Who's Who - Entrepreneurs 2001
By: Insider Business Journal

Nadwa Yono, owner of Salone Nadwa and Day Spa in Novi, visited almost a dozen banks before she found one who would agree to help finance her business.

Why didn't she just throw in the towel? "You come across a lot of hurdles, but you've got to keep going. You have to be strong and get back on your feet, " she said.

The wife and mother of two sons now operates Michigan's largest full-service salon and day spa. The business at 43236 Eleven Mile Road in Novi Town Center opened in November 1994.

Yono employs about 40 people in her 6,400-square foot facility and grossed more than $1 million in sales in its first year in business and $3.5 million in revenue after five years. Revenues have grown about 30 percent annually.

A nationally known hair, color, wellness and fashion expert with more than 20 years of professions experience, Yono, the second youngest of nine children, was born in Iraq and came to Michigan in 1970 at age 7.

She became a cosmetologist at age 18 and worked at leading area salons. She has trained with the industry's elite. "I was a hairdresser for 15 years, but it was always my dream to own a spa salon. I wanted a full-services salon so that I could pamper people from head to toe," she said.

She specifically wanted her business to be located in Novi. "I thought there was a need for a business like this here," she said.

Yono believes one reason she's a successful entrepreneur is her emphasis on training. "I love to teach people what I know," she said. Employees must serve an apprenticeship before they're allowed to work on the floor. "I hold weekly classes and train them in every aspect of the business," Yono noted.

Continuing education is also a part of the business plan. Employees attend three classes and one seminar a year. She also encourages employees to be individuals. "I allow my people to think for themselves and express their creativity," she added.

To acquire and retain top people, Yono offers reimbursement for educational expenses, a company-paid health care package and 401(K) retirement plan. She prides herself on the fact that her business is the only one of it's kind in the state to provide all of these benefits to employees.

Yono says that she's a team player who works on being the boss without being bossy. "I never show my employees I'm upset about anything. And I don't reprimand my people. I correct them in a positive way. And I'm constantly working with them. I even do the laundry," she said with a smile.

She believes her employees like working at Salone Nadwa because she's accessible. "They know that I'm easy to talk to and that they can come to me when they have a problem or something to discuss. I have an open-door policy," she said.

Because she has a lot of corporate clients, Yono will add a conference room soon and plans have a separate room for the phones to reduce the noise level during customers' calls. Someday she would like to move the business into a freestanding building.

"You have to have the drive to succeed," she said. And when problems arise? "You can't let anything get you down. You have to think about what you can do to make things better," she advised.