Student barber becomes dorm room entrepreneur

Nick Bourgeouis is a multi-tasking, hands-on type of person.

The 21-year-old junior, a member of the Kappa Alpha Si fraternity, is not only a ceramic art major and linebacker for the Midwestern State Mustangs, but a self-employed entrepreneur as well.

The 6-foot-tall, muscular Bourgeouis, who has been cutting men’s hair since the summer of 2002 in his hometown of New Orleans, is a barber on campus. He has no formal training, but he does have a lot of customers.

“The motivation was simple,” Bourgeouis said. “I got sick of waiting in long lines and then paying $12 to $15 for a haircut every two weeks. I must have messed up on cutting my hair about six times, like so bad I had to wear a hat before I got it done right.”

He perfected his skills on himself until he reached high school, where he began to give trims to his close friends and football teammates before big games and pep rallies.

Bourgeouis confesses that it wasn’t until he graduated from Trinity Cedar Hill High School and enrolled at MSU that a chance encounter convinced him to start charging people for haircuts.

“I was walking to class one morning and this guy told me my hair looked really good. He mentioned he couldn’t find a barber and asked if I knew someone. I told him me.”

“I told him $5 a cut. That’s how it all began,” Bourgeouis said with a grin.

From the fall of 2008 until the spring of 2009, Bourgeouis charged $5 a haircut in his on-campus apartment in Sunwatcher Village. But, since the beginning of the fall semester, the price of haircuts has increased to $7.

“The week of homecoming and the week of any major party is when the number of clients skyrocket. This was one reason I raised my prices to $7,” said Bourgeouis.

Being an entrepreneur on top of both a football player and student comes with difficulty as well as rewards. Bourgeouis wakes up four days out of the week at 6:30 a.m. to the annoying sound of his alarm clock.

He heads to the gym to lift weights for football at 7 a.m., then sprints back home to prepare for a three-hour ceramic class that begins at 9:30. He gets a small break in the afternoon from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., and then it’s off to his football film session at 2, followed promptly by football practice from 3 – 6 p.m.

He then has two hours of free time before his 9 p.m. film session. And yet, somehow he finds the time to cut three to four people a day, at 45 minutes a trim, six days a week.

“At times I do wonder how I’m even awake right now. Sometimes I feel as if I could just sleep anywhere that’s quiet,” said Bouregouis.

With a time-consuming day-to-day schedule that seems daunting to even the most determined of students, finding a job that can fit into his daily routine is highly unlikely.

Bouregouis says his clients are aware of his busy schedule and posts a sign-up sheet where clients can pencil in their names and numbers to schedule an appointment.

The flexibility his business affords him is only one of the reasons Bouregouis has chosen this path. It has also given him independence.

“I use this as a way to keep money in my pockets and a way for me to not ask Mom and Pops for things that I can take care of,” Bouregouis said.

Cutting three to four heads a day, six days a week, Bouregouis makes anywhere between $500-$670 gross income a month. When you deduct the cost of maintaining a functional operation year-round (clippers: $30-$45, replaced once a year; edgers: $30, replaced every 6 months; disinfectant: $4, replaced once a month; oil: $3, replaced once a month; blades $3, replaced every six months; guards: $2, replaced every six months), Bouregouis can easily bring home $5,712 in net income a year.

What about life after college?

Bouregouis admits that he doesn’t know exactly what he plans to do after he graduates with his Bachelor’s of Art degree from MSU, but said he’s considered several options.

“I enjoy working with my hands, drawing, creating art – and cutting hair is my hobby… along with catching a few naps here and there,” Bourgeouis said with a sly smile.

“I’ve considered enrolling in a barber college or cosmetology school from time to time. Expanding my knowledge means expanding my clients and gives me a second option in the working world, but for now, I’m just enjoying life.”