A "frustrated" Rickmansworth barber fears he will be forced to close by Christmas amid floundering business and around £25,000 worth of debt.
James Kourt, 48, opened Ricky's Hair Gallery on Church Street in February but has struggled to attract customers since day one.
Originally from Turkey, he moved to the UK in 1999 and began barbering in 2006 before setting up his own shop in Harrow, which he has since sold.
In Rickmansworth he has kept prices as low as possible but says high rent, business rates and shrinking footfall are making survival increasingly difficult - with around £25,000 worth of bank and personal loans already taken out.
"If I keep going like this I can't survive," the father-of-one told the Watford Observer. "Within three to six months, if I don't see any improvement, I won't be able to carry on.
"I'm frustrated because I have put a lot of work into this shop - I painted it myself and bought two chairs in case I needed to hire someone, but they're empty because I can't afford to. It's a hard time you know, it's not easy."
At his previous Harrow shop, James was generating regular revenue within months of opening. He now needs at least 10 clients a day to break even but is currently seeing only four to six, with eight on a good day.
James blames the struggles on a combination of high overhead costs, a high street that is losing its pull, and Brexit.
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"People have fewer reasons to come to the high street and that affects me," he said. "There are no more reasons to come here - Nationwide is still open, but other bank branches have closed, and if you want to buy something these days, you don't have to come here at all.
"People either go to Watford or order online. Rickmansworth has a market, and that sometimes helps, but even then it's so slow. A lot of people are saying that Rickmansworth is getting quieter."
He said Brexit has "definitely" made things worse, adding: "Before Brexit things were really good, but since then a lot of people have gone back to their countries."
Although moving to another spot may be an option, he fears Watford's business rates would be too expensive.
"No chance I could afford that," he said. "You see so many businesses on Watford High Street try and then after a while they end up closing."
