How an Austin Barbershop Built Its BrandHow one Texas barbershop chain built relationships with customers based on a strong company identity -- and beer.

Michael Portman has heard his salon customers share information with their hairdressers that they wouldn't confide in anyone else. As he says, it's a business built on trust. After all, how many deals compel the service provider to wield a sharp pair of scissors to your scalp or neck?

今天,你们六个ars after he and childhood pal Jayson Rapaport opened the first of fiveBirds Barbershopsin Austin, Texas, Portman is especially pleased when a customer comes in for a haircut in advance of a job interview. "That's a pretty trusting moment there," Portman says.