by Aurora Sutherland

With a degree in business to help him, Danny knew he had to make sure he had a proper emotional and financial support network. “I even considered trying to purchase the company I’d previously worked for.  Overall, it was a long grueling process.” he says. After pursuing the idea of purchasing the old company versus starting out on his own, he began to make plans for either eventuality.

What does he think about his decision to branch out on his own? “It was great that I launched separately. I didn’t have to figure out what to do with the existing office supplies portion of the company.”  It also provided an advantage, “There were no preconceived ideas about the company. I was able to build the company from my vision. Plus, I wanted the company to have a corporate look that was not strictly aboriginal. I wanted a modern design for an aboriginal company.”

With his vision and plans Danny approached ABC for financial help, and the Royal Bank for a line of credit. Both were extremely supportive.  Beginning in an executive office suite, Danny brought his desire and passion, and leveraged all his assets.  He worked with the executive suite management to incorporate some of his product line into their office.  Within two years he was able to open a Showroom on the 6th floor of his building to display his expanding product line. TACC became involved during this expansion, providing financial support for the Showroom, marketing materials, and the Chase web site expansion.

Chase Office Interiors has a different focus than his previous company. Rather than the day to day purchases of an office supply store, he now focuses on project work like furnishing entire floors, office moves and companies looking to combine their older existing furniture with new quality pieces.

Currently their biggest market niches are the Federal Government and interior designers. When he was with his old employer he started to see the possibility of selling to government through aboriginal opportunities. Once he launched Chase Office Interiors he was able to take the time to explore these opportunities. Now, from the Vancouver office they are able to coordinate projects throughout British Columbia

In order to broaden their opportunities with the Federal Government Danny realized that he needed to move eastward. So, he opened a very small office in Edmonton and hired a sales rep. The new person has done so well, they were able to hire another sales person last November. About two months ago, TACC was able to help again with the expansion of the Edmonton office. With a larger base in Edmonton, they are able to coordinate projects for Alberta and the Northern provinces.

To make such a quick impact it is clear that Danny has focus and a lot of energy. Danny said his goal is, “To provide a higher level of service than anyone in the industry.” He understands that service is critical for repeat business in his industry.

Chase Office Interiors prides itself on providing superior service and quality products from initial design concepts right through to project completion. Danny relates, “We can drive the process (with auto-CAD) or we can just do portions within a project team… management companies, interior designers, architects.”  Chase doesn’t do furniture construction, but they do coordinate all the pieces and the physical moves quickly and efficiently.

Chase has worked hard to become a federally approved aboriginal supplier with several National Master Standing Offers to follow the government’s mandate under the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business (PSAB) Program. Some of their product lines include Global, Teknion, Egan, Global Contract, Humanscale, Montel, and Standard Desk. They have relationships with numerous manufacturers to ensure they provide the best quality at various price points.

The ideal client would be one who appreciates quality furniture, has the dollars to support it, and has multiple locations. Danny says, “We’re happy with a 30 person office. We have the capacity to do any size office.”

So far the biggest challenge has been finances. Leveraging so much money. “If there is a half million dollar project, at 30 days we’re getting payment demands, but we haven’t been paid by the client yet. It’s tough.” Danny affirms. Their second biggest challenge has been finding good people, and keeping them. Something that every business owner can relate to.

Luckily their relationships with manufacturers have gone smoother than expected.  Danny says, “We’ve been able to take pride in it. We try to learn from them. We try to find out what they’re looking for in a dealership. As a result, we’ve been getting amazing feedback from our manufacturers.”

When asked what makes Chase Office Interiors unique Danny says, “We’ve automated our efficient systems. We’ve built all our systems from scratch, based on feedback from clients and manufacturers. We didn’t assume the old way of doing something was the best way to do it.” This willingness to adapt to new situations has provided Chase with the ability to be flexible enough to meet various client demands.

Plans for the future? Danny wants to grow further into the commercial market and take on more major projects. He says, “One of the fortes of our set-up is that we’re good at perfecting business systems. We’re good at figuring out what works and automating the system as much as possible, so we’re replicating what’s working. We want to continue to have the highest quality of customer service.”

With a successful track record Danny is now looking at acquiring other businesses and converting them to their systems. As Danny says, “We’re very efficient.  Chase Office Interiors is a lean operation relative to our competitors.”

In Danny’s eyes, there are many other niches for growth, but it wouldn’t be fair to share those ideas here. With all his plans, Chase Office Interiors is certainly a company worth keeping an eye on.

Danny Chase
Chase Office Interiors Inc.
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www.coiinc.ca
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Locations:

British Columbia – Head Office
Chase Office Interiors Inc.
200 - 100 Park Royal
West Vancouver, BC V7T 1A2 

Alberta
Chase Office Interiors Inc.
#201, 11442 168th Street
Edmonton, Alberta T5M 3T9

General Contact Information
Toll Free:     1 (877) 922-0118
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