Marie decorated the special room for kids in a jungle décor with life-size animals. The room is equipped with a shampoo counter, like a cushioned bed, on which the child can lie comfortably without feeling trapped in an awkward, scary position as he would in a regular chair used for an adult. In this lying position, the child can watch a macaw that appears to be flying above. The child participates in the entire procedure, throwing the wet towel into the mouth of a large alligator when he is finished. The room includes lion and animal chairs and a pony to vary the experience of getting a haircut.

Marie was first licensed as a hair stylist in 1974. She worked at many other salons including a management position. When the salon where she was working was sold, she decided to open her own salon. She designed it and hired a contractor. The salon was an immediate success, but in December 2003, Marie was having cash flow problems. She assumed the reason was not enough customers. The most obvious fix for lack of customers would be to increase marketing. Marie had observed a billboard about SCORE so she called them to help her improve her marketing efforts.

Jake Haveman and Don Durow were assigned as SCORE co-counselors, both having expertise in marketing. They were impressed with the layout of her salon and Marie’s concept of providing hair services to children. About sixty percent of her business is kids’ haircuts and forty percent is adults, both male and female. There are six stations for adult hair services. Jake and Don determined that Marie had done a good job with advertising and promotion. They concluded that Marie did not need marketing assistance, but that a SCORE volunteer with an accounting background should be added to the counseling team.

SCORE counselor Jean Kruse, a retired CPA, and Don Durow met with Marie. Jean and Don determined that the problems Marie was experiencing resulted from two things. First, Marie took on a lot of debt to make her vision of the perfect family-atmosphere salon come true. She also had invested in expensive state-of-the-art computer software for salons. Second, Marie was so busy managing the salon and providing services to her clientele, that she did not pay attention to her expenses; her bookkeeper paid the bills and Marie incurred expenses without knowledge of whether there was enough cash in her bank account.

Don recommended that Marie try to renegotiate her lease because the facilities costs were too high. Jean worked with Marie and with her bookkeeper to help Marie get a handle on her expenses. Jean recommended that Marie outsource her payroll check processing to a company that would prepare the paychecks and the tax reports. As part of the outsourcing, Jean helped Marie change the date the employees would receive their paychecks from the day after the payroll period end to a week later. This provides a delay in when the money is expended, but most importantly, provides a breather as to how quickly the paychecks must be prepared. In subsequent months and years, Jean has periodically advised Marie and her bookkeeper about financial statements, inventory, and gift certificate procedures, as well as human resources suggestions. Marie has paid off her debt and now has a thriving salon. Marie feels comfortable in calling SCORE whenever she has a question.

Parents and children come to Kids & Company from Iowa City, Des Moines, and out-of-state in addition to the metropolitan Cedar Rapids area. A child who is younger than eighteen months can get his or her first haircut free. Kids & Company personnel will take a before and after digital photo of baby’s first haircut to give to the parents. It takes a special kind of person to be able to relate to children on a level that makes them feel comfortable while getting a haircut. Marie is that kind of person.