Beating the odds
The statistics show that 50% of small business owners will close their operations in the first five years of business. 80% of the remaining business will shut their doors in the five years after that. In another words, out of 100 new small businesses that open their doors today, only TEN will remain open in ten years. That is a worrying statistic. However, I seem to have been lucky enough to be one of the few businesses that has made it ten years. Due to the success of my business, it might be nice to share some tips for anyone considering starting their own business. One of the most popular ways to keep your businesses going these days is by carefully planning a marketing strategy that works for your company. One of my friends recommended that search engine optimization would be ideal for smaller businesses as this can increase their website traffic, bringing more people to their website. Companies like Victorious (https://victoriousseo.com/markets/seo-reseller/) can help small businesses with their marketing if they feel like they need that extra support to increase their customers and keep making money. At the end of the day, customers dictate whether or not you stay in business. Without customers, you wouldn’t have a business.


Without marketing and other strategies, more businesses would be forced to shut. It is definitely sad to see such a small survival rate in this country, but on the other hand, I have lots of reasons to be happy because I am celebrating TEN YEARS IN BUSINESS this month myself !!

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Taking a moment to review this past decade, I’ve found a few potential reasons for me and Shades IN Place to still be around:

FAMILY MATTERS – Imagine putting a 12 hour shift. Not easy uh? How about repeating it 6 times a week? Harder? Now, multiply by 48-50 weeks a year for the next 5 years. Yeah….it took awhile for my company to start seeing “light at the end of the tunnel” And I was only able to carry it forward because I had the unconditional support of my wife Ana and a handful of true friends. Thank you guys..I could not have it done without you.

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IT’S COOL – I have the opportunity to work in some of the most super cool homes, luxurious rooms and see amazing views in New England. Indeed a privilege for just a few.

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I CARE – obviously I work “for profit” but it is not necessarily the main reason my company being successful. Most important is to have a happy client when a project is completed. But don’t take my word for it. Just read what a repeat client in Wellesley wrote recently about my services:

“I have used the services of Shades In Place for about five years now and I keep going back because Roger is just such a great guy and does a great job. He works really hard and he has great attention to detail which I really appreciate. If something is not absolutely perfect, you can see that it bothers him and he just keeps at it until he has gotten the job done 100% to perfection. He is such a great guy who cares for his work and always makes sure his customers are satisfied and that is why I keep going back and recommend that you start using him too!”

WORD OF MOUTH – I could not survive without the support of my clients. They always refer my services to friends and family and that keeps my business growing.. And here’s a TRUE story to attest my statement above: my client Julie Dwyer in Holden has used my services twice AND has referred me to her sister, her mom, her uncle, her cousin, her aunt and THREE neighbors. They now say that I am part of the family… Do I need to say more?

IT’S INSPIRING – the same way I have the opportunity to visit cool places, I have the opportunity to meet extremely interesting people. Some are just extremely smart, others are extremely wealthy , others just the most kind human beings and others are all the above combined…..It is such an inspiration for me to learn and improve my personal and professional lives.

ONLINE REVIEWS – in the internet era I could have not survived without online reviews. In this day and age people rarely take their eyes off their phones. So there is no better place to be found when someone is looking for new window shades or plantation shutters. If you’d like to share your past experience using my services, please do it here. I humbly thank you for your kindness.

LOOKING FORWARD – I am not sure what would be like in the next ten years for my industry. But I know that I will only be able to survive if I keep doing what I have done until now: keep learning new “stuff”. The only constant in life is change and I am willing to keep adapting to whatever new technologies are coming my way. Remote controlled shades were not even available ten years ago. Now I installed them every week. And technology just keep making things more interesting…

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Thanks very much from the bottom of my heart for your support and friendship! In return, I assure you that I will do my best to serve you (at least) for the next ten years. Cheers!!!