Today we’d like to introduce you to Berit Pratt.
Berit Pratt RN BSN MPH started out as a pediatric nurse at Boston Medical Center formerly Boston City Hospital) She then got her Master’s in Public Health at Boston University School of Public Health studying Pesticides and Cancer. During her 13 years as a School Nurse, she saw how many chemicals parents were putting on their children’s scalps when they got head lice. She knew anecdotally that the pesticide/chemical lice treatments were not working, because her business kept growing. Scientific studies published in 2015 & 2016 confirmed what she was observing in her lice treatment clinic, that the chemical pesticides used for Head Lice were no longer working. She also noticed what a huge amount of stress and time Head Lice was taking up for her, as a school nurse, and for her families. Eight years after starting up NitWits with two mothers from her school, Berit attended a course on entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Business. She owns the business 50/50 with her remaining partner CFO Sonia Simoun, after the they bought out The mission of her business to teach families and communities how to effectively treat (and prevent) Head Lice without any chemicals. Berit’s educational program provides accurate scientific knowledge, and the proper tools, to effectively and safely manage Head Lice in households, schools and communities.
Has it been a smooth road?
We started NitWits in 2004 in the first floor of my 2-family home in North Cambridge, MA. When we started the business in 2004, there was only one other person providing head lice removal treatment services in the Boston area. Now in 2017, there are at least a dozen other competing businesses in our local area. Many of these competitors travel to clients homes and end up charging upwards of $600-1000 for a visit. We are proud of the fact that we only charge on average $200 for visit. In 2015 we took the huge step of taking out a small business loan and building out a retail space in Belmont, MA with 3 private treatment rooms, a waiting room and cleaning, storage and laundry areas. We then moved our business into our brand new NitWits clinic. Our clients & staff really like the space! There have been plenty of challenges along the way. We are running a business where we only see clients once for about 2 hours. We need someone answering the phone live 18 hours a day. Hiring, training and retaining excellent staff has been a steep learning curve. Currently we have an absolutely fabulous staff with everyone having been with us for at least 3 years. We are able to hire and retain excellent staff, by offering a starting pay of $30/hour plus tips. In addition SEO and marketing have also presented formidable challenges. However we now feel that we know what we are doing and can stay ahead of our competition.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are proud of the fact that we provide an excellent product at a fair price and families end up paying closer to $200 for a visit to our lice clinic. We have decided not to franchise, but instead to stay local and continue to have control over the quality of our service. We have developed head lice conditioner shampoo and conditioner treatment products as well as a professionally produced educational film that we show our clients in the office as well as PTO groups we present at.
We are proud of the fact that we are a small, local, women owned business. We have an environmental mission statement that means we use eco-friendly, organic products. We have been certified and are active members of the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) of Massachusetts. We care what goes onto children’s scalps and into our wastewater stream and we want to keep pesticides out of both.
We are the only business in the Boston area founded and operated by a Public Health Nurse. We are proud of our school nurse and public health background and feel that families in the Boston area are very aware of, and respect, our brand.
Specifically we remove lice and lice eggs (nits) from the clients who come to our office in Belmont. We have a 100% guarantee and back up our business all the way. We also focus specifically on education for school nurse groups and parent community and school community groups.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes, Belmont is the perfect area in which to locate our business.
Pricing:
- $85 Minimum Charge for 30 min-1 hour
- $130 per hour charge for 1 hour or more in 15 min increments. Most visits average 1.5 hours
Contact Info:
- Address: 161A
BELMONT ST, Belmont MA 02478 - Website: www.liceinfo.net
- Phone: 617-816-9487
- Email: nitwitsinfo@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nitwitsllc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/licefreeboston/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DailyDoseKids
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/nitwits-belmont
- Other: http://beritpratt.tumblr.com
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