Running one’s own business takes a fair amount of business prowess and even still the success or failure of the endeavor depends on a multitude of outside factors.

Mohammed Iftikhar Ali, owner of Super Fade Cut in Vanua Arcade has seen both outcomes in his long career as a barber.

Upon completing form 6 in Labasa, a young Ali made the journey to Viti Levu to visit relatives.

His maternal uncle was a barber and Mr Ali said “I used to go to his shop, watch him do hair, and I got interested. That’s when I thought of learning hairdressing. We were going through some hard times in Labasa; my father was a farmer, I’m the only son and I have four sisters. I wanted to study more but after I learned hairdressing, that was it for me, it’s a good trade”.

“I enjoy it, 22 years of being a barber now.”

Mr Ali has worked at a number of barbershops over the past two decades and his current shop is his second attempt at running his own.

He learned the trade hands-on in Suva barbershops before taking a hairdressing course at FNU.

He was eventually able to save enough to rent out a space in Raiwaqa and invest $10,000 in starting his own barbershop.

He was also able to extend into a billiard shop, a canteen and a grog shop at the time. He said the billiard shop was a difficult business because of the long hours.

Mr Ali had to close down this group of businesses because of increased rent prices. He then worked at Supercuts for about six years.

His current location in Vanua Arcade was once a branch of Supercuts where he’d worked prior to buying the shop from his cousin.

“My cousin got married in Australia and wanted to move there. So I told him you better sell me the shop.”

It took a bit of convincing for his cousin to decide to sell and he set the price at $50 000.

“He just said it, he never thought I was going to buy this thing, that I’d have that much money. But I said ‘Don’t change your mind now. You said it; it’s done’,” said Mr Ali.

He had saved enough over his years of work and he decided this was his chance to own his own barbershop again. The shop mostly serves men but can also handle shorter hair for women and children.

They also offer shaving, black dyeing, head and facial massages, and other such services at reasonable prices.

Despite having the skills to do so, Mr Ali avoids providing services such as straightening and colouring of hair to avoid the use of heavy chemicals in his shop.

He considers his shop a success as he sees a good number of customers each day, saying that some days the shop is busy enough that he doesn’t have time for lunch.

Mr Ali comes in an hour early, at 7am in order to cater to people wanting to get cuts and shaves before the workday begins.

From a boy looking up to an uncle to the success story he is now as a small business owner, Mr Ali has done quite well for himself and has been able to build his own home and support his retired parents and his own wife and children.

And the legacy continues as his 19-year-old son is currently taking a hairdressing course and already works at the shop, each day gaining more of his father’s skills in preparation of someday taking over at Super Fade Cut.