Sheldon Tatchell, the owner of Legends Barbershop, recalls being the youngster hanging around the barbershop watching others cut hair and then trying to recreate the same cuts at home.

His parents wanted him to be a doctor, but fate had other plans.

For as long as he can remember, cutting hair was the thing that excited him.

In 2011, he decided to see where he could take his passion, and started cutting hair at the local supermarket with a friend. Now, from that humble beginning, he has 10 branches across the country.

Here he is talking about how he made it to where he is today:

When Sheldon first started out he didn’t see cutting hair has a business. Rather, it was a way of making some money from something he loved.

But when the passion is there, the buzz follows, and it soon became clear that this was something that was taking off. Word of mouth spread among his network of clients, and even when his friend dropped out of the venture, he was able to keep things going.

During that difficult time, he had to close the formal business to find work to keep himself afloat. For two years, Legends Barbers was a side hustle, but working with his loyal clients he could keep his business dream alive. In his own words:

“People would still call me and book for haircuts. Eventually I bought a scooter and I drove out to people, wherever they are…Everyone has to go through failures, you just take it as a learning curve.”

Once he was back in business with a proper shop the next step was to apply what he learned while he was struggling. His top clients really enjoyed the experience of getting a haircut at home or on the road, so why not create a mobile barbershop?

If the scooter worked, why not a van? And so an idea, born in adversity, took on a life of its own. The mobile barbershop goes wherever the client needs and has travelled around the country, as well as to Botswana and Lesotho, delivering fresh cuts everywhere it goes.

His advice for people starting out?

“Stick to your passion, don’t be contaminated by the world telling you…that you could not make a career of being a barber. It doesn’t come easy. Once people see you in the limelight, they think this guy made it overnight. You must just put in the hard work.”

This year, Legends Barbershop will open their 11th shop as the business continues to grow.

This information was provided by Yoco – helping power businesses since 2013.