If you’ve ever been hot for teacher, this column was made for you.

So gather round, all of you naughty little children, and settle in for this here lesson.

This week’s column means business, good business.

Now, what are my credentials relating to business?

Well, let’s just say that:

My hair is black as spades.

I look good in shades.

And I really am a jack of all trades.

So, let’s begin. *Ruler whip*

There’s this one humble entrepreneur in town I admire, and he’s really done business the right way.

Jim Higgins, the proprietor behind Puget Sound Pizza.

His operational decisions illustrate the right way to grow a business, just like what you’d learn in 101 class.

He started with a small space, and with the help of masterminds such as Bluecifer, created a killer yearning for five-star pizza, and other good food, too.

He began with lunch and dinner, shutting down at 9 p.m., and as his patron’s devotion increased, he added a Saturday and Sunday breakfast menu.

Over the last three years, his customers yearned for the PSP eats so much that they were willing to get takeout if there was nowhere to sit.

So what has Higgins done now?

He blew the wall down and opened up a 60-seat lounge in the space next door, which is now equipped with booze.

With those measures, his business is even more gangbusters, with hoppin’ breakfast sessions on the weekend, and late-night pizza and fun.

People already know the food, and they now have a place to sit in large groups, rock out to a juke box, and sing their hearts out through the karaoke that Puget Sound Pizza offers on Fridays and Saturdays.

One of my other favorite things about the new lounge is that you have to take a few steps down to get into it. I always treat that like my runway.

Also, with all of the new restaurants in Tacoma that are coming online at once, it’s not that easy to find good, quality staff, but Higgins scored some gems, including Martin, the bar manager, and Teresa, the wonderful bartender who watches over us like a mother hen.

Most recently, PSP was serving a drink called the Prince Harry, the cocktail concoction that his Royal Drunkenness had too many of, which led him to lunge at a cameraman and fall in a gutter outside of a nightclub. That’s funny.

Another thing that makes me smile is how this establishment has become a sanctuary for me. When I scamper in, I get my hugs and grins, and the belly full of love makes all of the troubles in the world disappear.

So what’s the business lesson here, you little learning lasses and lassies?

Start small and confident, create demand, introduce new offerings, expand at the right time, and presto:

Puget Sound Pizza rulz.



[Puget Sound Pizza, South Seventh and St. Helens Avenue, Tacoma, 253.383.4777]



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