In some ways, a small business is like a garden: it takes time, care, and lots of hard work to make it grow. For the team at Budget Blinds New Westminster, the garden is in full bloom.
The local franchise, led by husband-and-wife owners Clay and Lacey Tierney, has expanded over the last year to include both Surrey and East Vancouver; their service area now includes those communities, their homebase here in the Royal City (along with Queensborough), as well as Maillardville and Richmond East.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us to serve customers in these communities as well,” said Clay Tierney of the new expansion.
The company offers a spectrum of custom and creative window treatments, including shutters, blinds, draperies and shades, for both residential and business clients. The process begins by finding out exactly what the customer needs and wants, and matching up the right product and design for the space.
“We do free in-home consultations and help style homes with beautiful window coverings,” he explained.
“We do it all: from design, measuring to installation. Our consultations and quotes are free and our design consultants help customers choose the best products for their windows.”
Offering inhome visits is a crucial step in the process – not only is it more convenient for customers, it also makes it easier for people to envision the products in their home because they can look at samples in the space that they’ll be installed rather than in a showroom.
“It’s a great day when you can help customers achieve their vision of design and functionality,” he said, noting that they have worked on a huge diversity of homes with a variety of designs and styles.
While much of their work is focused on private residential projects, the team also offers many services for commercial and retail locations. And as time goes on, there’s an increasing demand for high-tech solutions using products that offer motorization and automation.
Either way, the company’s goal is to offer each customer the right product with top-notch service – and with a steady stream of referrals from prior clients, their efforts are paying off.
Tierney says word of mouth has been a critical piece of their success.
“We want to make fans out of our customers,” he said, noting that the best form of advertising is the reviews and referrals given by clients. “We are a small family-run business, and our long-term goal is to continue to grow the business by adding more well-trained, knowledgeable team members that want to service our customers in the same manner we already do now.”
For the Tierneys, the leap into small business ownership has been an exciting one, in a community they’re pleased to be a part of.
“This was a new adventure for us. We wanted to be our own bosses and to serve customers the way we believe they should be served,” he said. “New Westminster is like a small town in a big city with its diverse population. We love the small town feeling and the sense of community it offers.”
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