Wednesday, April 21 2010

Donna and Alisa German discussing their salon with Matthew






What a week!

When you're busy, time just flies!

The good thing is we've been working and accomplishing more tasks. And best of all, learning. We believe learning is a life long process, but more so when you're working a project such as this.

Last Friday we had the privledge of interviewing Alisa and Donna German, mother & daughter-in-law, and co-owners of Bahama Bronze.

Alisa and Donna remind me of what we've typically come across in our travels. Hard-working people that are true innovators, who are extremely humble. When you talk to them, it's as if someone in the back of the store is doing all these great things in business.

This is a quality in people we all admire, but sometimes you want them to grab the microphone and brag a little.

But alas, that's not how it works in small towns, or Agurbs as some call them. The people here are just as innovative and savvy as those you would interact with in a big city, but here, they don't let you know about it very often.

They're more interested in action doing the talking. Maybe that has something to do with their innovation not always being front and center.

Case in point. Over at Bahama Bronze, it started off as a spray tan business. Now from our view, that doesn't sound like a very convincing business model. But there was a market for it, Alisa saw it was there, and she put it together.

Along the way she added other services, the one's that we might all be more familiar with as a stand-alone business. Those being nail service, and hair cutting.

And since then, she's added other beauty services to turn her store from an innovative, one-service shop, to a full-service salon that one could spend an entire day in receiving everything from eyelash extensions to pedicures.

To hear Alisa say it, you wouldn't think she's as innovative as she truly is. When she talks about the things she's incorporated into her salon, like "bling strands" you almost leave the subject alone.

In case you're unfamiliar, bling strands are an emerging trend in the beauty industry that serves as an alternative for people seeking to dye their hair. They are synthetic, and can attach to existing hair follicles.

Why is this important?

As we know, most work places are revamping their rules of appearance for employees with less room for interpretation.

This means that people they may want to indulge in personal expression by dyeing their hair may not be able to because their employer only wants natural colors.

So for someone that wants to add color to their weekend appearance, bling strands may give them an option to still express themselves, while maintain an appearance that their employer won't balk at.

Also, when it comes to options for kids, dyeing is not exactly in the list. For one, many school districts have policies stating children cannot attend classes with unnatural hair color because it becomes a distraction in the classroom.

So now, kids can do something "adult" with their hair, that is effective in style, easy to control, and above it all temporary.

While some salons have incorporated this into their services, many have not. And even further, Alisa and Donna had the foresight to add this service into their store from the time it started, realizing the potential from market standpoint.

It probably wasn't the most popular service when they started, and it may not be even now, but story is how it has grown from being a once in awhile request, to a regularly scheduled appointment now.

As entepreneurs, they both saw the potential for this service and have capitalized on it. This all happened on Main Street, in a small town.

It is truly amazing the kinds of stories one can find on Main Street, and we look forward to many more.