Today we’d like to introduce you to Kheng Lim.
Hi Kheng, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started my journey by coming from Malaysia (where I was born and raised) to Provo to attend Art School at BYU. After graduation, I began working at a custom cabinetry shop. There I started my woodworking training. At the same time I also managed a frame shop part-time. About a year later, and coincidentally, I lost those two jobs.
That was fortuitous because I had so many ideas I wanted to implement into a frame business. Losing the job meant I readily took on the idea of starting my own operation! My first workspace was a 11’x20′ shed behind the house. First clients were friends, and word of mouth gradually increased my client bas to fellow artists.
Second space was a 650 sq ft garage, and I started working with two other budding businesses, supplying frames to them. Over the years, client base included interior designers from the region, art collectors, galleries, artists, and homeowners looking to frame a large variety of objects.
After 5 years in business, we finally grew large enough to make a big move into a 7000 sq ft facility which also includes a gallery in the front, to serve the local artists in Provo. We now have 6 team members in two shop locations (the main shop in Provo), and a satellite location in Atlanta, GA.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Learning how to deal with the finances of a business was challenging. Federal, state, unemployment, sales taxes, paying vendors, cashflow, managing competitive pricing, etc. was a lot to handle, and I made some very expensive mistakes along the way the way.
I have built 2 great teams over the past 5 years, and it’s an exciting challenge. I learned that respect, consideration, and generosity play the largest roles in building a top-notch team of workers.
I never took any formal training in making picture frames, and almost all I know came from trill and error. That carries with it its costs, but I am happy to say we are at a very high level of production quality and we never knowingly cut corners on the quality of our work.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Within a 10-mile radius of my shop, I counted ten other frame shops. This is a very high concentration, yet nobody is out of business. I try to make Border & Square unique in three ways:
1) Great design. All but one of our team members are artists. We are able to bring a very sensitive eye to framing art, never over-framing, but always supporting the design and concept of the art we are working with. We also have more than 20 years of woodworking experience between us, meaning we can design and craft truly custom 1-of-1 frames for our clients. One of our clients who is a serious art collector said that we are operating ‘at another level’. That was one of the most gratifying compliments we have received!
2) Quality. We make some of the highest quality wood frames around. Every custom wood frame ordered means a trip to the lumber yard to personally select the best piece of wood. It then is crafted into a frame in our full-service wood shop here. We work with some very exacting clients, some of whom have in the past ordered frames from specialist frame shops in LA and NYC. The fact that they now order from us is a testament to the quality of the frames we make.
3) We are not a budget frame shop. But because we do almost everything in-house (milling frames, gilding, assembling, etc), we can keep costs relatively low for a comparable product from another location. The price for our frames, taking into account the depth of how unique, well-made, and beautiful they are, is truly a bargain.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
I wish I knew how to handle business finances.
I wish I knew that work-life balance is not a thing to seek for during the early stages of a business. The ‘early stage’ is not defined by a length of time, but by how quickly the business is growing and how early you can start implementing systems that are easy to understand and repeatable by others. That way you can start hiring a team to spread the load, and THEN work-life balance can be had.
Do not worry about getting paid for what you think you are ‘worth’. Always be generous with your time, help, and especially your business services. I have a business client from whom I bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. It all started because I gave a client a free glass upgrade for her new wedding gift. I have so many other examples where a gift of time and resources came back to me in the form of thousands of dollars more in business revenue. Don’t give expecting to take. Give sincerely without expectations, and people will feel that generosity, and they will want to be generous back.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.borderandsquare.com
- Instagram: @borderandsquare
