Each nice small enterprise has a narrative, and Entrepreneur’s America’s Favourite Mother and Pop Outlets collection goes on location to listen to them firsthand. On this episode, editor in chief Jason Feifer visits Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a former metal city that has spent 30 years determining what comes subsequent.
That’s the place he meets Kim Myles, who gained HGTV’s Design Star and spent 20 years on tv. A 12 months in the past, she and her husband, Scott, purchased Gadzooks, a Lehigh Valley salon that has been on the identical nook for greater than 35 years.
Her first transfer was doing nothing. Kim promised her group she wouldn’t change a factor for six months, other than sprucing up the inside. “You be curious, and also you shut up, and also you hear,” she advises entrepreneurs shopping for beloved native companies. The technique labored, retaining loyal prospects coming by way of the door, whereas making gradual modifications to usher in new ones.
One other out-of-the-ordinary transfer: Whereas Kim has abilities, she doesn’t reduce hair at Gadzooks. As Jason places it, “If an organization can’t run with out its proprietor, you didn’t purchase a enterprise, to procure a job.”
Gadzooks gives perks which are uncommon within the salon world, together with 401(ok)s, maternity depart and psychological well being depart. Subsequent, Kim and Scott plan to make Gadzooks employee-owned. “We hope by making this an employee-owned firm that this outlives us,” Kim says.
Watch the video above to see how Kim redesigned the salon with out closing its doorways, what constructing neighborhood actually means, and why she believes the great distance is the suitable method.
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