Treat every blind or awning as if it is going in your own home, Milissa Lennon believes.

Sole operator of Budget Blinds and Awnings, the admitted-perfectionist takes absolute pride in everything she does, something she learned from her hard-working stock-and-station agent father.

“It’s got to go in someone else’s house as if it’s my own. If I’m not happy with it, they won’t be happy with it,” she says of her business philosophy.

“It’s about taking pride in your work — which is missing in a lot of the world today.”

It is for this reason, she adds, that she acts as sole installer, ultimately taking responsibility for all work herself.

Which, with the renewed interest many of us have taken in our humble homes during the current two-year COVID-19 lockdowns, has seen her dance-card pretty full.

“I’ve been doing this since 2012, and yeah, I’ve probably had a big increase

in business, but it has been steadily increasing since I established it,” she said.

“My business is mostly by word-of-mouth and I only take an ad in the Trades Section of ‘Orange City Life’, which is the best advertising out of all of it,” she said.

Working as a high-profile real estate manager in inner Sydney for years, she came to Orange seeking a change of direction.

“When I moved back here from Balmain, I didn’t want to get back in real estate, I’ve never been driven by money, but in getting a good result in anything I do,” she said.

“So, I took a job with Spectrum Blinds and Awnings and, when they sold the business, I went out on my own,” Milissa said.

But again, it was the quality of the job that was the central motivation for her: “I did have installers, but I didn’t like leaving their standards, they weren’t mine,” she added.

“I often come back on a job just to do final adjustments, just to tweak it a bit more, I am a perfectionist, yeah,” she laughs.

Growing-up in Narromine in western NSW, she learnt from her father the importance of personal service.

“I’m the daughter of a stock-and-station agent, Noel Lennon, and he was very proud in his work, his motto was: ‘treat them like your friend, because they so often are’,” Milissa said.

“My Dad encouraged me to ‘have a go’ and to do it my own way, which I have,” she added.

Her products range from roller blinds, sunscreens, vertical shades, venetian blinds, panel glides, shutters, and various outdoor awnings. All are made in Australia by a small family-owned company.

Unlike many tradies, she also doesn’t rate jobs as more or less important: “No jobs too small, I take anything pretty much, it’s not about the money, it’s about getting it right,” Milissa concluded.

Budget Blinds and Awnings, tel. 6369 0173, mob. 0437 106 060. Website: www.bbao.com.au/