Intuit Small Biz Relief - The Barber Story

I want to start out by being clear, as a business owner, I made a stance to not set up a GoFundMe as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. 

The fact of the matter is this, we are all going through this crisis alongside one another. My struggle is also my neighbor's struggle, and never could I imagine a place where I  would ask my neighbor to struggle more so I can struggle less. 

Here is why you are now at The Barber Story's GoFundMe page.

The team at The Barber Story is one of the best teams I have had the privilege of leading, and when I asked them to voluntarily stop working in an effort to keep Boise safe, everyone stepped up to the call.

We didn't feel it was necessary to wait for the mayor or governor to take action before we did, and that is why we we encouraged other Boise barbershops to endure the struggle with us. We need to protect our community so the community can be there to come back to us.

Fast forward two weeks, and the inevitable has become our new reality. Governor Brad Little has issued a Shelter in Place order for the state of Idaho, lasting a minimum of 21 days.

Cutting hair is not essential, and it certainly cannot be done within 6 feet of our clients, so all of the independent contractors at The Barber Story are without work and unemployment benefits for the foreseeable future, meanwhile the property management company is still requesting rent to be paid on time.

The sad fact I had to face is this. If bills don't get paid, The Barber Story will stop existing a week after our Grand Opening

Due to the absolute madness that the world is seeing,  Intuit is trying to give back to their clients by helping small businesses in the Treasure Valley get back on their feet, and they reached out to me to ask if they could help us by creating a campaign for The Barber Story.

We work in the service industry. Many of our friends and our loved ones are going through the same things we are, and our situation is no more or less important than every other person facing the same situation in the service industry, so here is what I don't want.

I don't want to ask anyone who is out of work for help. You need to take care of yourself. However, if you are in the more fortunate situation of being able to work from home, and you want to make sure The Barber Story is still around after we get through this, well than this message is for you. In an effort to be entirely transparent, I will lay out shop expenses to explain the funding goal.

Barbers in the shop pay between $125-$150 a week to lease their stations. I don't believe in commission because the barbers are doing the work, so they should make the money off of the service. The $1,500 collected monthly from the individuals covers the cost of all monthly operating expenses (rent, utilities, laundry facilities, shop upkeep, etc.). These are the shared expenses we have to simply work in the shop, not to live for ourselves. We live for ourselves with the money as part of our trade. 

We are, however,  anticipating being out of work for a minimum of one month, as the Boise social distancing order is mandated until 4/25. What we are fundraising for, will be two months of operating expenses to keep The Barber Story open in the time we are unable to cut hair.

The first $1,500 will cover the cost of our working expenses during the month of April, while the anticipated government subsidy will allow us to keep food on the tables for our families. Asking for an additional month in funding, will ensure the barbers have an opportunity to recover their lost income in a reasonable amount of time, without additional pressure from the shop that they need to pay their weekly lease during a recovery. Anything over and above our projected goal, will go directly towards barber lease fees. 

Asking for help is a much harder thing to do when you know everyone else is going through their own version of the same difficult experience, so once again, if you are not in a position to help, please don't. But for those of you who aren't ready to see us fail, we certainly will appreciate the kindness of our community.

Be well. Stay healthy.
-Chris