60 Seconds with Tabatha Coffey

host of the Bravo show “Tabatha Takes Over”

By BRIAN MOORE

Last Updated: 11:30 PM, January 8, 2012

On your show, you visit ailing small businesses and help them figure out what they’re doing wrong. What’s the most widespread problem you encounter?
The most common thing is a lack of focus and a lack of leadership. It’s all about creating a great product and creating great service. Sometimes people forget that.
Is it possible to have a successful business with a lousy product?
People can have a great environment and a great staff and a place that’s nice and clean and aesthetically pleasing, but if that product isn’t consistently good, people aren’t going to come back.

What’s the dopiest small business you ran across?
It was a frozen-yogurt shop. They were confused and lacked focus on what they really were. They sold frozen yogurt but they also sold coffee and these terrible packaged sandwiches. They just had so many things going on that it didn’t have any focus, so as a customer walking in you didn’t know what the hell it was.
What’s the most impor-tant trait an entrepreneur needs to succeed?
The number one thing is passion. That drive will get you up every morning and make sure that everything is running well. And you have to be present in your business. A lot of businesses are failing because people are not present. They expect everyone else to do the work for them and to take care of the business and do the right thing. Are people making sure the product is sold properly? Are people making sure customers are being treated properly?
You have to be willing, especially in a small business, to put the time in and the energy in.

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