The Service Business Mistake Everyone Makes

Ben’s barber cuts hair for Minnesota Vikings players. He’s booked solid every single week.

He charges the same price he charged three years ago. And he has zero photos of any of this on his wall.

The bar is so low it’s practically underground.

This episode is a random rabbit hole of observations, from local businesses fumbling easy wins to Ben almost buying another business he absolutely doesn’t have time for (spoiler: Jon talked him down).

If you’ve ever wondered why your barber, mechanic, or favorite restaurant isn’t crushing it when they could be, this one’s for you.

The Barber Who Refuses to Get Rich

Ben goes to a barber named Kyle. Small space inside a building full of tiny rented rooms, hairstylists, massage therapists, nail techs, all working independently.

Kyle’s setup is smaller than Ben’s office, and he pays more for it than Ben pays for his entire warehouse space.

Weird, but that’s not the interesting part…

Here’s what is interesting:

Kyle cuts hair for multiple Minnesota Vikings players. Like, actual NFL athletes.

They pay the same price everyone else pays. Kyle is booked solid, you can’t get an appointment.

He works weekends. He’s maxed out.

And when Ben asked him, “Why don’t you tell anyone about this? Why aren’t you using this as marketing?“

Kyle had never even thought of it.

The Price Resistance Problem

Ben started coaching Kyle during the haircut.

Have you ever considered raising prices?

Kyle’s response: “No. Why would I raise prices? Nobody will come.“

This is the story of every service business owner who’s scared to charge what they’re worth.

Ben’s evidence:

1. His massage therapist: Always booked 6 weeks out. Ben convinced her to raise prices only on new clients. Nothing happened, still fully booked. Then she raised prices on everyone. Still fully booked.
   
   
2. Paramount Pet Health (Ben’s old business): Selling dog vitamins for $30-40. They added $10 to every product. Zero change in sales. None.

Kyle still wasn’t convinced.

Why People Don’t Leave When You Raise Prices…

Jon breaks it down: People aren’t coming to you because you’re cheap.

They’re coming because:

• They like you
  
  
• They know you do good work
  
  
• Switching is painful
  
  
• They’re creatures of habit

If you’re booked solid, that’s a sign people love what you do.

It’s NOT a sign your prices are cheap.

The Vikings angle makes it even better: If you told Jon (a huge NFL fan) that his barber cuts Vikings players’ hair, he’d pay whatever it costs.

He wouldn’t even ask the price.

When you’re booked months in advance and turning people away, that’s not because you’re the cheapest option.

It’s because you’re the best option.

Ideas for Kyle (And Every Service Business Owner)

1. Raise your damn prices If you’re fully booked, raise prices. Start with $5-10 more per service. See what happens. (Spoiler: nothing bad will happen.)

2. Charge more on weekends Surge pricing exists for a reason. If people are taking away your Saturdays and Sundays, charge 20-30% more. Some people will still pay it.

3. Charge for off-hours Want a haircut at 8 PM on Friday? That’ll be double. Someone will pay.

4. Mobile service Ben would pay triple for Kyle to come to his warehouse and cut his hair. He guards his time. Driving 20 minutes, waiting (Kyle’s always running late), getting the haircut, driving back, that’s 90+ minutes gone.

Offer a premium mobile service at 2-3x the normal rate.
Business owners will absolutely pay for this.

5. Broadcast that you cut Vikings players’ hair. Put photos on the wall. Post about it on social media.

Film the haircuts (the shorts of barbers doing mid-bald fades get millions of views).

People will drive out of their way to get their hair cut by “the Vikings barber.”

Even if you only cut 2-3 players’ hair, you’re still the Vikings barber.

6. Premium packages Offer a $300 experience: haircut, hot towel shave, exfoliation, steaming, the works. Film it. Make it an event.

Not everyone will buy it. But some people will.

The Real Issue: Being Maxed Out With Nowhere to Go

Kyle works all the time. He works weekends. He’s comfortable, he’s a single guy in his 20s who bought a house.

But he’s hit the ceiling…

When you’re booked solid and refusing to raise prices, there’s no upside.

You’re just trading time for money at a fixed rate forever.

You either need to:

• Raise prices (capture more value for the same time)
  
  
• Build systems and scale (bring in other barbers)
  
  
• Add premium services (increase average transaction value)

Or you stay stuck.

The Thai Restaurant Gift Certificate Hack

Ben went to a Thai restaurant on Christmas Eve. Bill was $52. When they paid, the restaurant gave them a $10 gift certificate to come back.

Ben was blown away. A week later, they brought the whole family back (the step-kids wanted to try it).

Spent over $100. Got a $20 gift certificate.

Why this works so well:

It’s immediate. You can use it tomorrow. It’s not a punch card where you need to come back 10 more times before you get anything.

You physically hold it in your hand. It feels like free money (even though it’s not).

It creates a reason to return that’s stronger than “we should go back sometime.”

You have a coupon. You HAVE to go back.

Jon’s take: This is way better than loyalty programs that give you $15 back after you spend $1,000.

Everyone does those online (e-commerce loyalty programs are everywhere), but it’s rarer to see it in physical businesses.

The sooner someone can use what you’re giving them, the greater the impact.

Where Else Could This Work?

Kyle could hand out 5 coupons to every customer: “Give this to someone new, they get a free haircut.“

Now you’re acquiring 5 potential new customers per existing customer, and you’re only giving away one free haircut to convert them.

Any service business could do this. Restaurants, mechanics, massage therapists, trainers.

Hand people immediate, tangible value to come back or refer someone.

Word of mouth is everything for local service businesses. This accelerates it.

The Credit Card Fee Scam

Ben’s noticed tons of local businesses charging $3-5 fees for using a card. On a $10 order.

That’s 30-50%. They’re not paying anywhere near that to process cards.

Shopify charges 2.9%. Stripe is similar. Square is in that range.

Where are these businesses signing up that they need to charge $3 on a $10 purchase?

Three possibilities:

1. They’re just bad at math and don’t realize how ridiculous this is…
   
   
2. They got screwed by a terrible POS system and don’t know how to switch
   
   
3. They want cash so they don’t have to put it on the books (tax-free money)

Jon thinks it’s probably #3.

If you discourage card usage and get more cash, you have “freedom” with that cash. Once it’s in your bank account via credit card processing, there’s a paper trail.

The opportunity: You could white-label Shopify POS or Stripe and go door-to-door to these businesses.

Give them way better rates, take a tiny cut on every transaction.

They save money, you make passive income.

Ben wants to shake these business owners and ask what they’re doing.

This is actively hurting their business. Nobody carries cash anymore.

The Business Ben Almost Bought (And Why He Didn’t)

Ben found what he calls “an absolute gem” of a business.

What made it great:

• Repeat purchase business (consumable product)
  
  
• Incredible packaging (rare in CPG)
  
  
• Strong margins
  
  
• Existing loyal customer base
  
  
• Repeat purchases already happening
  
  
• Product Ben personally uses and loves

The opportunity: The trailing 12 months included:

• Running out of stock twice (months of zero revenue)
  
  
• Launching a product that went “gangbusters,” then never bringing it back
  
  
• Raising prices too high when running low on stock
  
  
• Using an AI ad platform that spent 3x normal ad spend for 3 months

Four out of 12 months had zero or negative EBITDA.

Translation: The business is valued on 8 good months, not 12.

Just by not being a bad founder, you’d get paid back in 18 months instead of 3-4 years.

Ben loved everything about it.

The only downside: you’d need to order inventory immediately (they’re almost out of stock), so you’re essentially paying for the business twice, once for the purchase, once for inventory.

Jon’s Response

Ben pitched this to Jon, expecting excitement.

Jon just stared at him and said: “When are you gonna have time to do that?”

Ben wasn’t expecting that.

But it stopped him cold.

The Power of No

This is where the episode gets real.

Every successful person will tell you the same thing: learning to say no is the most important skill.

Ben admits he’s really, really bad at this…

Every guest on the podcast makes him want to start a new business:

• Shannon Jean’s liquidation episode? Ben wants to buy Costco pallets
  
  
• PDF dropshipping episode? Ben’s ready to launch
  
  
• Romance novel episode? Ben’s half-tempted to write one
  
  
• Kayvon’s sales episode? Ben wants to run through a wall

He’s constantly chasing shiny objects.

The problem: Ben’s already in 5+ businesses.

He’s got a kid, step-kids, a wife, and another child on the way.

He just sold/exited two businesses in the last 6 months specifically to create space.

And the first thing he did when he created that space?

Tried to fill it with another business.

Why We Can’t Do Everything

Jon’s take: Humans can’t focus on 57 things at once. Nobody can.

People point to Elon Musk running Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, Boring Company, etc.

But that’s not where he started.

PayPal was it. He sold PayPal, got rich, then invested in one company.

Then another.

Unless you’re a hundred-millionaire, that strategy doesn’t work.

The exception: Acquiring businesses that roll into existing businesses you already have.

If you’re running an e-commerce store, buying another e-commerce business that serves the same customers with complementary products makes sense.

But running 5-10 completely different businesses that don’t connect?

You either need massive teams or you’re lying to yourself about what success looks like.

Why People Keep Starting Instead of Scaling

Jon thinks people who constantly start new things are avoiding the hard work of scaling what they already have.

Starting is comfortable.

You know how to do it because you’ve done it before.

Building something really big?

That’s harder. It requires different skills.

So people hide in the comfort of starting again, telling themselves “maybe this one will be the one that gets big.”

But it never does, because once it gets to a certain point, they start something new again…

The pattern: Constantly starting is not success. It’s avoidance.

The Opportunity (If You Want It)

The business Ben almost bought?

It’s a great business.

Low six figures, plus inventory costs.

If you’re someone who:

• Has capital to invest
  
  
• Has time to run it (or a team to manage it)
  
  
• Wants a proven, repeat-purchase business with strong margins

Ben and Jon will put money into it, but they’re not operators.

They’re looking for someone to run it.

Reach out at info@lowbarpod.com or to Ben directly if you’re interested.

This won’t be the last time Ben finds a great business opportunity.

The point of building an audience is to share these opportunities and bring in partners who have what Ben and Jon don’t: time and focus.

The Lessons

For service business owners:

• If you’re fully booked, raise your prices
  
  
• Use what makes you unique as marketing (cutting Vikings players’ hair counts)
  
  
• Add premium tiers and mobile services
  
  
• Stop charging stupid credit card fees
  
  
• Give immediate rewards that create reasons to return

For entrepreneurs:

• Learning to say no is more important than learning to say yes
  
  
• Shiny object syndrome will kill your ability to scale anything
  
  
• Acquiring businesses only makes sense if they fit into what you’re already doing
  
  
• You can’t focus on 10 different things and expect any of them to become great

The bar is so low. Kyle could 2-3x his income by making a few simple changes.

The Thai restaurant is crushing it with a $10 gift certificate. Most local businesses are leaving massive amounts of money on the table.

The opportunities are everywhere.

The question is: can you say no to the ones that don’t fit, so you can say yes to the ones that do?