Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Julie Tirone. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Julie, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
In the balloon industry I see many owners trying to automate the purchase process through their websites and limiting communication to emails. And while we certainly appreciate when our clients send us photos of inspiration and communicate the details via our processes, we really try to go the extra mile and connect with our customers either in person or on the phone. We truly believe that those extra touchpoints allow us to better understand their needs and address them, so their entire experience with Little Finch Party is a positive one. We want them to see us as a partner not just a vendor.
During the actual job, we make a point to connect directly with the customer and do whatever we can to lighten their load. We have even gone so far as to remove trash for a customer to help them!
Funny, when we started to grow, many of our customers were afraid that they wouldn’t see me. Knowing this, helped me to understand that our personal connections is what has helped us to grow as a company. And because of that, we do whatever it takes to be present and available for our customers!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Little Finch Party has been on the Buffalo, NY party scene delivering lux balloon displays, props and backdrops for the last four years.
Fun fact – (one that I often don’t share) I used to think balloons were tacky. And then five years ago I saw a gorgeous organic balloon display and my mind was changed.
There was something ethereal about the look of that balloon display and I knew I wanted to learn how to create that specifically for my daughter’s 16th birthday party. After that, several people asked me to help them create balloon displays for their events. I didn’t know it at the time, but my business, Little Finch Party, was beginning.
During that time I had a full-time gig as a yearbook sales representative helping schools to design and manage their yearbook program, and I took balloon jobs here and there learning as I went, hoping that I could create a little side hustle as I slid into retirement. However, year after year our sales tripled, and it became clear that my little business had the potential to grow into something bigger.
We’ve worked tirelessly to build our brand in the Western NY area by bringing luxury backdrops and balloon looks to our customers, We are so very fortunate to have grown our business based on strong referrals from both our private party customers as well as our corporate ones. We do not take for granted how special it is that we get to be a part of our clients most precious moments, whether it is a wedding, birthday, baby shower or corporate milestone. Every day we are thankful that our clients choose us.
In the last year, my husband Brian and I made the decision to leave our full-time careers and give Little Finch Party our full attention. If you had told me 6 years ago that we would have moved into a 4800 sq./ft. warehouse and bought a box truck, I would have never believed you! But owning a business has been the best and hardest thing I have ever done. And we are just scratching the surface. This year we have several new product launches as well as new partnerships that will be happening, all in an effort to bring our Buffalo community innovative and fun new looks for their events.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I always want to emulate kindness and care for everyone that we work with, even if it is with our competition.
There are A LOT of balloon artists in our area. And as our customer jobs started to scale larger I realized I couldn’t take those jobs because at the time there was just me and sometimes a friend or relative that I could beg to come along to help. So, instead of initially hiring staff, I decided that it would be a good idea to reach out to other balloon artists in my area to see if they would be willing to help me with larger jobs. This turned into the very best thing I could have ever done! I have met some of the best balloon people (and other event peeps) that have willingly come alongside to help AND I get to return the favor in helping them!
Fast forward to today, and I can say without a shadow of doubt that these friendships with my “competition” have literally played a hand in growing my business (and saving me in a pinch). Working together, as we have, sends the message to all of our customers that their needs are paramount. For those of us who work together, we set our competition aside and partner with each other to bring our customers the very best in luxury balloon designs. Plus my event friends are literally the best people!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
We don’t have a huge following on social media and I am okay with that.
Because the followers we have are from our area, which means they can actually use our services. :)
I got down on myself about not having 10K plus followers last year, and then it occurred to me that if I did, my business wouldn’t look the way it does right now. And I like the way it looks, and the growth has been ideal for us.
We started out playing the liking/following other businesses and people in the area game. And then started encouraging people to follow us when we talked with them. We have also worked together on collaborations and give-aways with other area businesses that we feel offer positive experiences and that has helped grow our local following.
Our most rewarding social media promotion has been a small-business nomination give-away where our followers can nominate their favorite business to be ballooned for small business Saturday in November. And if their nomination wins, they win a little something too!
Owning a small business is not easy, and anything that I can do to help other small business owners thrive is a good thing. I know for fact that balloons are attention-getting and can be used to drive business – so the giveaway that we do, is to truly help drive business for the winner. On our end we often gain followers from this, but that pales in comparison to actually helping a fellow small business owner.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://littlefinchparty.com
- Instagram: @littlefinchparty
- Facebook: @littlefinchparty
- Other: https://linktr.ee/littlefinchparty
Image Credits
personal photo – elizabeth snyder photography
all others – little finch party