The Upper East Regional Chairman of the Ghana Association of Barbers and Barbering Salon Owners (GABBSO), Issaka Abdul-Razak, is concerned about the rising costs associated with opening, operating, and maintaining a barbershop.
Mr. Abdul-Razak highlighted that the recent increases in utility prices have been detrimental to players in the business when he recently spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show.
The fact that barbers and owners of barbering salons have been unable to raise rates to cover the increasing cost of operating the business as a result of numerous consumer complaints, he claimed, is even worse.
Individuals who are interested in starting their own barber shops should budget a minimum of Ghc10,000, according to Mr. Abdul-Razak.
“The is a person who is establishing a salon, I went there and just the chairs alone cost him about Ghc20,000. These days, business is not good. Just look at the tariffs and the way they have been increased. How do we survive? When customers come, they are looking for more services. They want you to install air conditioners and all that but if you ask them to pay, there will be complaints,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the chairperson of one of the weavers associations in the Upper East Region, Patience Atinga, has expressed concern over the escalating prices of threads and other essential materials used in fabric weaving.
During a recent interview on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show with Mark Smith, Madam Atinga highlighted that due to the high initial investment required to establish a weaving business, numerous successful apprentices are opting to migrate to Kumasi and Accra to pursue head porting instead.
Madam Atinga further explained that some of the arrangements made by certain weaver associations in the region have compounded the challenges faced by young women in particular.
“Some of the ladies, their parents, or their husbands would say that, I have taken care of you, so I am done. Instead of helping, backing them up, and getting them some capital to start their businesses, they won’t do it. When they finish their apprenticeship, they tell them to start a business, but how do they expect the ladies to start their businesses?”
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
