Meet Lisa Pepper from Caleys Blinds. Caleys has been operating since 2009 and from its factory in Judea, Tauranga, since 2014.
No surprises, as the housing and construction industry has been booming, so too has the demand for quality, long-lasting blinds in homes and businesses around the Bay of Plenty. It’s meant a growing business for Lisa and her husband, and the opportunity to work with some interesting and exciting clients.
We asked Lisa a few quick-fire questions to understand more about Caleys and her industry.
Tell us a bit about your background
Caleys is a business partnership between my husband and his business partner, which I came into eight years ago – and that time has flown!
Prior to that I was working in banking as a money market dealer, working with foreign exchange and customers’ investments.
The business was originally in Rotorua, but we moved it over to Tauranga (because that is where we lived). At that time, we had three staff; now we have nine.
When we first started, we were highly localised, just servicing the Bay of Plenty area, but now we work with clients across the whole North Island. That all began with our first job in Wellington, which was the Government House refurbishment in 2011, and from there it has led to us being in the capital pretty much every month.
Tell us about your business: What services do you offer? How can you help our business community?
Caleys specialises in manufacturing roller blinds with the best in cutting technology via a 5m x 5m Ultrasonic/Crushcutting table and the best componentry available in Australasia. Every blind is tested and signed off before it leaves the factory.
We supply all types of blinds, venetians, honeycombs, verticals, shutters and motorisation has grown in popularity.
Over the past year, there has been a huge increase in demand, largely due to the price and time required to manufacture blinds when compared with curtains – for example, we can make roller blinds in two weeks versus the 10 to 14 weeks it can take for curtains. Another factor is room in the home. Smaller, apartment-type living spaces are more common now, and as soon as you put curtains in an apartment like that, it just makes the room feel smaller.
We work with many businesses, and have completed projects for the likes of Zespri, Toi Moana BOP Regional Council, Mitsubishi, Brother and so the list goes on. These have come through a tender process and often what gets us over the line is our localised relationship with the companies we are working with.
What makes the business unique?
People love dealing with locals and buying local, and they love the fact that our roller blinds are made here in the factory and come with a hefty 10-year warranty. You can buy blinds online, but you have the responsibility of the measure and, if it goes wrong, it can be costly.
We also pride ourselves on having outstanding customer service and our goal is always to have happy customers. As such, we have a lot of repeat customers – about 60% of our residential customers are repeat. We did one customer’s house last year and that was the eighth one!
In your first year of business, what challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
Low margins. When we first came on board, we had to have some hard conversations with our retail customers. Some of them were making more money than we were as the manufacturer, so we needed to take a look at the business and make some tough calls.
And now, looking back, what have been your biggest learnings?
Staff. Hiring staff for me is a huge issue and I have learnt if the right one doesn’t come about, readvertise – don’t take second best. They need to be the right fit for the team and have the right skills for the position.
But, when you get the right one, they are worth their weight in gold. Our longest serving team member travels from Te Aroha every day and loves working with us.
What’s the one misconception people might have about your industry?
There’s no accreditation in New Zealand for blind and curtain making and installing, so people learn on the job – but the biggest misconception is that it is an easy job. There is quite a bit to it. You need high level of detail, especially in the big jobs with large corporates. These often have a high level of complexity and often include automation of the blinds.
If you could impart one piece of advice to fellow business owners, what would it be?
Hire good people. Hire the right people. Trust your gut and don’t take second best.
New members can find it hard meeting people at events, so we want to take some of the pressure off that awkward small talk by shining a light on your business through our member profiles.
Our member profiles are a great way to give the business community a taste of who you are and what you do, so when they see your face at one of our events they won’t hesitate to make that all-important introduction.
If you’re a new member and would like a profile, get in touch with our marketing team today.
