Agbonayinma Aigbe (42) is the owner of Wisdom Barber Shop, and has spent 18 years as a barber in Oregbeni area of Benin city, making people look more attractive.
The secondary school graduate told our correspondent that he learnt the trade for three years before opening his shop.
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“I started learning the trade while in secondary school, after the close of school at about 2pm, I would visit a barber shop who happens to be a friend to learn the trade. I never thought I would earn a living from it.
“So when I finished secondary school and there was no money to further my education, I decided to open a makeshift barber shop by the road side to start practicing the trade and it turned out to be my break through,” he said.
He said from the makeshift shop, he moved to his current shop as the business was moving well for him.
“The business has been very good. This is a daily business and any day you go to the shop, you must come home with money if you are serious,” he said.
“I have achieved many things with this business. From this work, I got married, had children, built my house and bought a car. It is from this work I am training my children. I was born in 1977 and I have four children.” On the profit making, he said the profit is not fixed but depending on the day’s patronage and how one is good on the job. “ There are days you smile home with N5,000, N8,000, N10,000, and at times N15,000 and N20,000 especially weekends.
Explaining how he started the business, the father of four said he spent between N10,000 and N15, 000, as he only bought wood for the makeshift shop, some chairs and clippers. “When I started, I depended on electricity but when business started progressing I bought a small generator to power the business, today I can say the business is good,” he added.
According to him, the major challenge in the business is power as they depend solely on generator to power their business.
“On a daily basis, I buy N1,000 fuel so that I can satisfy my customers. If you want to be in barbing business you must buy fuel daily because electricity is not available.
He added, “security is another challenge because armed robbers attack us in the evening and rob us of the day’s proceeds.”
Aigbe said from his work, he pays N5,000 and N10,000 tax to both the state and local government respectively on annual basis.
