On this episode of "America's Favorite Mom and Pop Shops," learn small business success secrets from Jason Bunce, owner of Skull & Combs.
If you want to run a great business, then you need to learn from the greats. And they're all around you. They are the mom and pop shops in every town — the barber shops, the coffee shops, the bookstores, and the diners. But these aren't just small businesses. These are master classes in community building, customer service, and innovative marketing.
Entrepreneur magazine has teamed up with Walmart Business to go on a nationwide trip to meet these mom and pop entrepreneurs to learn what it takes to build meaningful businesses that last.
If you want to run a great business, then you need to learn from the greats. And they're all around you. They are the mom and pop shops in every town — the barber shops, the coffee shops, the bookstores, and the diners. But these aren't just small businesses. These are master classes in community building, customer service, and innovative marketing.
Entrepreneur magazine has teamed up with Walmart Business to go on a nationwide trip to meet these mom and pop entrepreneurs to learn what it takes to build meaningful businesses that last.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:06 If you want to run a great business,
00:08 then you need to learn from the greats,
00:10 and they're all around you.
00:12 They are the mom and pop shops in every town.
00:15 The barber shops, the coffee shops,
00:18 the bookstores, and the diners.
00:20 These aren't just small businesses,
00:21 these are master classes in community building,
00:24 in customer service, in innovative marketing.
00:27 My name is Jason Pfeiffer.
00:28 I'm the editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Magazine.
00:30 And with Walmart Business, we are meeting these entrepreneurs
00:33 to learn what it takes to build meaningful businesses that last.
00:37 So join me as we travel the country,
00:39 learning from America's favorite mom and pop shops.
00:42 [MUSIC]
00:52 [MUSIC]
00:58 Welcome to New Haven, Connecticut,
01:00 home of prestigious universities,
01:02 world-famous pizza, and the rocking world of skull and combs.
01:07 Yeah, this is a barber shop, but it's so much more.
01:10 Founder Jason Bunt started with $2,000 in his pocket,
01:13 and no idea how to start a business.
01:16 But through grit and determination,
01:17 he built not just two thriving locations,
01:20 but an incredible community.
01:22 I want to learn how he did it, and also, you know what?
01:25 I could use a trim.
01:26 Let's go inside.
01:27 [MUSIC]
01:31 My name is Jason Bunce.
01:33 I'm the owner of Skull and Combs Company in New Haven and
01:36 Norwalk, Connecticut.
01:37 I wanted to really create something, and everywhere that I
01:40 worked and everybody that I worked for, it felt so
01:43 difficult to create the best version of myself within their
01:46 company.
01:47 And I quickly realized that I had to create this brand for
01:49 myself because no one else could capture the same things that I
01:52 had in mind for myself.
01:53 So doing it for myself was natural.
01:55 It had to be.
01:57 Jason, tell me about Skull and Combs.
01:59 Wow, where do we begin?
02:01 Skull and Combs is friends made, hair slayed.
02:05 And as corny as it might sound, it's true.
02:09 It's what we are.
02:09 We're a salon and barber shop that leads with our hearts.
02:14 I built this place to kind of accommodate the average person,
02:18 the person who just likes to get away at the barbershop and
02:21 experience the salon, but then also piggyback that with really
02:24 great hair.
02:25 And it was a recipe for success.
02:27 It's the magic that makes Skull and Combs.
02:29 I know starting this business was not easy.
02:32 Tell me how you got here.
02:33 Wow, I was about 35 years old.
02:36 I just kind of hit the proverbial dead end and was like,
02:39 I needed to change something.
02:41 Life was just kind of like not doing it for me at that point.
02:45 And 35 is like- I know.
02:47 You feel like if you don't make a decision now,
02:49 you could be 50 and in the same spot.
02:51 It was do or die time.
02:52 And I always like to say this phrase,
02:54 but it's never been so true.
02:56 Discontent was the seed of change for me.
02:59 I was just so frustrated with myself that I had to make a big
03:02 change.
03:03 And it started with a reflection.
03:06 I just kind of like, you know,
03:07 reverse engineered my life into accepting who I was and it led
03:11 me to an artistic path.
03:13 And you know, here we are 10 years later, two salons,
03:15 and you know, it changed my life entirely.
03:18 Jason, I feel like you have so much to teach entrepreneurs,
03:21 but before we help them, I want us to help me.
03:25 I can use, I can use a little something here, right?
03:27 Yeah, you can.
03:28 What did you have in mind?
03:29 Just, you know, just a little bringing it in.
03:31 I just like it to be kind of clean.
03:33 I feel a little frizzy here.
03:34 Corporate cash, maybe?
03:35 Corporate cash sounds just good.
03:37 Easy peasy.
03:43 Do you prefer when customers are chatty or when they're just
03:46 quiet?
03:47 It depends.
03:48 We all are, you know, we all are in our moods.
03:50 We get more chatty sometimes than others.
03:53 And some people bring it out of us and some people in the chair
03:56 are more chatty than others,
03:57 but it's kind of a situational basis, right?
03:59 Time management is important when you're running an
04:01 appointment based business, you know?
04:03 (upbeat music)
04:06 All right, man, I'm feeling fresh.
04:14 I'm feeling ready for this next part.
04:16 I appreciate what you did.
04:17 You got it.
04:18 So I know that building this business was not easy for you
04:23 and it required you convincing a lot of other people to
04:26 join you, even though you didn't have the money,
04:29 even though you didn't exactly know how to build this.
04:34 How did you convince people?
04:36 How did you draw people into your vision?
04:38 - I figured at first it was important to not rest the entire
04:43 brand on like my name,
04:45 which is what kind of like guided me to creating a brand
04:48 like Skull & Combs.
04:49 I kind of wanted to be like the man behind the curtain,
04:51 you know, like Oz.
04:52 I didn't want to really be like hair by Jason or Jason's
04:55 barbershop.
04:56 And I think that put too much pressure on me.
04:58 - And it made it seem like it's all about you.
04:59 You wanted to create something that people could feel part
05:01 of.
05:02 - Yes.
05:03 I created something where it allowed other artists with
05:04 their own identities to come in and kind of like be part of
05:07 this family and all kind of collectively be the brand rather
05:11 than be the one person who had all the weight on their
05:14 shoulders.
05:15 - Let's talk about all the stuff in here.
05:17 Running a place like this requires getting a lot of
05:21 products and making sure that you're well supplied.
05:24 How did you figure out how to get that supply system
05:27 working?
05:28 - So in the very beginning,
05:29 it was just kind of like the limited exposure that I had in
05:32 the hair industry kind of led me to pick certain brands
05:35 and products to kind of establish, you know,
05:38 the salon with.
05:39 And then along the way you, you play with certain stuff and,
05:42 you know, I don't like this, I don't love that.
05:44 And you go to the beauty store independently and you pick
05:47 up some new stuff to sample with.
05:48 And then also there's sale forces that come in from these
05:51 wholesalers that will like, you know,
05:52 give you samples and, you know, kind of dangle the carrot.
05:55 Hey, if you come with us, if you, you know,
05:57 we'll give you a rebate and this and that.
05:59 So there's really, you know, it's part of the business.
06:01 It's part of just growing is learning, you know,
06:03 what works for you.
06:04 - Growth isn't easy and you're working off of limited
06:08 budgets.
06:09 And I know you had an opportunity to buy the building that
06:13 we're in right now, but it meant sleeping back there.
06:17 Tell me about that.
06:18 - When I first signed the lease,
06:19 I got very friendly and familiar with the,
06:21 with the landlord and he and his wife had owned the property
06:23 since the eighties, just in a casual conversation,
06:25 I mentioned to him, hey,
06:26 if you were ever interested in selling the property,
06:29 I would really appreciate first right of refusal.
06:33 - But you didn't have the money to buy it.
06:34 - No, not at that, especially not at that time.
06:36 And then about 18 months after we opened,
06:39 he gave me a phone call and I hadn't had my first two years
06:42 in business yet.
06:43 So financially it was a little hard for me to get approved
06:46 for a traditional mortgage,
06:47 especially for a commercial property.
06:50 And I ran out of options.
06:52 And the last option my mortgage broker and I discussed was,
06:54 Hey, let's sit down with this guy and see if he'll hold a
06:56 private mortgage for you for a year and let you get that
06:59 second year of tax returns.
07:00 And we brought him in for a meeting.
07:03 He agreed to meet and within literally five minutes of
07:05 having the conversation, he agreed to it.
07:07 We had an interest rate established and I was elated.
07:11 I was over the moon with joy.
07:13 And then just like, I couldn't believe that he said yes.
07:16 Now I own the building and I'm able to just expand and,
07:18 you know, do anything we want with creative Liberty.
07:21 - If instead of me sitting here,
07:25 having a conversation with you,
07:26 it was Jason Bunce sitting here,
07:30 age 35, trying to figure out what to do,
07:34 knowing what you know now, what's the advice?
07:36 - Always follow your heart, lead with your passion,
07:39 pump the brakes a little bit,
07:41 maybe make some better calculated decisions.
07:43 Don't be so impulsive.
07:45 When you just have grown so frustrated with yourself as a
07:49 man, as a person,
07:51 and you just want to see that change happen so badly,
07:54 you're just willing to do whatever it takes.
07:56 It might be cliche,
07:57 but when people think you can't do it and that you won't do
08:00 it, it's like even more satisfying to like,
08:02 push through those,
08:04 those mental hurdles and just get to that place of like,
08:07 I made it, you know, and then I didn't do it for you.
08:10 I did it for me and just stay true to yourself and stay
08:14 committed to the goal and it will pay you back and reward
08:16 you.
08:17 - Jason, all that is so inspiring.
08:19 You have supported so many people and this community and
08:23 they have supported you.
08:25 So before we wrap up,
08:27 Walmart business has a little surprise for you.
08:29 They are setting you up with a six month Walmart business
08:32 plus membership.
08:33 So that is free shipping and limited time offers on products
08:37 for business owners and 2% cashback on purchases over $250.
08:42 And you are getting a thousand dollars to spend on whatever
08:46 you need at business.walmart.com.
08:48 - That's awesome.
08:49 I really appreciate that.
08:50 That's really great.
08:51 Thank you very much.
08:52 I really do appreciate the time we spent together.
08:54 - Hey, well, thank you.
08:55 You did such a great job here and I appreciate you sharing
08:59 the hard stuff too,
09:00 because that's what entrepreneurs need to hear.
09:02 - Yeah, no for sure.
09:03 - And when they see this place, they can't just see success.
09:05 They got to see challenges and growth because that's the
09:08 real story of Skull and Combs.
09:09 - Yeah, it sure is.
09:10 (upbeat music)
09:13 - The way I see it, it's great to have a vision,
09:22 but a vision by itself only gets you so far.
09:25 But when you share that vision,
09:28 when you align your vision with other people's visions,
09:31 that's when an idea turns into a lasting business.
09:35 And that's how mom and pop go together like Skull and Combs.
09:39 (upbeat music)
09:42 (upbeat music)