Sunday, June 15, 2014

The Great Wall Restaurant to Add Sushi Bar

The Great Wall Restaurant in the Great Road Shopping Center at 309 Great Road will soon be adding a Sushi Bar. The new Sushi bar is expected to have 7 seats. The restaurant will also be adding a few seats at the bar. The total number of seats is not expected to change.

Comments:
The Great Wall is one of the larger restaurants in Bedford with just under 250 seats. As the popularity of Japanese Restaurants has grown, many Chinese restaurants have responded by adding Sushi Bars. It will be interesting to see if this new Sushi Bar has any impact on Ginger, Asiana Bistro or Bamboo.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Designing Healthy Lives Moves To Bedford


I recently spoke with Danielle M. Beck, the owner of Designing Healthy Lives which provides individual Nutrition, Health and Wellness Counseling.

Danielle started out as a nutritionist and personal trainer with a emphasis on nutrition. She then ended up going to nursing school, became a registered nurse. Next she went back to school to get a MSN (Master of Science in Nursing) to become a board certified Nurse Practitioner (NP). After becoming a NP, Danielle ran a surgical service at the Boston VA. While she enjoyed the work and helping people, she found that the conventional methods were not for here and felt she would be able to help more if she could spend more one on one time with patients. So she decided to leave the VA and do some consulting. She always enjoyed nutrition counseling and thought she could combine that with her expertise in medicine to really help people.

In September 2013 she rented retail space in Cambridge and opened Designing Healthy Lives. However she quickly figured out that her business was not a typical retailer that relied on foot traffic. Danielle grew up in Bedford and recently moved back, so she thought it would be more effective to operate the business from her home on Pine Road in Bedford. At the start of the year, she went before the zoning board to get the permits needed to operate a home based business and started providing services in early February.

New clients usually come to her when they get sick of having problems and are looking to make changes. They typically find her via word of mouth. Her guiding principle is that the body is self healing. The correct nutrition can help the body get back in balance. Her focus in not on treating the symptoms but finding the root causes for the problem. Having a medical background is very helpful and she personalizes the counseling to each client. Her focus in on information and implementing long term changes that clients can live with.

With her new business,  Danielle likes the fact she can spend a lot more time with clients. Her typical appointments are about one hour and most people stay for 4-6 sessions. She does not take insurance but accepts Health Savings and Medical Savings Accounts (HSA/MSA's). She has also found that having her business at home offers a non-medical environment which has been a plus. Her clients range in ages from their 20's to their 70's.

In addition to the one on one and couples counseling, Danielle also provides Corporate Nutrition and Health Education Seminars.

Comment:
There are quite a few home based businesses in Bedford and the number seems to be increasing. While it's historically been fairly common in specific industries such as Psychiatry, the advances of technology have made it easier to have a home office and opened up new at home businesses opportunities.