We were lucky to catch up with Victoria Cheek recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Victoria thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

Building my business up to where it is now has been a journey full of sweat, blood and tears. When I first started I was content with doing a balloon garland here and there. I bought supplies at party city or a little mom and pop party store, created the garland and dropped it off. I just saw it as a way to make a little income while attending school.

It wasn’t until I picked up a job doing a 1st birthday party, I sent over a quote to the party planner and just as soon as I sent it over, she called me telling me my prices were way to low. She gave me a range that I should be charging and told me to change the quote. This is what I considered a turning point for my business. I saw the potential of what it could be. The party planner that I have never met before had many conversations with me and helped me break down not only what I should be charging, but Custom Frills and Balloons was created because of the advice she had given me. First lesson I had learned in the event industry if you know nothing is get a mentor!

From that point I had to work on knowing my worth. With every job, I was perfecting my methods and finding value in working with others. I collaborated with other balloon artist, party planners and vendors to get my name out there. I was investing a lot of money into supplies not knowing if there would be any return. At first there was nothing, I was still getting 2-3 jobs a month, but I kept going. By doing collaborations I found that I was building these amazing relationships with other vendors that were starting to refer me to their clients and still do.

One thing I think is the biggest contribution to the success of my business besides my amazing clients who continue to support and refer me, is the fact that I never gave up. There were days that I would sit there and cry and tell my self, “it’s not worth it!” It’s not worth the lack of sleep, not worth with the stress and definitely not worth giving up time with my kids. There were many time when I wanted to give up, but I never did. Every time I had one of those moments I reminded myself why I was doing this. I was building something that I never thought I could. I was building something that others never thought I could.

It took two years to build my business to where it is now. I went from doing 2-3 jobs a month to an average of 10-12 jobs a week. After so much research, trial and error and customer feedback, we changed the kind of supplies we use and where we got them. All the balloons we use are natural, bio-degradable balloons that can with stand the sun and heat to a certain point. We also found value in purchasing backdrops and props becoming more of a one stop shop. Trends are always changing, but I make it an important part of my business to always learn and grow with the trends.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am Victoria the owner, creator, and head designer of Custom Frills and Balloons. I am a mom of two boys and a nursing student. I started working with balloons as a way to make a little extra income while attending school and being a stay at home mom. Little did I know how successful Custom Frills would be. Not only do we provide balloons for any occasion, but we also provide backdrops, props, and party supplies in any theme or color as well as florals for any event. Creating custom pieces is one thing we do pride ourselves on. Most pieces you see in our photos are hand made by me. We have been a part of so many meaning full events in peoples lives and for that we are extremely grateful and could never thank our clients enough.

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

One of the most effective ways I have found to build my clientele is by constantly putting myself out there. When I made the decision to take my business full time I took jobs collaborating with other creators with little to no pay. By collaborating with others I was tapping into their social media followers and being featured in their photos and post. I also found businesses that wanted to team up and have our balloon garlands or backdrops featured at their special events. In the beginning I would do setups at no cost and I at some point I started getting inquires from people who saw my work at these events. A huge part of our clientele comes from instagram. Every time we post we do notice an uptake in inquires

Any advice for managing a team?

When managing your team, my biggest piece of advice is to remind your self they are human too!! The event industry is not easy. You automatically lose your weekends and that can be hard for a lot of people. I would not be this successful with out my team. They work hard for me and I know I’m not the easiest to work with. There are many times that I have to remind my self to give my team the praise that they deserve and when ever possible give them time off. Treat your team the way you would want to be treated and always have their back.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/customfrills.andballoons/?hl=en
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/custom-frills-and-balloons-san-diego