Written By: Khushboo Verma

Indian men are, without any question, spending more on grooming than they ever did. Not just haircuts: beard trims, facials, head massages, skin treatments. The neighbourhood barber who charged ₹50 for a quick trim is basically a different industry from what's happening now. India's men's grooming market was sitting at roughly ₹20,500 crore in 2024. That number is expected to nearly double before 2033 ends.

So yeah, the money is real. And it keeps coming back every few weeks, because hair grows.

That's basically the core appeal of a men's grooming salon franchise from an investment standpoint. It's repeat business by nature. You're not hoping someone buys a second fridge. You're waiting three weeks for them to need another haircut. For someone thinking about where to put their money in 2026, this category has a pretty strong case going for it.

This blog breaks down five franchise options worth looking at, along with honest notes on what they actually cost and who each one makes sense for.

What's Actually Driving This Market Right Now

This isn't just a pandemic-era spike that stuck around. The shift started years back and it's been steady. Young men in urban India, the ones working corporate jobs, showing up on Instagram, getting married, they care about how they look. 

And it's not only metros anymore. Walk into a decent salon in Indore, Surat, or Coimbatore today and you'll find it busy. Organised grooming brands figured this out and have been pushing into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities for a while now. The men's grooming salon franchise segment is growing at around 12% CAGR through 2030, which is not a number most retail categories can match right now.

Also, grooming holds up when money gets tight. Eating out goes first. New clothes go second. A haircut before a job interview? That stays. Not exactly a luxury when you think about it that way.

Top 5 Barbershop Franchise Options in India

1. Jawed Habib Hair & Beauty

Best suited for: New investors, smaller towns, lower entry cost

Ask ten random people in India to name a salon brand. Jawed Habib comes up almost every time. That kind of recall took years, and it does a lot of the work when you're trying to fill seats in a new outlet.

The brand has 900-plus outlets across 24 states. More useful for franchise investors is the fact that they offer two formats: the full salon and the Express model. The Express version needs only about 300 sq. ft. and costs less to set up. That makes it viable in smaller towns where a ₹1 crore investment would be hard to justify.

Cost Breakdown:

The FOFO model means you own and run it. The brand gives you the playbook and support, but daily operations are yours. Royalty at 15% is on the higher side, so model that carefully before you commit.

For anyone wanting to get into the men's grooming salon franchise business without dropping a crore upfront, Jawed Habib is usually the first conversation worth having.

2. Truefitt & Hill

Best suited for: Someone who already has a premium mall spot or a good high-street address lined up

1805, London. That's the year this barbershop opened. The Guinness Book eventually came around and called it the oldest in the world, about as good a brand story as any franchise gets. People don't go there to knock out a quick trim. The shave, the hot towel, a chair that genuinely looks like it belongs in a different century. That's the draw. Pricing reflects that.

Lloyds Luxuries Ltd brought it to India in 2013 and now runs over 25 outlets in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. The customer profile here is different from most grooming brands: corporate professionals, business owners, people who won't blink at spending ₹2,000 for a haircut and shave combo. The product retail side (fragrances, shaving kits, hair care) is also a meaningful revenue line.

Cost Breakdown:

The investment is genuinely high. But so is the ticket size per customer. If your location is right, a Palladium, a Phoenix, a premium high street, the math works differently than it does for a mid-market salon. This is one of those franchises where location selection is basically everything. Get that wrong and no amount of heritage branding saves you.

3. Toni & Guy

Best suited for: Metro investors, younger urban clientele, premium hair focus

Around 1963, started out in London, now running salons across 45-plus countries. In India the brand sits in the premium unisex space: haircuts, colour, treatments are the main draw, and a solid chunk of the clientele is men. Not a pure barbershop, but male grooming is genuinely central to what they do.

Picky about location and outlet setup, which honestly makes sense. They're not going to let a badly run outlet sit under their name. Styling is where they stand out. Stylist training is taken seriously, which cuts down on quality dips and keeps people coming back.

Cost Breakdown:

Revenue at a well-placed Toni & Guy outlet can run ₹15–40 lakh a month depending on the city and services mix. Colour services and treatments pull a much better margin than basic haircuts, so how your outlet is positioned on services matters.

Not the cheapest entry in the men's grooming salon franchise world, but the brand recognition in metros does a fair bit of the customer acquisition work for you.

4. Looks Salon

Best suited for: If your plan is a full-service salon rather than a pure men's grooming play, this one fits better 

The brand traces back to a tiny Karol Bagh setup in 1989. Literally just a few chairs. That's where Looks started. Worth knowing because it means men's grooming isn't something they bolted on later to look relevant. It's where the brand came from. Today there are 200-plus outlets across 50-plus cities, doing hair, skin, bridal, nails, and a few other things besides.

The breadth is the point. A salon that only does haircuts depends entirely on the men walking in. Looks pull in women for bridal packages, skin treatments, nail services, so even on a slow men's day, the salon is running. That diversification is why many investors prefer this format over a pure-play barbershop model.

Cost Breakdown:

35 years in the business. The customer trust that comes with that is not easy to replicate with a new brand. For someone who wants a men's grooming salon franchise but also wants the safety net of a broader service menu, Looks is worth running the numbers on.

5. Green Trends (Unisex Hair & Style Salon)

Best suited for: Smaller cities, volume-based model, middle-income customers

CavinKare runs this, same group that makes Chik Shampoo and Indica. They got into salons in 2003 and just kept at it. No big rebrands, no dramatic shifts. Prices stay accessible, quality is consistent enough that customers don't get surprised from outlet to outlet.

The model runs on volume. Ticket sizes are lower than premium brands, but footfall is the trade-off. Nashik, Mysuru, Rajkot,  markets like these suit the brand well. People there want a decent salon without spending premium prices, and that's exactly the gap Green Trends fills.

Cost Breakdown:

The CavinKare backing means there's real corporate infrastructure behind the brand: supply chain, marketing, systems. For a franchisee in a Tier 2 city who wants something organised and affordable, that parent company credibility carries weight. It's also the kind of brand that can get traction in areas where Toni & Guy or Truefitt would never set up.

Quick Numbers Side by Side

Before You Sign Anything

Location will do more work than the brand name. Wrong location kills good brands. Scout foot traffic, local competition, and what people around you actually spend before you sign anything. 

Run the royalty math seriously. At 10–15% royalty on gross sales, add rent, salaries, and product costs, and  your net margin can get uncomfortable fast. Model out a few scenarios, including months where you're at 60–70% of projected revenue.

Staff retention is genuinely hard. Good stylists in India have options. They get poached. They leave. Brands with strong training programmes help here, but budget for some turnover in your first year regardless.

What's the repeat rate? Before finalising any franchise, talk to existing franchisees and ask what percentage of customers come back regularly. Grooming is supposed to be a loyalty business. Low repeat numbers usually mean something isn't working, either the service or the pricing or both.

FAQs

1. Lowest investment option for a men's grooming salon franchise in India? Jawed Habib Express. Around ₹25 lakh to start, small footprint, built for Tier 2 and smaller towns. Nothing on this list comes cheaper.

2. Can a barbershop franchise actually make money in India in 2026? Location does most of the work, but yes. Margins typically land between 20–35% post-costs. Higher billing per visit sounds great until your location can't support those price points.

3. How long before I see returns on a men's grooming salon franchise? Jawed Habib tends to break even faster, usually 12–18 months. The premium ones like Looks and the Hill Street barbershop brand generally take 2–3 years. Where you open matters more than which brand you pick.

4. Do I need to know anything about salons to invest in this? No prior experience in beauty or grooming is required for any of the five brands above. Management or retail experience helps more than knowing how to cut hair. All brands provide training.

5. Can this work in a Tier 2 city? Yes. Jawed Habib Express and Green Trends are both designed for it. The luxury end of the market is better off staying in large metros for now.

Wrapping Up

Something has shifted in how Indian men think about grooming and it's not going back. The guy paying ₹800 for a haircut today has no reason to go back to a ₹100 barber. Organised salon brands still have a lot of cities left to enter, which is where the opportunity sits for investors right now.

The five brands here span different budgets and city types. Match one to where you actually are, not where you wish you were.

FranchiseBazar has verified men's grooming salon franchise listings. Check territory availability and reach out to brands you're serious about.

Disclaimer: The brands mentioned in this blog are the recommendations provided by the author. FranchiseBAZAR does not claim to work with these brands / represent them / or are associated with them in any manner. Investors and prospective franchisees are to do their own due diligence before investing in any franchise business at their own risk and discretion. FranchiseBAZAR or its Directors disclaim any liability or risks arising out of any transactions that may take place due to the information provided in this blog.