A New Beginning

After Working Years For Large Corporations, Karen Moore Is Now Utilizing Her Skills To Build A Small Business



After a successful career working at some of the area’s most successful large corporations such as Build-A-Bear Workshop and Payless ShoeSource, Karen Moore learned the ins and outs of how to build a winning business.

With her experiences under her belt, all she needed was the right opportunity to bring those experiences to life in her own business.

Two years ago she found that opportunity in Metro Medical Equipment & Supply. She purchased the medical supply company and has set the business on a path to growth. The company works with the U.S. government (Veterans Administration, Department of Defense, Indian Health Services, National Institute of Health), supplying all types of medical supplies, from capital equipment to accessories. Metro Medical works with manufacturers around the country, helping them gain access to the government opportunities.

“My past corporate experience has been very helpful to me,” said Moore, who rose through the ranks at Build-A-Bear, where she was in charge of international and domestic merchandising. “Through the business, you learn a lot about what strategies you need in order to manage a good, solid business, and what it takes to be successful.”

One of the things Moore learned early on was the importance of people. At Metro Medical, she’s surrounded herself with quality staff, and it has paid big dividends. “I’ve learned early on to hire smart people,” she said. “I work with some really smart people here. The beauty is they don’t just see what is in front of them. They go beyond that. They consistently challenge each other. The result is a well thought out strategy and plan of action. That’s a gift for any business.”

Another aspect of business she learned is getting help. She’s not afraid to look at outside resources for perspective, guidance and advice. Early on as a small-business owner, Moore visited with the St. Louis SCORE office to help with her growth plan. It was suggested that Metro Medical might be a good candidate to participate in a Business SCAN.

SCORE provides free small business mentoring to entrepreneurs and small business owners. SCORE is a non-profit, volunteer organization, whose mission is to promote the success of small business in the St. Louis area. One of the methods SCORE uses to help their clients is through a process called the Business SCAN. The Business SCAN is a team-based, in-depth analysis of an existing business to identify opportunities and make recommendations for improving bottom line performance. The Business SCAN process is designed to provide the business owner a picture of the business as viewed through the eyes of experienced counselors as they examine your management, operations, marketing, sales, and finances and make recommendations on how the organization can improve and grow.

Moore said the SCAN was instrumental in building the business for future growth. “I’m always looking for resources that help us improve,” she said. “We sat down with the SCAN team and really took a look at our processes and procedures. The SCAN team helped us make adjustments that guided us to become a much more efficient operation.”

What excites Moore and her team is they work with manufacturers from throughout the country. Said Moore: “We’re a curious group. We love learning about new things and becoming a student for the products we sell. We’re able to work with the manufacturers on how we can help them strengthen their competitive position in the government space.

This is what makes us such an asset to the manufacturers we represent.”

Moore is excited about the company’s future. “We have great opportunities ahead for this business,” she said. “We’ve built a reputation for being good, fair business partners, and manufacturers appreciate aligning themselves with solid people. Through streamlined business processes and initiating solid fundamental best practices of the business, we are looking forward to a bright future.”