Company

Beth Grant Interiors, Edina, MN

Background

Beth worked as a senior interior designer for a small architectural firm for thirty years. “I liked working for someone else because I didn’t want to deal with the business side of things,” she says. But when the architect who owned the firm retired, Beth Grant Interiors was born.

“I wanted to keep doing what I loved, which was both commercial and residential design,” she says. “I see myself as a lifestyle designer. I love having people feel happy about the space we’ve created.”

Challenges

While running her own business was exciting, it brought new challenges. “I felt very strong on the artistic side and very weak on the business side,” Beth says.

At the Edina Innovation Lab, she got expert coaching on business fundamentals and a whole lot more. “It’s like a mini–Shark Tank,” she says. “Everybody questions you, ‘why do you do this that way,’ and that makes you think about the decisions you’ve made. Is there a better alternative?”

Solutions

The Innovation Lab gave Beth a fresh perspective on her strengths and weaknesses as an entrepreneur.

“I don’t like financials,” she says, “and that aspect of running a business was taking up too much space mentally. Now I’m in the process of hiring people to do the jobs that suck energy from me.”

Beth says the best part about the Edina Innovation Lab was seeing the group dynamic change over time. “People started to learn that you don’t have to do something the way it’s been done before, that there are other options.”