We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sarah Germanos a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, appreciate you joining us today. So, what do you think about family businesses? Would you want your children or other family members to one day join your business?

I come from a family of entrepreneurs, we have been in the food industry for 30+ years, and have owned many restaurants throughout them. Here is some background information about my family history in the food industry.

My grandmother (maternal) opened up her very first place in the 1930s during the Great Depression, at only 20 years old! It was called the “Knotty Pine Tea Room”, in downtown Haverhill, MA. She was so courageous to open a place of business as a single woman (decades prior to the second wave feminist movement), and during the worst economic crisis ever. Despite all odds stacked against her, she came out more successful than ever.

My father also opened his first restaurant in America also located in Haverhill, MA called “Ramones Delicatessen” (ironically, present day downtown haverhill is a huge “foodie” spot) The restaurants he had prior to Ramones were located in France, and Lebanon. Also, in his 20s (like my grandmother) he was a chef for King Hussein of Jordan, at his private night club.
He went to culinary art school in Lebanon, and continued it in France. He is an unbelievable chef. My mother grew up working with my grandparents, and with my dad from the start, she’s a hard worker, and a pro when it comes to working with family..

Both my grandmother and father were successful at a young age by having their own businesses! I’ve learned from the best, I could only be so lucky to be even half as successful, and resilient as them.

Throughout this interview, I will share some valuable information they have given me throughout the years…

A few things I’ve learned from being in the family business…
There are definitely pros and cons (the pro’s def weigh out the cons, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing what I do! :))

In order to successfully own a family business, you have to have a “go-getter” mind set, self discipline, and perseverance.
You invest your all, it comes straight out of your pocket. And because of that you put your all into it…blood, sweat, and tears. Financially, you’ll have good days, and bad days. But the good days make the bad days worth it.

Improvise, improvise, improvise. It keeps things interesting, I’m always wearing many “hats” when it comes to running a business…. especially if your business is new. There is no manual, no employee hand book, everything is trial and error until you figure out.

Once you have established ground rules, and regulations; throughout trials and tribulations, you’ll understand the flow of your business, Then you will be able to set your business standards to your liking.
Don’t get me wrong, it can be overwhelming at times, but then I remind myself one day at a time, and set goals to help get closer to where I want to be.

Knowing you have the support of your family, that is when they come in to give a helping hand.
You work together as a team, and build your empire.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

It is a fairly new business, we bought it a few years ago. Prior to Best Bagel, we owned a Lebanese and Italian restaurant for 14 years, in a small quaint town in NH.

Throughout my life I have worked at a few places my family has owned. I did venture off after I graduated and did my own thing for sometime. I even wrote and published a children’s book “Sofia the Black Cat’s Adventure!”

Although, I was focused on my own career outside of the family business, I always knew I had a job to fall back on. I am very fortunate because of that, it gave me the liberty to break free, gain experience in other fields all while having financial security of having a job, if all else fails.

At Best Bagel we are located close to the beach, summer is our busiest season!

We have a commercial kitchen and make everything in house, and fresh daily! We are known for our “New York” style bagels. We have 20 types of bagels to choose from, 12 types of cream cheese, breakfast & lunch bagel sandwiches +more!

Nothin’ like fresh bagels, and homemade cream cheese!

A few of my favorites are;
Fav bagel with cream cheese: Onion bagel with jalapeño cream cheese
Breakfast sandwich fav: bacon- egg-and cheese on a French toast bagel (photo)
Lunch fav: Chipotle chicken on a jalapeño cheddar or Turkey Garlic Herb (photo)

I added many new items to the menu and took complete charge of all the coffees, drinks, and monthly & seasonal specials!

I always try and follow trends, and do fun things for example; for valentines day we made heart shaped pink & red bagels! (photo)
And also for St.Patty’s day we did a lucky charm shake! (photo)
Protein shakes were added to the menu, and those have been a customer favorite! (photo)

My newest venture are Mega Tea’s (photo). They’re pretty to look at, sugar free, and packed with electrolytes + more, very refreshing and perfect time for summer.

I started specialty coffees that taste like dessert just to name a few; girl scout cookie, peanut butter cup, banana split + many more!

I also am in charger of the marketing, which is always exciting for me because I have a background in graphic design! Love having liberty to be as creative as I want! I enjoyed creating our logo & branding the most!

It is very satisfying knowing you’ve made the recipe’s from scratch, implemented them, and your customers love them and keep coming back for more!

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

When you own your own business, you truly are the ONLY person you can rely on (besides family). If no one shows up to work, it falls on you.

However, if you have reliable employees, they set a solid foundation for a business.
We have loyal employees that work with us for years and years. They are like gold to us.

I will be the first one to say if someone has experience in the food industry, they can work any where.
I hold a certain standard for my employees. We are able to multitask, work in a fast pace environment, stay calm under pressure, be a team players, and so much more!
I also try to be as open and understanding with my employees as possible…if there’s an issue I will always hear it out and try and remedy it ASAP.

Want to know a secret recipe for successful business?
Take care of your employees and customers!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I would have to say that Covid- 19 took a toll on our business… When the world shut down, being self employed was a HUGE challenge. It wasn’t easy by any means. As a family we learned to adapt and overcome.

We are very fortunate that we had so much support during Covid, especially because so many small businesses shut down.

We will be forever grateful to our “regulars”, and new customers for supporting us always, and during that tough time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bestbagelofnh.com
• Instagram: bestbagelofNH
• Other: instagram & TikTok: bestbagelofNH

Image Credits

Turkey Garlic Herb photo credit: Amanda; Instagram: @carbywithcarty