Oddly Expensive French Barber Provides Lesson on Spending (Watch)

Would you pay $11,000 for a haircut? Seems a little steep, right? Well, that’s roughly the monthly salary of Olivier B, the barber for French President Francois Hollande.

The barber’s lawyer tried to justify the high cost by saying that he must be available for the President at all times. But French taxpayers still weren’t happy, especially because the President doesn’t have much hair to speak of. So far, the scandal has led to plenty of criticism online, and has even amassed its own hashtag, #Coiffergate.

Why You Need to Watch Your Spending Behavior

While small businesses don’t exactly have taxpayers to worry about, the lesson about exorbitant purchases and spending behavior can still apply. Customers who support your business want to know that their dollars are going toward making great products and paying great team members. So if they see that your business spends a ton of money on purchases that seem a little silly or over the top, they might think that they’re being overcharged.

This doesn’t mean you should avoid purchasing things to keep your team happy or make your office a better place to work. But if you’re spending unwisely on something extravagant and passing the cost on to customers, they probably won’t be very happy if they find that out.

So the next time you’re considering a big purchase for your business, just think about how it might look to those who regularly purchase products or services from you. Is it something that will benefit them? Is it something that will make your team happy so that they can better serve customers? Or is it something really pricey that your customers will end up paying for without really getting anything in return?

Francois Hollande Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "Oddly Expensive French Barber Provides Lesson on Spending (Watch)" was first published on Small Business Trends