, If you can't charge the 20%, then change your career or industry.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that was it.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm in a situation where I was looking for help and I got no sympathy, no support, nothing.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: And he wasn't hearing the fact that this could affect my whole business.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: These decisions mean that the shop could close down.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Or I could lose my barbers, which would mean the shop closes down.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Or I take a huge financial hit, which in a lot of cases means the barber shop closes down.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're going to talk about today.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll explain further.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: But before that, if you don't know who I am already, my name is Mark Mackyver.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, we have come to a podcast name.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now, before I tell you this name, I want to thank all of you guys who have been in the comments giving me different names to go with.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: There were some amazing names.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: The only issue was that all of these good names that you guys came up with were all taken.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I was stuck thinking, what am I going to call this podcast?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought I was going to call it Schooled by Owners.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: And last Sunday I put out a video of me cutting my own hair.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if you know me, I don't edit these videos, I just put them out there.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: I record and put them out there.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: But something said to me, listen back to that video.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Why is my heart like burning?
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like I should listen back to it.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I listened back to it anyway.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the video, I said something, and I said it multiple times.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: And as I said it, because at this point, remember, I was going with schooled by owners.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: That was going to be the podcast name.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of it, I said something multiple times, and I said, Oh my goodness, that's the name.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, guys, the name of this podcast is This is Ownership.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: The name explains exactly what it is.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's descriptive, it's simple, it's simple, it's easy, and it is what it is.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because what I'm teaching you guys is ownership in its purest, unfiltered, being real, real numbers, everything.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: This is ownership.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: The Slider Cuts podcast, Slider Cuts, this is ownership.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: When I heard myself saying it at the end of the video, where I said, look, this is ownership, and I stopped and I paused and I said it slowly, and I said, This is ownership.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Oh my goodness, that's the name.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So welcome to the slider cuts.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is ownership podcast where I talk all things, barbering, business ownership, and in between.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about what happened in my situation that almost closed down my business or could have made my business go into ruins, which would mean it closed down.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Slidercuts Studios was now bringing in more than 85,000 pounds, which meant that I had to be VAT registered, VAT registered.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Value added tax.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now, for those who do not know what that is, especially if you don't live in the UK, this is a tax that the UK government or the UK government put on to what you earn or what you bring in if you're bringing in more than 85,000 pounds.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: So very simply, it means that they charge you 20%.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: But how it works is they say that whatever you're making now, so as example, if you charge£100 for a service, what HMRC are saying is now charge everybody£120.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: So you still get your£100, but we take the£20 as our VAT, value added tax, our VAT.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the numbers make sense, it's simple, but it's not always simple just to implement because when you're running a barber shop now, it means that you now need to charge the barbers that are giving you money.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're on a rental system where you charge them rent and you charge them whatever it is, if you charge them£100 of rent every week, now you need to charge them£120.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if it's£200, it's going to be£240 and so on.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: If it's£300,£400, whatever it is, just add on 20%.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And the industry which we're in, a lot of people don't like those things there.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: They never want to be charged anymore.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: They don't even understand, even when you're breaking it down to them.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Listen, it's not me, it's that, it's the government, it's HMRC, it's what they say we have to do.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: In the industry of barbering, people can be very ignorant and just unsympathetic, and they just don't care.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's your business.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And you may explain to them, no, it's not my business, it's your business because you're self-employed, you pay me rent, so I have to add it on.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you even do other systems like percentage split and you've been doing a percentage split, let's just use easy numbers.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: The barber takes 60%, the shop takes 40%.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: So you've been charging them whatever you've been charging them, let's say they make£100, so they've taken 60 pounds, the business has taken 40 pounds.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: But now the business has crossed over the VAT threshold, which means they now need to add on 20%, you need to start charging more.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let me just explain something.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Where we're at now, September 2026, that VAT threshold mark is now 90,000 pounds.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm talking about the past a few years ago when it used to be 85,000 pounds.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: So just so you're not confused, the amount now is if you make over 90,000 pounds, you pay VAT.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I remember being in a situation and just being like, oh, I need to charge more, or you know, I need to hit people up for this money.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I was, to be honest, I was scared.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: And this is real ownership.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: I hadn't been taught ownership before.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: I've been learning over the years, yes, you know, watching different people, speaking to different people, seeing how different people run their businesses, but I'm in it now by myself, which is why I always say, you know, ownership is lonely, because you have to make the decision and you have to take the fallback or the backlash that comes with those decisions.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because what happens is you've got people around you who will just say, Yo, what are you talking about?
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Just charge them the VAT.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Why are you paying that money for?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: What are you talking about?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Just charge them, and it's simple, obviously, just charge them.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: But those people giving you the advice, they're good-hearted, got good intentions, but they're not the ones who are gonna take the backlash.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: They're not the ones, if the barbers decide to say we're leaving, they have to deal with that.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: So it's easy to give people quote unquote the right answer, but it's actually hard to implement it when it comes in real life.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I was in a situation where I was like, what do I do?
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: So in a previous podcast, I told you I just started paying the VAT bill myself.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Simple.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I say simple, but the reason was because I was scared, I was fearful.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's the real emotion.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, ah, I can't, I feel bad, and that's another thing as well.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: I felt guilty.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: I felt guilty.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, ah, but they've been paying this, and now I got to tell them they got to pay that.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: But remember, these guys are self-employed, and this is business.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is what happens in business.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you're self-employed, you have to pay taxes, you have to pay VAT, you have to pay all of these things there.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: To be honest, even if it's not business, if you go to anywhere in the UK and you're buying something, the price has got VAT added onto it.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's why sometimes you go into some businesses, and I've been there where when I didn't understand.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: I remember when I was buying my wedding ring, right?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't understand, and the man said, Look, this is the amount, it's like, I don't know, 800 pounds, 600 pounds, whatever it is, and it's like, you know, plus that.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I used to be like, What's this VAT thing?
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: And the man said to me, Look, if you um pay me cash, you don't have to pay the VAT.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, okay, cool.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't even understand what it was.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: I said, okay, cool, I'll pay you cash then, no problem.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: I used to always hear this.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: I remember speaking to an electrician, and he said to me, Look, it's VAT, but if you pay me cash, you know, you don't have to pay the VAT.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: And like, you know what it is?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: I never even understood what these people were talking about.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what is VAT?
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: I used to think to myself, why do you keep telling me it's£100 plus VAT?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Just tell me it's£120.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't care what VAT is, HMRC, I don't care, just tell me the price I have to pay.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: So it used to always annoy me.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: When I became VAT registered, it started making sense to me.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh, the reason why people say this is because they're trying to tell you as the client, look, this is not the money I'm making.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: This is not what I'm charging you.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is what HMRC is charging you.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: But for most people, they don't understand this.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: So you're just saying this VAT thing and they don't even understand.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm in a situation now and I'm like, okay, cool.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: I feel guilty, I feel bad, I feel scared, so I'm just gonna pay it.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I was paying about two to three thousand pounds out of my own pocket every month to cover everybody's VAT bill because I wouldn't charge them the VAT, which I should have been charging them the VAT, but I was scared to, so I just didn't do it instead.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: I took the high road, the scared road.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Did it for a few years.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Then one day I spoke to this business, he's not even a business mentor, but let's just call him a business mentor.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because there was something happening in my business where there was like he was actually coming into my business to help me resolve some disputes, conflict resolution.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: He works in businesses, he helps people, you know, resolve issues.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: And there were some staff members who just weren't getting along and things just weren't going right.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I got recommended to this guy, I had to pay him, and I was like, cool, spoke to him about the situation.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: He spoke to the different staff members, but in doing this right, he had to speak to me, and this is where everything changed.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: This is why I tell people spend the money on experts.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because one phone call, which it was one phone call, can change the whole trajectory of your business, and this is what happened for me.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: He spoke to me and is asking me about things like you know, what's the dynamics of the shop?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: How are things set up?
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: You know, just things he's got to ask me, even though he's here to resolve problems between staff members, because I felt like I had been trying, it's just not working, so I need an expert.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: So he's now asking me all these different questions, and through these questions, he's asking me things like, you know, how you run the business, this and that, you know, how you've seen.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember some of the things that were spoken about in that conversation, and this is important for you, barbershop owners, or even any owner, to be honest.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: I was like to him, do you know what?
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the owner, right?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the boss, but I don't like people seeing me like that.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want people to see me as the boss or the owner.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: I want people just to see me as like kind of like their friend, like we're cool, but understand I am the boss, right?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, sometimes people cross the line.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: I remember he said to me, Well, that's your fault.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, why?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, Because you want to be friendly, friendly, and super friends with everybody, then be surprised when they cross the line.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because you don't you don't want to be seen as the boss, but you want everyone to have this line that they don't cross because you're the boss.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, you need to choose who are you?
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Are you their friend or are you their boss?
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember my heart was my heart was burning when he said it to me.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oof, okay.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Then he started talking about to me about other things.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: I was talking about my prices.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I was saying, listen, in my tier of barbering, where people see me, I am the cheapest barber in my tier.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like the barbers people rank me with, I am cheaper than all of them.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Well, why don't you up your prices if you can?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Oh, but you know what?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Because I just I feel guilty, I don't want to do that to my clients.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: I've got like, you know, clients I've been cutting for a very long time, and I just I don't want to I don't want to do that to them.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: And he was like to me, but like almost he basically just saying, but why not?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're saying you feel like you're being underpaid for the value you give and for where you're at, but you won't charge more.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Hit my heart, like just it was just hitting me like I was just it was just burning.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: We had a few things in this conversation, right?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Where he made me just feel like, yeah, I'm just not running business properly, and I'm just scared to make these business decisions that will better the business than I know that I can make.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because to be clear, at the time I knew, and this is what I said to him, I knew that I could lose all my existing clients, and I'd get in a whole new set of clients, right?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: And they'll pay the new price and they would happily pay.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I knew this because every time I saw people on the street, they would always say to me, Oh, oh, you're that barber I've seen online, you know, but I want to get a haircut from you, but I know you must be expensive or must charge this and must charge that.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: And every time I said it to them, I'd be like, Oh no, I charge this.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do real figures.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: At the time I was charging, I think,£30.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: So every time I said to someone, Oh yeah, my haircut prices are£30, they used to always be like, Oh, is that it?
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it came to the point where I started I started feeling like weird about telling people what I charge because I knew everyone thought I charge more.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, people say things to me like, Oh, you charge like£90 or£100, and I'll be like, Nah, I charge£30, and they'll be like, Oh, I'm coming to get a haircut.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I knew I could charge like around£50.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like my other the people, like my peers in the same tier as me were charging like£50,£60, but I felt guilty towards my clients and this business mentor kind of personal, like, what just made me feel like basically you just need to step up and just make the right decisions for your business.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you're doing a lot of things for people, like why?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyway, I remember coming off this phone call with him, feeling like my heart was burning, and I went onto Instagram, and the first thing that came up was someone talking about reading Alex Ferguson's autobiography.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: And the point they put they put out in this in this um post was that Alex Ferguson said that he never wanted to be their friend, he never wanted them to feel like he was their friend, he always wanted them to know that he was their manager, he was their boss because he didn't want to get become friendly-friendly because you have to drop people sometimes, you have to sell people, you have to make decisions that friends basically, in a sense, don't make.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's like it's hard to make when you're their friends.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: So he'd always make sure he didn't go to the parties and so on because he didn't want to cross that line.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I read that and I was like, oh my goodness, this is a sign, my heart's burning.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: So this business coach sparked something inside of me and made me realize I need to start making better decisions for the business, and I need to stand on what I know I need to do, but that doesn't mean that just because I need to make better decisions, you should do them however, and that's the key in ownership, in understanding how to manage people, how to present things to people.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: There are people out there who just say things like, I don't even care, I'm Rago, I do what I want, that's their business, right?
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: But you find with people like that, maybe they don't get as much success in life, and that could be relationships, friendships, that could be business, because they don't understand that just because you're doing the right thing doesn't mean you've done it the right way.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: So what I did was I worked out the numbers.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: I spoke to my accountant.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: My accountant was telling me, listen, you add on the VAT, this is how you do it.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Okay, cool.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: But what I did was, and I'm not gonna bore you with every single number, I just worked out a way of let's charge the clients more by you know adding on the 20% there, and then I worked out a way where it's like, okay, the barbers were gonna take home more money.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: So just on basic numbers, let's just say£100.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: If the barber made£100 and they were giving the shop£40 and they were taking£60, I worked out a way that now the shop was taking you know£48,£49, or£50, right?
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: So it's covering the VAT bill and even getting like a pound or two on top, and then they where they were taking home£60 before from£100, now they're taking home about£67 or something like that, right?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Because I just worked out this method where I was like, okay, if we just up the prices of the customers, you know, which is was hard, but you know, I had to take that on myself, especially that the barbers were saying, like, we're gonna lose customers, and some of the barbers were really nervous, they're like, we can't up the prices, we can't go that high.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I had to say to them, as the owner, to calm them down and say, Listen, don't worry about it.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna make sure that the business is bringing in enough money or bringing in enough clients that even if those clients you got existing, those existing clients right now, you got leave, don't worry, we'll replace them.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I had to really just think about okay, what could happen, what could go wrong?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: What could go wrong is clients just start leaving, we start losing money.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: So now it's like we're making less money.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: What could go wrong as well is barbers are just being like you know, unreasonable, you know, or they're just saying, actually, I'm not paying that.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, I'm leaving, right?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: And these are real problems, so you've got to really think to yourself, okay, what can I do to combat that before that happens?
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I've worked out the system, we're gonna make sure that the barbers don't lose any money, and actually, they're actually gonna make more money from the system because we've upped their prices by a certain percent.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we've worked out in a way that the business now gets paid the VAT and so on, and we just worked it out right.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: The business is not gonna lose any money now.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, what I need to do is make sure we get clients constantly coming in.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: The same.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: So, if we've got if we have 500 clients that come in every week, we need to make sure that 500 clients continue coming in.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, if we lose 100 clients, I need to replace those 100.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: So that's down to me with marketing.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: The second thing, clients, um, second thing.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, no, that's sorry, that solves both problems.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, the problems would be replacing clients that are gonna leave and making sure that the barbers earn the same amount they're making, but to make it like the dessert, the cherry on top, make them make more money.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, I went to them, I told them the deal, told them what I was doing, and they were a little bit kind of like nervy, like I said, you know, oh, we're gonna lose clients, oh this or we're gonna lose money, oh, they're stressing.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Don't worry about it, I'll sort that out.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: Don't worry.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, did the deal now.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: There were some barbers actually, which were just upfront with me.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I remember one barber respecting me, just said to me, Listen, if you're saying to me that I'm not gonna lose any money and I'm gonna make more money, he said, I trust you, all good.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: Don't even worry about explaining it to me, all good.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: As long as I'm not gonna lose any money, all good.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Other barbers need explanations.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: I gave them explanations, they said okay, cool, you know, but they were still nervous.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: The other barbers were just like, nah, nah, nah, nah, it's not right, you know, you're taking more money off me.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, this and that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: All that stuff there, right?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: So we implemented the system, and now suddenly what started happening.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: People started making more money.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: One barber was on the shop floor when I wasn't there talking about me, saying, Oh, I'm losing money.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Oh nah man, I got less clients coming in.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, see, uh, this and that, we shouldn't have done this, oh, we can't charge all of this stuff he was saying, right?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I looked for his numbers because someone told me.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: I looked for his numbers and I was like, wait, hold up.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: He's actually making more money.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: He's made more money this week, like in the last two weeks, than he's made in the previous month, two months, three months, whatever, right?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I took the numbers to him, just phoned him.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is ownership.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Just phoned him, said, Hey, you know, don't get angry, don't be like start our argument.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Just phoned him, said, Hey, look, I know you've got some concerns and so on, but look, I've gone through the figures just like it so you can see.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, look, look at your numbers, and they've all got access to their numbers as well.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, this is not just me giving them numbers, they can all see it.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, I've made it in my business that is really transparent, they can see exactly what comes in, what the shop takes, what goes to that, everything.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, they already know this, right?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I went through it with him, and he's like, Yo, do you know what, Mark?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: You're actually right.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually am making more money.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: He said to me, Do you know what it is?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, It's because I just started noticing it was a slower week.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: But in reality, I've made more money in a slower week.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Yes, because this is what I was saying to you that I'm putting you in a position where even if some of those customers leave, we're gonna replace them anyway.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: But the way I done the structure and the payment and up the prices, the way I did it was like you can cut less people because I didn't just up the prices just so the VAT could be covered, I upped the prices in a way that, and that could be another episode where I show you exactly how I did it, but I upped the prices in a way that actually you're making more money off every haircut now as well.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: So he was happy after that, and to be fair to him and respect to him, he went onto the shop floor when I wasn't there, and he was saying stuff like, Yeah, actually, I was wrong, he was saying he was wrong.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: He said, Yeah, Mark, actually, yeah, I actually am making more money, actually, it's he was like, It's mad.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm making more money and I'm doing less and so on, and then eventually they started making even a lot more money because some of the clients that may have left, we replaced them, got new clients in, they got more clients, so they're making loads of money.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: But there's one particular person who just wasn't having it, who's just kind of like, Well, you're taking more money, and I'm like, Yeah, but one, like that money's going to that, and even with the couple pounds or whatever it is that the shop's making, like, so what?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: But he was just kind of like, But you guys are making more money.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm like, But you're making more money.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, Yeah, but I feel like you're just doing this thing where you're giving to us, but you're taking it away from us.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm like, But I'm not taking it away from you because on this system, on that hundred-pound theory, you're now making like an extra seven pounds on every hundred pounds, as example, like you're making an extra seven percent in in revenue.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: But he's looking at the fact that what the business might be making an extra percent or whatever it is, right?
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like some people you just can't reason with.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Some people are so focused on what you're gaining from it, and it's like, do you know what?
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is a business, and this is what is so good about speaking to that guy because I'm here to make money.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, so what if I'm making more if I'm making more money or the shop's making more money?
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: So are you, and the shop is doing everything for you to make money because you don't do anything, don't promote yourself, don't do anything.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: The shop makes you all this money, like not you work, but the shop is the one providing the infrastructure and the clients and the systems and the back-end support for you to make this money.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: Why are you upset if the shop is making more money?
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Some people you can't please, and it's best just to be like, There's the facts, there's all it's all written down, nothing's hidden, you know everything, take it to your people, accountant, this person, friend, whoever.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: And they did, everybody did, right?
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And everybody came back saying, Yeah, it's a good deal.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: As long as clients keep coming, it's a really good deal, right?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: And it worked for everybody, but some people were just still like, or you know, certain individuals are still like, but I don't like the fact that you're you as a business is making more money.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: But nobody cared when me as a business wasn't making money.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still not making money, right?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm making money right now, but you know, I'm still paying off debts and so on.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: But why do people Care when you're making money when they don't care when you're not making money.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: No one cared when I said that I'm paying two, three thousand pounds out of my pocket, which you guys should be paying.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody cared.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: No one even said thank you to me when I said I've been doing this for a couple years.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Not one person said, Oh, do you know what?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't realize that.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thanks for that.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: But now the shop's in a position where I'm doing better business.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, actually, the shop's gonna make money.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, but it's a mutual, it's mutually beneficial.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: You're making even more.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: The shop's making more, the VAT's being paid, it's all good.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: Just can't have these conversations.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: No, you have to have these conversations, but sometimes just like just stop.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: There it is, do what you want with it.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to stay, stay.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't want to want to stay, go.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: But of course they stay.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Why do they stay?
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because they know in their hearts it's a good deal, but they're just being envious or green-eyed of whatever you want to call it, right?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's just you know, but they know it's a good deal.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I have to go through all those things there, and it's difficult as an owner because you're by yourself, even though people may be out there saying to you, you know what, this is the right thing to do, and you know it's the right thing to do.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: The business coach says it, my accountant says it, this person says it, my wife says it, that person.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: But me as an owner has to make that decision and has to have all of those conversations with people, and it's weeks of conversations, and I've got like many staff, so it's weeks of it, and then weeks of hearing murmurs from people saying, Oh, this is not working out, or this is not that, and then having to manage those people, ownership can be lonely because even though you may have people to some degree supporting you, you have to make that decision, and then you have to have those conversations, and you have to take the backlash.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: And if things go wrong, it's you it falls onto.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: But when things go right, everyone just stays quiet and they're just happy.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: But this is what I did, guys, right?
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: To make sure I sorted out the VAT situation because I couldn't just keep doing what I was doing, and my accountant told me, and other people told me that.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I had to make some changes, and like I said, just because you're making the right decision, you still have to manage the way you make that decision and how you actually implement it and roll it out to people so that you're not in a situation where it's like, well, I did the right thing by charging a VAT and so on, but now I've lost barbers, or I've just lost clients and I've got no one to replace them.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're gonna make decisions like this, right, make the decisions, but make sure you're like, okay, what could go wrong and what can I do to make sure that I can cover for those wrongs if it happens?
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: And with me, it's like that's cool, market.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: But keep marketing, keep promoting, keep putting content out there, keep getting new clients in because clients are always coming in, new clients are always coming in.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: Some clients you're always gonna lose, that happens, but you want to make sure that you've got more clients coming in than going out or leaving, right?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: And just making sure that the deal was good for the barbers so that the barbers could smile when they looked at their pay slips or whatever it is, their statements, sorry, and be like, oh rah, I'm making more money.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: And they can go back and say, Oh, I was making£100 last week, but now I'm making£120.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: Rah, this is this is this is nice, and that's how I kind of dealt with it.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Ownership is difficult, hurdles, different things which are gonna come your way, but you just have to deal with it, ride the waves, and so on.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I've been doing, this whole ownership journey of my shop, which I've had for like coming up to eight years right now, and this is what this podcast is all about.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: This is ownership, giving you the realness of what ownership is really like, what I've done right, what I've done wrong, the struggles that I've gone through, the things that happened, the things that you just never hear about, being honest and real with the numbers, with the situations, being honest.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because if I'm not honest with you, you're gonna go into ownership, running your own business and be like, nobody told me this.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know about that.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: What?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: People act like this.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: I hear it so many times from people.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm trying to help you through my journey and my experiences and the people that I speak to, and all the other owners that I know not make those mistakes and also encourage you to make the right decisions and make them in the right way.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: So this has been another episode of first time I'm saying this.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is ownership, where I talk all things barbering, business, ownership, and in between.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for tuning in.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're a barbershop owner and you want to learn how to run a barbershop better, I have got a members community group called School of Owners.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: The link is in the description.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Click if you want to join, and if you join, I'll see you inside.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: And if not, I'll be here next week.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Every Wednesday, 6 p.m., the podcast This is ownership.