Editorial: A lesson in success

The ongoing success of Beatrice Hair's Salisbury Tutoring Academy should be an inspiration to anyone starting a small business.

Hair left her position as a public school teacher to start her own business in 1996. Her goal: serving children who need one-on-one tutoring to reach their full potential.

Starting on her own and then adding a few part-time teachers, Hair steadily built her tutoring business. Thanks to her driven determination and passion for teaching. Salisbury Teaching Academy now employs 25 people and has sold two franchises. It operates out of a Corporate Circle building Hair had built to her own tutoring-friendly specifications.

That success was evident Tuesday as Salisbury City Council held a reception to honor Hair as the 2010 North Carolina Small Business Person of the Year — an honor bestowed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Hair certainly earned it. In the process of building her business, she has developed a long list of devotees who attribute their or their children's success to the tutoring received at her academy.

"All this has been a stunning shock to me," Hair said in a 2007 interview after selling her first franchise. "I have a very powerful business model here. ... And I am not a businesswoman."

The Small Business Administration might beg to differ. The SBA says new employer firms have a 50-50 chance of surviving five years. One of the top reasons people don't succeed is that they start their businesses for the wrong reasons — such as to make a lot of money or become their own boss.

The secret of Hair's 14-year success is no secret at all. She has a passion for what she does. She cares about young people and helping them succeed. She's also a positive thinker who is energetic, organized and methodical.

Small businesses make the world go 'round. According to the SBA, businesses employing less than 500 people represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms. They employ just over half of all private sector employees, pay 44 percent of the total U.S. private payroll and have generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the past 15 years.

Still, it takes a lot of courage, independence and planning to start your own business. If you're contemplating taking the plunge and wondering what it takes, study the success of Beatrice Hair and Salisbury Tutoring Academy.