New Orleans has its challenges — and each one is a business opportunity

For six years, Saleh Hamed made a living as a hairstylist.

But about a decade ago, he began to notice, like a lot of New Orleanians, that the deplorable condition of city streets — with their cavernous potholes, uneven sections of roadway and scattered debris — were wrecking suspensions and ripping through tires.

And he saw in the city’s bad roads a business opportunity.

So, in 2017, he hung up his shears, shelved his styling products and opened Tire Squad Co., an automotive service center now located on a busy stretch of Claiborne Avenue between Uptown and a heavily used Interstate 10 onramp.

The business took off, thanks, in part, to Hamed's skilled use of social media and his eye-catching purple signs.

Three years later, Tire Squad went mobile, offering emergency roadside services