High-Quality Vancouver Balcony Flooring

KANDY is represented in the summer 2014 edition of Condo Elite Modern Living through a "guest editorial" focused on the trends we are seeing for urban outdoor spaces. We were honoured to have been asked and pleased with the result.

I first became aware of the Condo Elite Modern Living magazine when it arrived in my condo mailbox more than a year ago. We were in the early days of our first spring season with KANDY Outdoor Flooring in Toronto, and with our focus on condo balconies I was thrilled to see a magazine devoted to precisely the market we were new to serving.

Editor Monique Charbonneau had a great vision for what was, at the time, a gap in the literary marketplace. Condos were being built at breakneck speed in Toronto. And all across Canada urban living trends were leading to more and more Canadians making condos their residence of choice. Today, nearly 20 per cent of Canadians live in owner-occupied condos.  Monique’s publication, dedicated to the condo life and the lifestyle, resonated with me.  Clearly it appeals to many readers and advertisers as well.

As soon as I’d gone through that first edition cover to cover I reached out to Monique. I asked if she might be interested in a story on ways to expand home experiences with new outdoor flooring for condo balconies. We met for coffee and immediately made a connection through great conversation and common expertise, and the rest is history.

I’ve been able to support Monique with more than advertising and articles. With my journalism and communications backgrounds it made editing and proofreading support a no-brainer.  This gives me a preview of all the great stuff that will be coming out in each edition!

In the summer 2014 edition that’s just out, my favourite pieces are: “Planning and Packing to De-stress your Move” on page 10 and “Condominiums: Is Your Condo Properly Insured?” on page 19. But there’s lots of great stuff on new developments in the market, arts and travel and small space living.  And of course, in the guest editorial I talk about trends we're seeing in outdoor urban living, including outdoor flooring, in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa. But I'll let you read it for yourself!

All of us at KANDY Outdoor Flooring applaud Monique and her team at the magazine and we look forward to watching the publication grow as more and more GTA condo-dwellers turn to it as a solid, relevant, and respected resource.

Hats off!

We hear it from clients all the time: their new outdoor flooring has given them more usable square footage than they had before.

Developers and builders seem to have ignored this space over the last few decades. But as we urbanize, living closer together, and more and more of us choose to live in the smaller spaces that our condos tend to be, the awareness is changing about the possibilities that our balconies or decks present to us.

We Canadians are known for our outdoor spaces… those grand, expansive prairie plains, sparkling lakes and streams, ancient rock formations and majestic mountains, and the seashores snuggled up to three coasts. In Vancouver, you may be able to gaze on the Lions and the North Shore peaks, Burrard Inlet or False Creek. In Toronto, you may be see the masses of green from the plethora of urban trees, or the wide-open water-meets-the-sky view of Lake Ontario. Or maybe it's towers and traffic and hustle and bustle you see and you love the energy and adrenalin and action.

No, your balcony or rooftop isn’t going to magically plop you in the midst of those natural or urban scenes like the latest hologram technology. But it can help create a little urban slice of our own “outside in the city”. We believe you'll appreciate those views more when you can enjoy them from your balcony instead of through the glass inside. Yes, we can make our often-tiny little urban outdoor space inviting, appealing, and an extension of the taste and style we’ve created inside our homes.

It’s kind of like an optical illusion, except that it’s real.  Think about sitting inside your condo, looking out at your balcony. What do you see? How does it make you feel?

If you have an unfinished – aka concrete – balcony chances are good you see something cold and uninviting. Chances are that it makes you feel like staying inside.

Now imagine your balcony finished and beautified with a luxurious, high quality product... whether you call it deck tiles or interlocking, floating outdoor flooring. Imagine it is finished in a style, format and colour tone that matches your taste and your interior décor.  Think about how you would feel then?

We know it will make your space look larger. It will look like an extension of your interior and will be much nicer to look at from the inside. We know it will give you more living space. We know it will give you more time outside - - extending both the seasons and the portions of each day that you are drawn to your uniquely beautified balcony.

We’re thinking you’ll grab your favourite beverage, maybe a book or a friend, and go head outside!

Spring arrives at different times and in different temperaments depending on where you live. Coastal, inland, Canada, or the U.S. One common denominator is that if the weather is cold, grey, wet or dreary, and you look outside to your condo balcony to see more wet, dirty concrete, you are not going to feel much like venturing outside for even a brief breath of fresh air.

But before you dismiss the idea of outdoor flooring as a silly endeavor because it can’t be enjoyed year round, consider these facts:

1. If you love the look of your outdoor space, including what’s on the floor, you are going to feel much different about venturing out – even if it isn’t suntan weather.
2. KANDY’s floating outdoor flooring actually acts as an insulator. Our exotic hardwoods in particular stay warmer than the concrete in winter, spring or fall. And it stays cooler in the heat of summer.

And here’s a simple little idea to take some control back from Mother Nature:  keep a couple of colour-coordinated throws by the door to grab as you head out. You can use them to keep your upper body warm while you enjoy KANDY’s sweet treat for your feet.

Candles or battery-operated lights, or KANDY’s counter-sunk outdoor lighting, will produce a nice warm glow and create an intimate mood. Place them strategically around the perimeter to help define your space. This way it doesn’t matter if the sun went down hours ago!

We can’t control Mother Nature, but we can do a few things to make our home outdoor environments a little less at the mercy of her icier touch. Expanding your home experiences with outdoor flooring is one great option.

Nothing compares to the feeling I get when raving reviews come in from our customers. But facing the Dragons (of Dragons’ Den) comes close! It has been one of my most exciting and memorable entrepreneurial experiences.

Whether our segment actually airs is something we won’t know until Season 9 premieres later this fall.

Still, it was worth every moment of apprehension, and every hour of practice time that we put in, before the main event. It was so much FUN!

From the audition, to working with a producer during preparation, to the actual event, it was all very professional.

THE AUDITION

In preparation for the audition I put together a PowerPoint presentation. The night before the audition I realized how ludicrous this was, given this was a TV show audition, and not a boardroom presentation! Thank goodness I realized that on time or I likely would not have been invited to the show!

After the audition they told me that I would either hear from them by the end of February, or not. And if not, I would be able to audition again next year. The end of February came and went so I put it out of my mind, accepting the fact that we had not been chosen to pitch. But then, first thing in the morning on March 4^th, my birthday, we got the call. It was so exciting and it was the best birthday present ever!!

We were given our choice of three taping days, April 8^th, 9^th or 10^th. It couldn’t have been a worse week because we had booked and paid for two trade shows in Vancouver and had many other commitments. Plus, the Dragons Den taping was in Toronto. Nevertheless, we cleared our schedules. Nothing would stop us from entering the Dragons Den!

Producers warned us we’d have just 60 seconds to introduce ourselves, our company, make our ask (% of equity for $XX investment) and then do our entire pitch. They told us the Dragons will give that 60 seconds and then they will jump in and fire away after which time it can be difficult to maintain control.

PITCH PREPARATION

We had four weeks to prepare. And prepare we did.

I did a significant amount of number crunching, and got input from three professional business valuators to come up with the right ‘ask’. We wrote out proposals for the producer including our pitch, our props, and our concepts to ‘involve’ the Dragons. We went through four iterations of these as the producer rejected most of our concepts. We weren’t sure exactly what we would be ‘allowed’ to do, right up until 15 minutes before the show!

We practiced and changed our pitch, practiced and changed our pitch, practiced and changed, over and over and then we practiced some more.

Doug (my husband and business partner) arranged a ‘faux’ Dragons Den experience. He brought in five high-powered people to play ‘the Dragons’ and invited another 30 people to watch the pitch and provide feedback. We taped the pitch so that we could look for areas to improve.These dragons proved to be even tougher than the real ones!

The whole process forced us to really nail our ‘elevator pitch’.

PITCH TAPING DAY

By pitch day, we felt we were ready. What we weren’t ready for were the microphones, cameras, and lights that were in our faces for the ten minutes before we went on to the set. "How do you feel?" "What do you think is going to happen?" "Are your hands shaking?" "Which of the Dragons do you hope to do a deal with today?" Good grief, that was tough when all I wanted to do was quietly practice my pitch!

We finally went on the set, and other than forgetting one important point; we felt we did a pretty good job of our pitch. I was very proud of Doug that day!!

We estimate we were in front of the ‘fire-breathing dragons’ for about 50 minutes. The editing that goes into each piece is obviously significant. For me, it seemed like 5 minutes given the adrenalin high I was on. It was surreal being there on set after having watched the show so many times. Half way through, I had forgotten all about the cameras and lights because I was completely absorbed in the discussion about our business.

Having the undivided attention and engagement from of a group of brilliant business people, all talking about my business, was pure bliss.

We are sworn to secrecy about what actually happened in our pitch until our segment airs (IF it airs). We promise to post information on the air date if/when we receive it.

We are grateful to CBC and the Dragons themselves, not only for affording us this amazing opportunity, but also for inspiring young entrepreneurs and for illuminating the importance of entrepreneurship and small business in Canada.

This past week a couple of major newspaper outlets featured stories on KANDY Outdoor Flooring and our "chic flooring trend'.

Check out The Ottawa Citizen story online. Versions of the same story ran this past week in the Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal and Vancouver Province.

And tell us what you think!