Duncan-based Country Chic Paint is appearing on the CBC show, Dragon’s Den on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m.
For its owners, imaginative entrepreneurs Roseanne and Jan Korteland, who moved to Canada from the Netherlands in 2008, it’s another exciting development in a whirlwind of publicity for their company.
Almost four years ago they started Zin Frames, a company offering custom-made shabby-chic frames for sale.
But, they soon gravitated to the world of paint and, in the 22 months since the launch of Country Chic Paint, the pair have turned the brand into a fashionable go-to with fans across the continent who love its combination of high-end, user-friendly products and exceptional customer service.
“We are so grateful for all the support we’ve received from our wonderful staff, retailers, customers, and fans,” Roseanne Korteland said.
She was snatching a rocking chair moment with the couple’s new baby.
“We have two other children, too, so it’s busy around here,” she laughed.
Zin Frames really opened the door to Country Chic Paint, she said.
“We started offering the frames unpainted and then people asked us for paint and from one thing came another. Before we knew it we started selling paint.”
Then came a big surprise.
“By the third month or so we were featured by a very well-known blogger with, at the time, about 400,000 followers. It gave us a big boost for sure. We didn’t know what had happened because all of a sudden our phone didn’t stop ringing. Then we found where it came from. We hadn’t even solicited that. It was quite exciting,” Korteland said.
Now, they’re getting even more attention.
This is not their first attempt at Dragon’s Den, though. They first tried with Zin Frames a couple of years back.
“But we thought we should try again; it would be really good publicity to go on the show, but what we really wanted was to have an investor join us. Not for the money necessarily but for their wealth of knowledge. That was the main goal: to find someone who would help with strategic advice, not day-to-day things.”
So, they pitched to the famous TV show on April 14 in Toronto.
“It’s been six months now. Time goes so fast. It was an experience! They tell you when you come down those stairs [the Dragons] will look at you with really serious expressions. They are told to do that. It seems very intimidating when you look them in the eye for the first time but that goes away in the first few seconds. They are really very friendly,” she said.
However, that’s where she had to stop talking about the episode till the curtain lifts officially on Oct. 28.
Convincing the program’s team that you are worthy of even getting on the show is a big hurdle, she said.
“There are only 170 people who get to go to Toronto to be filmed; it is not very many when you consider the number of auditions they do.”
Country Chic Paint’s office is located in downtown Duncan in the Canada Building and their warehouse is located on Boys Road.
They sell widely.
“We never really set out to sell to only Canada or to Canada and the U.S.,” she said. “But, with the Internet nowadays, it’s a market you can easily approach. We have a distribution centre in Indiana to expedite our shipments in the U.S. It’s a lot faster for them to get their products.”
Dragon’s Den itself was created to help talented Canadian entrepreneurs to realize their aspirations in the business world.
Aspiring up-and-comers with big dreams and big goals — including several from the Cowichan Valley in past seasons — enter the den with their business pitches ready in hopes of earning the investment and expertise of a Canadian business guru. The results can be exhilarating, unnerving and, of course, great entertainment.
