We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jordan Hansen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jordan, appreciate you joining us today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

My family are my #1 supporters. I would not be as successful as I am today if I didn’t have the unlimited support from my parents, siblings, boyfriend, extended family, friends, family friends, and more. My business started out with my dad driving my trailer to every single install. My dad and brothers would help me with the heavy lifting and unloading of all my supplies and equipment. My mom would help me set up the balloons, clean the letters, and perfect each install. 5 hours later, we would all be back to pick everything up. For the first 2 years of my business, my family sacrificed their weekends to support me. My sister would post every single job I did on her social media to promote my business and still does today. After I retired the trailer for a cargo van, I finally gave my family a break, though they still help me from time to time without hesitation. My boyfriend, who is a student athlete at a college 2.5 hours away from me, is another huge support of me and my business. In the summers, he’s with me prepping, setting up, and tearing down for every single event. During the school year, he drives down on every single off weekend he has to help me. My family is not only part of my support, but a part of my business.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Jordan Hansen and I am the owner of Dreams by Design! Dreams by Design, based out of Windsor, Colorado, is an event decor company that provides professional balloon garland, 4ft marquee letters/numbers, candy carts, back drops, and so much more. My journey toward the event decor business starts with me dropping out of college after my Freshman year. During my time at college, it became evident that I had no idea what I wanted a degree in and I quickly realized my path did not entail me pursuing a college degree. My parents were not happy to say the least, but I assured them I would figure it out. At the time, it was a very hard decision to make as dropping out of college wasn’t in my 5 year plan, but looking back, it was one of the best decisions of my life.

Not long after I dropped out, I applied for and was hired by a small business about 45 minutes away from me. This business provided balloons for birthdays, baby showers, corporate events, weddings, etc. I was their first employee and I loved it at first. I enjoyed learning how to create these intricate pieces of art. Soon, balloons became so much more me. I looked forward to showing up to people’s houses and seeing their faces light up with joy once they saw the balloons. A few months in, my boss began expressing to me she was only in this business for the money, she would never pay her balloon prices for her own child, and didn’t want anything to do with this industry. I quickly learned I was hired to run this business at minimum wage. I started to dislike going to work, as her negativity impacted my excitement and I was thrown into every position besides “owner”. After working there for a year and a half, completing every task from responding to every client inquiry, ordering products, blowing up hundreds of feet of balloon garland each week, installing the balloon displays, and tearing down, I QUIT. My biggest take away – Believe in your product!!! If you don’t, you will be miserable and you’ll make your employees miserable too.

Not long after that, I started my own business. I already believed in the balloon business, but how could I make it better? 4ft Marquee Letters/Numbers were my first investment. My parents loaned me $30,000 to start my business and a big chunk of it went towards creating these light up letters/numbers. Within a year and a half, I paid my parents back with interest. After that, every penny I made went back into the business, buying backdrops, candy carts, more letters/numbers, etc. I used my knowledge from my previous job, watched hours of tutorials online, and learned from each and every job I booked.

I am most proud of my 4ft Marquee Letters/Numbers. I spent hours on creating the font, picking out the type of light, figuring out how they’re going to work, how we would stack them, how to dim them, and so on. People are always shocked on how big they are and how they light up each venue. There’s no other marquee like ours in the area, and that’s what sets us apart from others. Anyone can make good balloon displays, but our marquees are handcrafted and made with such detail, they stand out at every event.

At every event, whether it costs $50 or $5,000 we go above and beyond. Each event matters just as much as the next one, and producing the best work possible for our client is always our number one goal.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

After I dropped out of college and began working in an industry that I really enjoyed, I saved up as much as I could to start a business. This money didn’t get me far though. Both of my parents are business owners, and after coming up with a very detailed plan, they lent me $30,000 to start my business. Every single month after that, I paid them back as much as I could. Within a year and a half, I paid them back their $30,000 plus interest.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Word of mouth is the most effective strategy for growing clientele. I have a small box at the end of my inquiry form on my website that asks “Where did you hear about us”. About 60% of the time it’s a previous client referring a new client. I also receive many calls, texts, emails, and DM’s from people that have been referred from another client. Word of mouth grows clientele by leveraging the trust and credibility that personal recommendations carry. When satisfied customers share their positive experiences with others, it creates a ripple effect, where each new client has the potential to bring in more through their network.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dreamsbydesignco.com/
• Instagram: dreamsbydesignco