Business Innovators Radio - Ryan Stafford of Budget Blinds: Transforming Windows and Homes in Las Vegas

Episode Date: November 14, 2023

In this episode of Vegas Business Spotlight, host Tim Knifton sits down with Ryan Stafford, the owner of Budget Blinds of Las Vegas. Ryan shares his remarkable journey of turning a sales position into a thriving business that serves the window treatment needs of the Las Vegas community and beyond. Ryan’s passion for providing high-quality window coverings and exceptional customer service shines through in his discussion with Tim.Listeners will hear how Ryan has grown his business by building strong relationships and leveraging the diverse business landscape of Las Vegas. From residential to commercial projects, Ryan shares his insights into the competitive blind and shutter business and the advantages of being based in a city known for its vibrant entrepreneurial spirit.Ryan also emphasizes the importance of networking and building meaningful connections within the Las Vegas business community. He shares how his involvement in organizations like BNI and his partnerships with interior designers and contractors have contributed to his business’s success.Throughout the conversation, Ryan highlights the commitment to innovation and continuous improvement that sets Budget Blinds apart. He discusses their unique no-questions-asked warranty and the value they provide to customers through personalized sales and installation teams.If you want to gain valuable insights from a Las Vegas entrepreneur who is transforming the window-covering industry, this episode with Ryan Stafford is a must-listen. Discover how he combines his knowledge of the market, dedication to customer satisfaction, and a passion for continuous learning to create a successful business in the dynamic city of Las Vegas.Listen now to learn how Ryan Stafford and Budget Blinds of Las Vegas are making a difference one window at a time.About Ryan Stafford:Ryan Stafford has been leading the company since 2020, but his journey began as an inside sales member for Lutron Electronics, one of the company’s vendors. Initially joining as a salesperson for Budget Blinds, Ryan quickly proved his capabilities and within three months, he took over the helm of the business. Under his leadership, the company has experienced remarkable growth, with monthly numbers tripling and a significant expansion of customer outreach efforts. Starting with only two employees, including a part-time salesperson, Ryan has successfully transformed the company into a thriving enterprise.CONTACT RYANAbout The Show Sponsor:“Vegas Business Spotlight” podcast is proudly sponsored by RSVP Las Vegas, your premier direct mail postcard service in the heart of Las Vegas. With a commitment to delivering outstanding results and effective marketing solutions, RSVP Las Vegas specializes in helping businesses connect with their target audience through direct mail.Visit their website at RSVPLasVegas.com to explore the range of direct mail services they offer. From designing eye-catching postcards to precisely targeting your desired audience, RSVP Las Vegas has your direct mail marketing needs covered. Their team of experts is dedicated to helping your business make a lasting impression and drive results.Whether you’re launching a new marketing campaign, promoting a special offer, or aiming to boost brand awareness, RSVP Las Vegas is your trusted partner in direct mail marketing success. Contact them at [phone], and their knowledgeable team will be ready to assist you.Experience the power of effective direct mail marketing with RSVP Las Vegas. Trust their expertise and enjoy the benefits of reaching your audience directly. Visit their website or give them a call today to start your next successful marketing campaign with RSVP Las Vegas, your premier direct mail postcard service in Las Vegas.Vegas Business Spotlighthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/vegas-business-spotlight/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/ryan-stafford-of-budget-blinds-transforming-windows-and-homes-in-las-vegas

Welcome to Vegas Business Spotlight, the podcast that brings you the brightest minds and success stories from the bustling business scene in and around Las Vegas. Join us as we journey behind the neon lights and uncover the strategies, triumphs, and insights that shape the entrepreneurial landscape of the city of lights. From visionary startups to industry titans, get ready to be inspired by the stories of those who've turned dreams into reality on this iconic stage. And now, your host, Tim Nifton. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Vegas Business Spotlight, sponsored by RSVP Las Vegas. I'm Tim Nifton, your host, and I'm thrilled to have you here with us today as we continue our journey through the vibrant world of Las Vegas entrepreneurship. Before we dive into today's conversation, I want to extend a warm welcome to our featured guest. Joining us today is Ryan Stafford with Budget Blinds of Las Vegas.

We're honored to have him on the show today to share his experience. Insights in wisdom, he has gained over his remarkable journey to success. So without further ado, let's get right into it. Ryan, welcome to Vegas Business Spotlight. We're delighted to have you here today. How are you doing? Thank you, Tim. I am happy to be here.

Like you said, Ryan from Budget Blinds of Las Vegas. I do your window coverings for the whole valley and beyond. Perfect. Perfect. Well, let's jump right in and start by hearing a bit about your journey and the incredible work you're doing here in Las Vegas. So I always like to start off with, you know, your 30-second elevator pitch or a short commercial about who you are and what you do. All right. Like I said, my name is Ryan Stafford.

I am with budget blinds of Las Vegas. We do window treatments for all of Las Vegas, Perempt, Boulder City. parts of mesquite and beyond in the southern Nevada. When we talk about window coverings, we're talking about hard treatments such as roller shades, full-blind blinds, shutters, etc. We also do inspired draperies. We do soft treatments.

We do cushions, pillows, and bedding to do a full service design for customers' homes. Wow, that's great. Yes, sir. We do commercial. We do residential. It just depends on who needs us and where we are trying to help out everybody here in the Valley. A little bit about the company.

Budget Blinds has been around since 1992. We have 4,100 franchises, and we are the second largest franchise in the corporate with seven territories here in Vegas. That's fantastic. Number two. Yes. You guys go in for number one right now? Trying to. Right now we're competing with all of Iowa.

Wow. That's great. That's great. Well, let's get you to number one. Let's get you some syndication on business innovators radio and the Vegas business spotlight. So can you tell me about your early days at budget blinds of Las Vegas? All right. So I have actually been with the company.

You've been running the company since 2020. Prior to that, I worked for one of our vendors as an inside sales. member for Lutron Electronics. Nice. I came in originally as just a salesperson for budget blinds. And with three months, I ended up taking over running the business here. In that three years, we've tripled our monthly numbers as far as what we're doing, getting out and doing outreach into customers.

We started out with just two and a part-time salesperson. We're up to five full-time salespeople working to help get customers what they need for their window coverings, for privacy, for light control, for security, and then for accessibility as far as motorization, that sort of thing. Since I've started here, I've kind of turned things on its head a little bit. not just coming in, having the salespeople get leads and taking those leads and run with it, but creating relationships through different networks such as interior design, realty, et cetera, to kind of grow the business to get more qualified leads going into

customers' homes and working it from that angle. Oh, that's great. Were there any significant challenges you faced when you started from going you know, in 2020 to now when you're three times larger? So, yes. So I started in December of 2020. So post-lockdown, most of that stuff had already been started by the owner with their two salesmen trying to get that going.

Some of the challenges that we've ran into mostly is just like the labor force, finding the appropriate installers to get the products into the customer's homes. that's been kind of an ongoing challenge trying to find qualified employees that are willing to work. But beyond that, a lot of the sales-driven side of things, we were inundated. I mean, when I first came in, we had more appointments than we were able to keep up with. And this was March of 2021, kind of going through 2021 because everybody was looking to change their living space because a record number of people were working from home at that time. So basically during that time frame, we were looking at trying to qualify the leads

from a different angle while also doing our own networking and outreach. Starting at the beginning of 2023, things started to finally slow down and go back to quote unquote normal. And during that time frame, getting my salesman and design consultants into thinking about like treating their own individual sales as their own business, doing their own networking, creating their own individual sales culture for themselves. And that's kind of what's driven us and kept us continuously increasing. I'm also big on continued improvement.

So getting education to my guys. We have trainings every single Friday on new products, different ways of thinking, different ways of getting outreach and talking to customers and like psychology of customers. We do that every single Friday. And any additional online training I can provide for my guys, we are constantly working on that. Oh, that's great. So Las Vegas is known for its vibrant and unique business landscape.

How is being based in the city influenced your business strategies and decisions? So one of the things, like Vegas is a constantly growing into. I mean, we've gained almost a million people in the last few years, and we're continuously seeing this grow. I mean, in Vegas, for us, is continuously building. There's always brand new homes being built day to day that are being welcoming to people in their new home, that they need new, like, backyards, they need window coverings, they need furniture, they need electricians, they need, like, water people, they need everything. Like these homes, when you're going into a brand new home, we're trying to meet a need for a customer. And one of the greatest things that we have here in Vegas is a tight network of people that we can depend on. So when I'm going into a home, not only am I helping them with their shades, I'm also giving them restaurant ideas.

I'm giving them recommendations to other businesses to help get their home going. I mean, my job ultimately is to help our clients. And Vegas, the landscape is very, very different because we have such a diverse culture here in Vegas. We have that small town feel, but we also have like a multicultural epicenter here in Vegas, which gets you more insight on like how you do your business, how you meet your clients, how you talk with your clients, to give us a enriching experience that you wouldn't get in a smaller community. It's and that sort of thing. Yeah, definitely.

What advantages do you think Las Vegas offers to entrepreneurs in the blind shutter business? The biggest thing that Vegas offers is just having a large enough of a territory to be able to have personalized reps. Most of my reps are most of my companies that I work with. I mean, we work with Norman, Hunter Douglas, Lutron, and Springs, and majority of those companies have reps that live here in Las Vegas. We have that extra support that you wouldn't get if, for example, Lake Havasu, they have to travel to Lake Havasu to be able to help them with an issue or help them with support that they need for their products.

Most of my reps I usually see maybe once every other week or once a week sometimes. Just having that availability and having a territory this large helps us get that access that we need. In addition, just having that availability because Vegas is large, but it's also individual communities. So what's great about these communities in Vegas is you'll be able to help a client. the client will fall in love with you. They'll love your products that you have. And then from there, they'll tell their neighbors. They'll tell their friends. They'll tell their family that's moving into Vegas as well. And then that'll start to grow your business, getting more of those orders in as that family within that community grows.

Oh, that's great. What advice do you have for those who are just starting out their entrepreneurial journey in Las Vegas? The biggest thing I would say is get to know your clientele before you get started. That was one of the biggest challenges kind of coming into this is, I mean, going for me, specifically going from inside sales to running a business and getting it growing, is knowing our community, knowing who you can depend on, because it's not going to be a self-jury. You're always going to need people, especially in a city as large as this.

to help you grow your business. I'm working with a new and upcoming business called Molly Made, and I'm assisting them in getting them into some of those houses so they can grow their business even further. Oh, that's wonderful. Vegas is definitely like a networking town. The more people that you know, the better your business is going to do from the get-go.

Because trying to compete with those businesses that are already, established is going to be difficult. I've seen up and coming blind companies here in Vegas that are not here anymore. I've seen people get quotes from companies that I've never heard of, and I've never heard of again. Oh, no. So I think a lot of it is just making sure that you take your time with your clients, make sure that your clients love you for what your business does, and then making a name for yourself, not with just clientele, but with other businesses in the areas, because we all depend on each other to get things growing. Absolutely.

You mentioned networking was important. Are there any particular resources or networks in Las Vegas that you have found invaluable for your growth? One of the biggest ones that I've been working with currently is BNI. I've been a BNI member since March, and I've seen overall growth for me since I've joined them just within a few months of becoming a BNI member. Additionally, I'm part of the Realty Network in Las Vegas, and I have contacts through the Interior Design Corporation here in Vegas, getting in touch with more interior designers to provide them with the products and services they need to do their job better. Oh, that's great. Achieving a work-life balance can be a challenge for businesses. How do you manage your personal and professional life effectively, especially in a city as dynamic as Las Vegas?

So that's one thing that was tough in the beginning, especially for a job where you're pretty much on 24-7. I mean, a lot of businesses here, I mean, you're meeting with clients, you're establishing quotes and pricing and everything while you're in the, the home, but you're also trying to maintain that relationship with your customer. So your cell phone is pretty much on all the time. One of the biggest things for us, or at least with what I encourage my designers to do as well as myself, is find that point in the day and turn your cell phone off. For me, I mean, I explain this to my clients while I'm in the home, Sundays, and after 7 p.m. each day, that's when it's time for my family.

I got wife and kids that I owe my time to as well in addition to my clients. And that's that hard number for me is 7 p.m. We're having dinner. We're spending time together. Sundays is always dedicated to my kids and doing something with them. And then Saturdays, I try to spend as much time with my family as possible. But if I had to have a phone call, I'll take that phone call and help my clients out. or get that quote pushed through for somebody or even make an appointment if I need to.

Oh, that's great. So Las Vegas is known for its diverse industries. Can you share any insights into how you've tapped into or leverage this diversity for your business's success? So, yeah, that's one of the big things that we kind of started out is kind of going into that commercial industry. Vegas has a very large and continuously growing commercial industry as well. And one of the things that I've kind of learned throughout is our commercial projects, I like to get in and meet with the estimator, meet with the general contractor that's part of the job, get in there, get my measurements, and meet with them directly instead of taking a handoff. Because if we're just pulling in handoffs, we're spending two to three days looking over blueprints to try to just put a quote together that may not even get accepted. We have, we're lucky enough that we have some resources where they can, if we have the time,

we can send a handoff to our commercial estimating team and put something together. But majority of the time, it's not worth it. Like, you're better off doing, digging a little bit more, finding your general contractors, finding the person that's in charge, learning a little bit more about the facility that's being built or the renovations. that are being done, get out there and do your footwork. Doing the footwork is going to be a lot more important than just looking over some blueprints and hoping for the best because you're going to wind up wasting your time. Oh, definitely.

Have you found any surprising connection or opportunities in Las Vegas? So, yes. So some of the biggest opportunities that I've had is being able to work with some of the interior designers that work with the casinos. I am currently doing some work for the Westgate Casino right now. We're doing a lot of their rooms that they're doing renovations are. And having that type of connectivity will give me more opportunity because that's going to be a referral and a reference down the road. Not only that, but updating my portfolio of some of the more notorious jobs that I've done to show to people.

And that's one of the biggest opportunities in Vegas is you start to work on some of those larger jobs, whether you're doing their plumbing, whether you're doing their electrical, any of that, that builds faith with a lot of people when you're mentioning the things that you've done here in Vegas. A lot of that you wouldn't get in a small town. You don't get to do the roller shades for Walburgers. for valleys somewhere else. Those are definitely opportunities that we get to see.

Not only that, but being able to go up on the 24th floor at one of the casinos, seeing that view while you're getting those measurements. A lot of other communities don't get that same opportunity that we do in Vegas. And it's such a fulfilling thing when you know that, hey, I got to put something up that's semi-permanent, permanent up in this building, that's going to be there for many people to enjoy. That's wonderful. How do you stay innovative and competitive in such a multifaceted business landscape?

So that's one of the beautiful things about budget blinds. We have a no questions asked warranty. We are the only blinds dealer in the United States that offers that warranty. And that's because of our relationships with our vendors. A lot of blinds dealers will work with Norman. We'll work with Sgraber. We'll work with Alta. But we have our own lines that our corporate office has worked with where we have that direct relationship.

So we have a five-year no questions asked. Customer wants to take a bat to all of their shades. We will replace them each one time for free. In addition to that, our pricing is competitive compared to the smaller businesses trying to make in Vegas where they have to have a higher margin just to keep afloat. We also have a full sales force and install team where a lot of blind stealers, it's usually just husband and wife team selling, installing, making appointments, doing everything.

We have a team of 13 people that we work with to get the job done. So a lot of things that give us more of a competitive edge here in Vegas is getting, having the opportunity to work with our vendors directly, make those relationships with our vendors to provide a quality product at a decent price for our customers. Yeah, that's great. Again, you mentioned networking's crucial for your business growth. Can you share some tips on building meaningful connections within the Las Vegas business community? So, first and foremost, you need to find people where you can build a,

symbiotic relationship with. You need to find people that you can refer that will also refer you. For us, interior designers are great because if I get somebody that I'm going into a house where they have no clue what they want to do, I can work with one of my interior designer friends. I can send them out. They can look at the house. They can help them create the design that the customer has in mind. and meanwhile I can help them with blind shades and drapery soft treatments,

getting the products ordered that they need to complete their job as well. You need that symbiosis when it comes to networking. Most of my networking is looking into people, looking at the reviews when I'm coming through, and then making sure that you have that sit-down time with somebody. You don't want to go into a new house, grab a business card and then just and just start referring. No, you want to get to know that person.

You want to set up some time after the fact to have like a 30 minutes to an hour sit down to get to know the person that you're referring and making sure that you guys are a good fit for each other. Because ultimately you're going to get better referrals. You're going to get a better relationship with those people when you do that as opposed to not. So, I mean, I've walked into a house. I have a team of my five salesmen. And what I'll do is if I already have somebody specific that I'm working for, for like, say, like a handyman, if I find a new handyman, I'll get their information.

I'll get their card to one of my other designers and have them set up an appointment with that handyman so they can work together and decide if it's going to be a good fit. That is the most important part to me when it comes to networking is knowing who you're referring and knowing who's referring to you. Sure, sure. As a successful business owner, I'm sure you have a vision for the future. What are your goals and aspirations for budget blinds of Las Vegas? Right now, our current goal is to get more growth. We're working at trying to expand further.

We're trying to double the size of my sales staff and installation staff. We're currently working on doing a move to get a larger warehouse, to keep the product in, to try to get that going. And basically that growth is finding that niche, finding that those communities that are continuously opening, And as I get new staff on hire, getting them into those communities, getting that growth started, finding employees that want to be self-starters. I mean, for a job like ours, each individual designer is basically running their own business within the company to grow.

Their paychecks are literally what, how much effort and how much work they want to put into it. And that's where our growth is coming from. Budget blinds as a whole is going to grow by finding those self-motivated people to be able to help our clients find what they need for their homes. Yeah. Yeah. Can you share any upcoming projects or initiatives you're excited about right now? So as of right now, I am working on getting in touch with some of the new Ascension communities out in far west Las Vegas. I'm working at once Toll Brothers and Pulte get assignments for those new communities.

I will be out there. I will be meeting with the estimators for those homes. I will be creating quotes for the model homes. That way when people move in, they already have their pricing and an idea of what they have before they even move into those homes. So that's one project that I'm currently working on to try to get that expansion. And for me, each one of those.

communities can easily be to $300,000 in sales. That's one community. I mean, you got one community of around 70 to 80 homes. I mean, that can easily turn dollars and help. And that's not just for blinds. That's for every type of business that does home improvement and gets people comfortable in their brand new home. That's great. Finally, reflecting on your journey, what's one piece of advice or a mantra that you

carry with you in your business endeavors? So my biggest piece of advice would be to continue your education. I mean, one of the biggest things that's helped me in life is always getting your education, trying new things. Look at different ways of seeing things. I mean, I have a degree in software engineering and a degree in environmental science, and I'm doing blinds. But I can take those principles from those things that I've learned while going to school into my current business. In addition to that, just continued education, taking those online courses, whether it be business courses, whether it be customer service courses, whether it be something specific

to your business. I mean, I've got over 300 hours in interior design courses that I've taken. It's always continued learning that keeps your mind sharp. and gives you a new perspective on your business and things that will keep you going, keep you sharp. Wow, that's great. Well, that's all the time we have for this week. This was the Vegas Business Spotlight with Ryan Stafford with Budget Blinds of Las Vegas. I'm Tim Nifton, your host, RSVP of Las Vegas.

We'll hear from everybody next week. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Vegas Business Spotlight. For more inspiring stories and insights from the Las Vegas business community, be sure to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform. And remember, you can catch new episodes each week at Vegasbusinessspotlight.com, where we keep the spotlight shining bright on the entrepreneurs who make Las Vegas thrive.

And don't forget to like and subscribe. See you next week.