A Few Annoying Pests Give a Mom her Big Idea

We’re highlighting small businesses from around the country as nominated by you, our readers. If your favorite small business is using Twitter to communicate with customers, let us know about it @fbsmallbiz with the hashtag #mysbc, and it may be featured as an upcoming Small Business Spotlight.

Small Business Spotlight: Licenders

Who: Adie Horowitz, 54, @Licenders

What: All-natural treatment and products for lice

Where: New York City

When: 1996

How: Horowitz’s children came home from school with head lice in the 1990s, and she was not satisfied with the pesticide shampoos doctors prescribed to her.

“I spent all summer researching, picking and combing. I was getting products from all over the world and doing research and realized there was a need for this [all-natural] product” Horowitz said.

For about a year she began volunteering using her method and all-natural products, and people began to offer her money. In 1996 she launched Lice Advice, and in 2004 she bought out rival company Licenders. Today she has contracts with more than 100 New York City schools and 70 employees.

Quote from business owner: “We are not only about cleaning out lice, it’s also about educating the customers” she said.