Barbershops: Are barber shops still profitable?

So, you are planing to open a barbershop. Or you just want to know about the barber shop business. Well, you're in the right article then.
Barbershops are as popular as ever,at least in my town. Every couple of streets I see the red, white and blue pole spinning outside the shops. And beards are more fashionable than ever with so many styles and so many men wanting to look like Tony Stark.
With so many barbershops open and working I thought that the business was saturated, and that it could not be very profitable. I was wrong
Barbershops are becoming a necessity in this modern environment where the appearance and the good presence is so important.
Men care a lot more about their looks.Some men really care about having a clean face while others need to have their beard simetrically shaped. To some is it not good looking anymore to go around with a long untrimmed beard like a viking. 
And if you work in a very professional or formal enviroment, you are almost forced to keep your hair and beard trimmed to a minimum.

So that's were barbershops come into play. 
One of the most important parts of the barbershop, like every other business, is the location. You can follow two paths here. Either set up the shop in an area that lacks the product you offer or set it up in an area that already has a provider for that product, which force you to compete for the clients. 
Now, as I said before, barbershops are on the rise, There is one around every corner, so you probably will have some competition already working on your zone. But that's something that should push you to improve and to offer a better service than them.
You have to distinguish yourself from the competition, by either having low and accessible prices or by offering something new to the customer. A good example of the latter are the new bar-beers that combine a barbershop with a bar, serving you a drink while you wait for your haircut. You can drink while you get the haircut too but i would not recommend it unless you like hair in your beer.
The other important aspect, and obviously the most important are the clients. The barber shop business relies entirely on the customer. And barbershops tend to form a base of customers that will return periodically to get their hair and beard trimmed.
So I don't have to say much except that you should aim to have a good barbershop. You must offer a good experience to the customers, something that you will determine based on the kind of barbershop you have.
Of course there can be a bad streak in the economy or the long hair and beards might come into fashion at some point, or some things can happen that affect negatively your barbershop. But if you ensure that you give the clients what they want every time, they will always come back, because hair, like the barber shop business,never stops growing.