1. Jim and Michelle Gibson, owners of Par-T-Perfect enjoy a moment to goof around with their new
line, Par-T-pets.
Louise Loik photo
continued PAGE 9
Bowen-based franchise wins Gold Award of Excellence
LOUISE LOIK
E D I T O R
Jim Gibson is wearing shiny
black plastic pants adorned with
a devilish tail s Michelle is wear-
ing cowboy boots and a cowboy
hat. They’ve got a bunch of little
stuffed animals and are having fun
goofing around with Halloween
props. Setting up a photo shoot
with Jim and Michelle Gibson,
you have to know that their take
on “business casual” is very dif-
ferent than for most of us.
Jim and Michelle are in the
business of fun. As owners of Par-
T-Perfect Party Planners Inc. the
Gibson’s work really is all fun and
games. Par-T-Perfect is a full-ser-
vice party planning and staging
company with franchises across
Canada.
Michelle started party planning
in ’88 with little more than enthu-
siasm and ideas but almost noth-
ing in the way of party supplies.
“Until someone booked it, I didn’t
own it. I’d get a booking and then
I’d run off to the store and get the
supplies.
Gibson decided she wanted to
take party staging to the next level
so she ordered a Bouncy Castle
from England. “I had one of the
first Bouncy Castles in North
America. I’d pitch the idea to
people but they had no idea what I
was talking about.”
Michelle’s Bouncy Castle
arrived from England around the
same time as her bouncing baby
boy. Unstoppable, Michelle kept
looking for orders. She says the
“first time I set it up in a mall, a
kid jumped onto it from the floor
above and we didn’t have insur-
ance.” She laughs about it now.
“You fly by the seat of your pants
at first and then you evolve.”
Little did she know that 28-years
later, the business would take
flight and win Canada’s top award
of Excellence for an Established
non-Traditional Franchise.
Jim is justifiably proud of the
achievement, which follows on a
Bronze win last year.
Celebrating Success with Par-t-Perfect
from PAGE 1
The award from the Canadian
Franchise Association recognizes
Jim and Michelle’s solid support
for their franchisees. “the awards
recognize excellence in franchise
operations, superior franchisee
relations, leadership, business
planning, marketing, training and
support, ongoing operations and
communications as voted upon by
the franchisees. All together, the
franchises stage “thousands upon
thousands of events a year.”
“We have a complete library
with support materials for our
franchisees. “ says Michelle.
Once a week we have a video
chat, there are video conferences
where the businesses from across
the country can connect with
ideas and discussions.
Michelle and Jim bring their
franchisees together annual-
ly for a day of activities, ideas
and fun. “They aren’t running a
business on their own. They’re
part of a team and that’s the great
part. They are part of a team.”
Jim will tell you that on average
one in five businesses survive on
their own beyond five years but
that “80 per cent of franchisees
succeed.” Michelle adds “that’s
because we went out there first,
made mistakes, got things figured
out.”
Michelle looks back and says it
took months when she was start-
ing out, trying to promote the idea
of a bouncy castle. Business took
off once she went on the Rafe
Mair show to talk about her busi-
ness. “The phone started ringing
and didn’t stop.” She got calls
for birthday parties that needed
everything from decorating to
activity leaders to Bouncy Castles
and gift bags. She was staging
100 parties a week. Customers
ranged from family birthday par-
ties to large corporate events. Jim
had been working in the franchise
business so he joined Michelle for
a perfect partnership. They began
to sell Par-T-Perfect Franchises.
It’s funny, Bowen
kids like the dogs
and cats best. Other
places like unicorns
and monkeys.
Three months ago Par-T-Perfect
Michelle expanded the types of
supplies she could offer. As the
idea of the bouncy castles took off
she designed one that looked like
a giant Dalmatian then added a
custom-made inflatable ginger-
bread house that is under 8 ‘ tall
for indoor events. Now they
have “a Foam Pit. – You pump
the foam in and then hide things
in it for a treasure hunt and you
can make foam hats . We have
some off the dial stuff.” She adds.
added an on-line store for party
supplies for “do-it-yourself party
staging. “ Not everyone can
afford a fully staged party,” says
Jim. With Party Pets, a box that
includes 10 un-stuffed 8” ready
for stuffing with little wishing
stars to put inside them. There
are little kits for sparkly stencil
tattoos, and-shirts to paint . You
can order a box with all the prod-
ucts or select a smaller kit.
So far, par-t-pets has four ani-
mals, including a unicorn, mon-
key, dog, and cat and a polar bear
is on its way. That the company
has all the pets made under their
private label. The T-shirts were
just added to the line last week.
“We will keep expanding our pri-
vate label so that we may get 20
animals. We will offer unique top
quality supplies. They’ve done
test runs on their par-t-pets with
Bowen kids as well as beyond
Bowen. “It’s funny, Bowen kids
like the dogs and cats best. Other
places like unicorns and mon-
keys.”
Michelle and Jim see other dif-
ferences in their market. “With
party planning, someone on
Bowen will go out to their garden,
look around, get some inspiration,
and make it happen. “ In town
life is so rushed, people are more
inclined to use planners. “We fill
a niche in town and we sell kits to
remote communities.”
The next step in 2016 will be
“mini-franchises.” People liv-
ing in small towns with a small-
er market will be able to run a
franchise with a smaller star-up
investment of $5000. and run it
as a part-time business. “Owners
would be able to build on the
business as they grow. We’ll be
looking for creative to offer a
mini-franchise” but Jim says they
are still working out the details
for this part of the business.
While Michelle and Jim have
had the opportunity to move to
town, Bowen is where they want
to live. “We were able to come
to Bowen because we don’t need
bricks and mortar for the busi-
ness. A lot of entrepreneurs today
don’t have to be in a major city.
We love it here. It’s perfect...