This is a true story about a third generation barber in a small community in the Mid-west. It was more than a hair salon-it was the center of the town where the farmers and their families caught up on the latest news. The business had grown over the years and prospered as an integral piece of the town’s identity.
The owner's son came home from graduate school over spring break, to find his father depressed and reclusive. The father finally confided that a franchise barber shop was spreading across the country, opening in small, “underserved” towns. Because the franchise was supported on a national level, they could offer six dollar haircuts.
“Look out the window,” the father said with disgust. “They opened their shop directly across the street from me!” He paused for a moment and muttered, “All my customers-my long-time customers-are standing in line waiting for their six dollar haircut.” The pain of the situation overwhelmed him and he put his head in his hands.
After a few moments, the father looked up at his son in defeat. "There is NO way I can compete with $6.00 haircuts. All my customers are across the street!” He waved his arm and then slumped in his chair. “After three generations, I have to close the shop," his hands covering his face so his son would not see the tears rolling out of his eyes.
The son said, "You know, I just finished a class called the "Science of Success" that was offered for extra credit in my marketing class. One thing I learned was something that Einstein said. He said that ‘The significant problems we face can never be solved at the level of thinking of the problem.’” He paused and gently said, “Dad, we have to find another way to see this. I want to try one of the strategies I learned.” He waited for his father’s nod, before grabbing pen and notebook.
“I am going to teach you about Masterminding,” the son declared. He went on to explain that Masterminding was first introduced by Napoleon Hill in the 1930’s. Hill was hired by Andrew Carnegie to study the patterns of extremely successful people.
“Dad, are you ready?" It took a minute but his father finally nodded. “Good. Let’s think of every idea we can and write it down. There’s no editing or judging whether it will work. For the next 15-20 minutes, we write down every idea we can. No idea is off limits. Ready?"
The father was intrigued but still resigned. "Well, the only idea I've got is..close the shop!" The son said, "Well, you're right that IS an idea." He wrote it down. Then the son said, "Ok, let's keep going." Before long the son and the father started getting a flow of ideas and writing down every one of them, even every crazy thing that came to mind. When they finished, one of the ideas absolutely jumped off the page and they looked at each other in astonishment and said, "This just might work!" The son left the next day to go back to college.
The father implemented the idea. Within 6 weeks, not only had his drop in business completely returned, but the number of customers was now 11% higher than ever in the history of the shop. Do you know what the idea was that turned sure failure into a new course of increasing success?
The idea was, "Place a BIG sign on top of the shop that read,
"WE FIX SIX DOLLAR HAIRCUTS!!!"
The Lesson
You see what you believe to be true. A flood of people getting six dollar haircuts could be seen as a disaster for a barber shop. But when you change your perspective, mindset, and beliefs, possibilities open up and new opportunities present themselves.
What are the six dollar haircuts in your life that keep you stuck? Try the Mastermind technique with a close friend and discover that there is always another way to see the problem.
To your prosperity,
Kathryn
P.S. If you have difficulties in your finances, I may have a solution. Read “The Abundance Formula” and follow the instructions. Your abundance is waiting for you to see it.
Don't Let a Six Dollar Haircut Ruin You