I had a problem - a big one.

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It felt like a small car parked on my chest. Too much month left over at the end of the money. At age 29, I had just moved my family back to Katy, TX to start a new accounting job, and because of some really bone-headed financial mistakes in my recent past, I found myself with a mortgage, a mountain of credit card debt and a wife and two kids (soon to be three) depending on me.

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Although I was paid a fair market wage in my new job, it wasn’t enough to cover my bills (see bone-headed financial mistakes above), so I started looking for ways to make some extra income. I thought constantly about small business startup ideas and read everything about money-making that I could get my hands on.

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I grew up in Katy, graduated from Katy High School and went to The University of Texas at Austin to earn an accounting degree. That’s where I married my wife, Laurie.

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After college, I started filling in the blanks in a very eclectic resume that included bank auditor, financial analyst, janitor, retail coffee franchise manager, financial advisor and finally, certified public accountant. (Incidentally, my wife used to hate it when I mentioned “I’m a janitor” at parties in response to the question “So what do you do?”)

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“I have a friend from high school that started a blind business...” my wife said one day. “You should talk to him.”

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I’m a relatively handy guy, but I didn’t know anything about blinds... or selling... or running a business. I’m a bean counter. But it had potential – no storefront or big investment needed, and I didn’t need to quit my job.

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Perfect! I’m in!

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So in October 1999, a good friend and I opened a business bank account with $300, set up a C.O.D. account with a blind manufacturer in Arlington, TX (we qualified since we could fog a mirror), printed a stack of fliers and business cards at Office Depot, gassed up my ‘88 Ford Ranger and we were in the blind business!

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We started by blanketing new neighborhoods with our advertisement. Every house with naked windows got one. And the phone started to ring – although slowly at first.

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We sold two jobs the first month and one the second month, but gradually, we picked up steam.

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We worked our day jobs and sold and installed blinds in the evenings and on the weekends. The first job we installed was comical. As we unpacked the boxes in our inaugural client’s living room, we whispered to each other “what’s this for...” “...do we need that part?” A job that would take an experienced solo installer 45 minutes took the two of us 31⁄2 hours, but we got it done.

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We were blessed and the business grew. Two years later, I took a leap of faith and quit my job, and the next year, my business partner quit his. Over the next several years, Katy Blinds & Shutters (our original name) gradually grew into two separate businesses – one residential and the other commercial (Katy Blinds Commercial).

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The two businesses were so unique from one another that in 2015, we split them into two separate legal entities and Katy Blinds Commercial has been 100% commercial ever since.

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This business was built on radical ideas like “show up on time” and “do what you said you would do.” This simple approach not only makes the space look good, but it makes our partners look good to their clients and customers.

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It’s an approach that I try to follow in every part of my professional and personal life. Be present. Have integrity, even when no one is looking.

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-John Crosby

Founder & President