Framed: 10 Years in Business in Mission Viejo

The owner of The Framing Corner knows something about longevity.

Wendy Gorman set out to make her own living 10 years ago this month. Looking back, she says it's been a stressful endeavour with little certainty. But a supportive community and a flexible schedule have made loving her job a little easier.

"I was an art student so it was something I’d always been interested in," she said. "As I went to college, I got my bachelor’s degree in fine art and I worked in management for large retail chains and I worked in the galleries as well."

After graduating from Cal State Fullerton, Gorman moved to Newport Beach and later found herself in South County, where she's been since 1992.

She said the toughest thing about owning a small business is paying the bills.

"It hasn’t been an easy decade," she said. "Making enough money to pay all your bills in this economy, having enough left over to pay an employee instead of working all the shifts yourself—it takes perseverance."

As she spoke to Patch, Gorman was cutting a mat to set inside one of her customers' frames. Multitasking just comes with the territory, she said.

Here are some of Gorman's other keys to surviving as the owner of a frame shop:

• Great customer service
• Having an eye for color and design
• Keeping prices friendly and affordable

And what makes Mission Viejo a good place to build up a small business?

"The clientele here is great," she said. "We live locally so our kids go to school in Mission Viejo. Basically you’re grocery shopping in the same stores your customers are, you see customers at your school events so it’s really kind of been great."

The Framing Corner provides various retail and wholesale services, including
custom and ready-made picture frames, mats and mat cutting services, various conservation glass choices (UV protected and museum), experienced shadow box framing, canvas stretching, photo printing and photo to canvas printing.