Business: Order Blinds Online
Based: Nottingham
Website: www.orderblinds.co.uk
After running an internet-based window blind business from a spare room for nearly three years, the website had grown in traffic and the sales volume was starting to get more than I could handle on my own. The answer became clear that it was time to take on staff.
I searched the local area for office space I could rent as I wasn’t keen on turning the entire house into an office, especially with my first child on the way. I was amazed at how expensive the rents were for a space that didn’t suit our requirements perfectly, as it was either far too large or didn’t have fast enough broadband to work effectively.
After much deliberation I finally decided it didn’t make financial sense to go down that route and began to research alternatives. In the end we built a five metres wide by four metres deep log cabin at the end of the garden and fitted it out to become the new Order Blinds headquarters. This was all for around the cost of a year’s rent in one of the offices I had considered.
This allowed the company to grow quickly, taking on three employees within a year of the building being finished. This is in turn led to a turnover that was nearly double that of the previous period.
Matthew Forde is managing director of Order Blinds Online
