Decision to return home pays off: husband and wife team establish niche business.

• Author: Cowan, Liz
• Position: TIMMINS

Jason Perratt and Julie Laflamme made a "risky" and "hard" decision to leave well-paying, full-time jobs in southern Ontario to return to Timmins to raise their young children.

But since making the move a few years ago, the couple hasn't looked back. Their new company, Logikal Code, has grown steadily over the past few years and fills a void in the city by offering website development and marketing.

"We were in Montreal and Toronto for about 15 years and then ended up in Cambridge," Perratt said. "Then we made the decision to leave that behind and come North again to raise our family."

But it wasn't easy The couple moved back home with no jobs and Laflamme was on maternity leave. They thought Perratt would have more difficulty finding a job since they didn't expect there would be any in his field of software development. Laflamme had a management background, so she expected her chances of finding employment would be easier.

"We made the decision for the kids because we needed to move back for a safer and more family-oriented area. We based our decision on that and said we would figure it out as we went along," said Laflamme.

Perratt found an hourly job fixing computers and Laflamme later found employment with a non-profit business corporation, positions they both retained for about a year.

Two years ago, Perratt started building his own business offering website design and it has since grown to offer customized database and software development for its clients. Recently, a marketing branch was added and Laflamme joined the company as project manager. Four other employees have also been hired.

"We are the only one who does this full time," Laflamme said. "And we aren't doing it in our basement. Having office space means our clients have confidence in us and we aren't about to leave any time soon."

The first handful of clients always asked, she said, how long the business was expected to be around.

"That was simple for us to address. We told them we were here, at least, until our children finished school."

Perratt said having office space also gives the business a sense of professionalism.

"If you are home based, there might be questions about how serious you are," he said. "When we opened the office, there was a real spurt in clients because of the sense of permanence it offers."

Logikal Code does no advertising, except for one ad that appears in a local chamber of commerce newsletter every second month, and has relied on word of mouth.

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