Tabatha Takes Over

                   Sometimes businesses fall apart.  There is poor customer service, a lack of professionalism, and unclean environments.  All these things can deter customers from ever coming back.  I know because all these things have not made me not return to an establishment.  What these businesses need is a visit from Tabatha.      

                Originally titled Tabatha’s Salon Takeover, Tabatha Takes Over has hair salon owner Tabatha Coffey go into different businesses and change them around for the better.  At first Tabatha only went into salons, but now she goes into non-salon places as well.  No matter what type of business, the set-up is the same.  First Tabatha secretly tapes the workings of the business and shows them to the owners.  After this Tabatha surprises the employees and takes a tour of the establishment.  Often the employees are happy to see Tabatha, until she starts telling them what is wrong.  Then they say she is the most terrible person in the world.  Tabatha is very strict and does not take anything from anyone.  The employees, and sometimes the owners, do not like that too much.  However, it is what they need.

                On the second day Tabatha has a meeting with the employees to get their perspective of what is going on.  How they view things is quite different from what Tabatha is told by the owners.  Tabatha then assesses everyone’s work.  She chimes in when necessary, which is often, but otherwise lets people do their thing.  This is usually where Tabatha starts to get really frustrated.  People ignore what she says, do sloppy work, and act as though they know it all.  Even though these inevitably end up being bad days, it does help Tabatha figure out what direction to take.  She sets up different activities as teaching tools and makes over the facility. 

Reopening day arrives and Tabatha observes the business onsite.  She then gives the owners her recommendations about what still needs to be done in order to improve.  Sometimes that is putting an employee on probation or firing someone all together.

                About six weeks later Tabatha returns to see how things are going.  It is not always good.  There have been businesses that have gone backwards.  Fortunately that does not happen too often.  Most of the businesses do well and improve.  One of my favorite success stories is a salon in New Jersey.  A couple years after her first arrival, Tabatha returned to the salon again to see how things were going.  The owner and salon were doing fantastic.  Previously the owner spent all his money on clothes, parties, and cars.  After his time with Tabatha, the owner got his debt and money under control to the point he was able to buy a car with cash.  That is how stable his business and money now are.  The owner was so grateful he got down on one knee and proposed to Tabatha.

                While I like watching Tabatha change businesses for the better, I do not envy her. She enters so many situations that I would not have the patience to deal with. Somehow, no matter how bad things are, Tabatha always figures it out. With so many businesses that need help, I hope this show stays around for a long time.