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When she was launching her new business, Carol Evans had one key objective - to make sure it could not be threatened by online competition.

Her old family-run printing firm had seen sales fall as the internet meant less demand for hard copies of reports, documents and brochures.

So as she planned her next venture, a small shop, Carol knew she needed to sell something that would keep people coming through the doors, despite increasing online competition.

And today she is certain that the product she hit upon - helium-filled balloons - has been the secret of 13 years of success.

Now her Harlequin Party Shop has been identified by npower as one of Britain’s Super Powered Businesses – innovative and engaging companies all over the country who are going the extra mile to deliver success.

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Harlequin turns 13 next month, a date Carol and her staff will celebrate with a party themselves as the shop in Sutton Coldfield "becomes a teenager".

When she decided to sell the old print business, Carol was a new mum, and she knew there was a gap in the market for a one-stop shop for party items.

Her stroke of genius, though, was to concentrate on balloons, which today account for more than 80 per cent of sales at Harlequin, and the reason her business is busier now than ever.

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She had initially planned to open a card shop when the print firm became unviable, but soon realised that this too would be vulnerable to competition from online stores and social networks.

Her decision to focus on selling balloons was met with uncertainty at first, but Carol was always confident the tactic would pay off.

She said: "When we lost a £150,000 contract from a firm who decided to publish straight to the web, I knew it was time to change. And I didn't want to fall victim to the internet a second time.

"You can buy almost everything on the internet, with less hassle and at a lower price. And you can buy balloons, but not filled with helium. So I decided that this would be the core of our business.

"I set up shop, opened the doors and just hoped people would start coming through them."

Carol invested in equipment allowing her to personalise balloons with photos or words in glitter, and which can print and inflate a balloon in less than 90 seconds.

She also offers other personalised products such as sashes, ribbons and party gift bags, and at Christmas offers a gift wrapping service allowing people to drop off all the presents they have bought to be expertly wrapped.

She said: "Just today a woman parked right outside, ran inside the shop, and a few minutes later was driving off again with her personalised balloons printed and inflated. That's something the internet can't do for you, and it's the reason we're still here today.

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"People are always going to be having birthdays and celebrating life, that's why I'm not worried about the future.

"Most of our balloons today are bought by people having their 40th, 50th or 60th birthday, these people have more money to spend on their party than perhaps young mothers. And we often get orders for funeral balloons, so children can send nanny a balloon after she has gone."

Carol says the only time the shop hit hard times was in 2012 just before the London Olympic Games, when there was a helium shortage in the country, with many believing the gas had been stockpiled to fill giant balloons as well as inflatable souvenirs for the Games.

She said: "We couldn't get helium anywhere and we got to crisis point, where we would have had to close if things hadn't got better. Our helium comes to us after being recycled twice after being used in hospital MRI scanners, but even then we couldn't find any, even the hospitals were rationing supplies.

"Luckily after the Games things improved and we were able to recover our losses."

But Carol insists balloons aren't the only reason the business is thriving, and that the "personal touch" is just as important to keep customers coming in.

She said: "It's mostly due to a lot of hard work, and getting to know our clients well. We have one customer whose young son died of leukaemia, and every year she buys three sets of balloons in his rugby colours. When she comes in she doesn't even have to say anything, I already know what she needs.

"We know our customers so well that we even remember which paper we wrapped their presents in last year, so we don't use the same paper the next time. And we spend a lot of time developing relationships with hotels, which provide us with a lot of business and recommend us to people who have booked them for parties.

"I'm also really focused on looking out for the newest party products that come out, because when we get new things in there's always a lot of interest.

"But I'm proud to say that most of our customers come simply because of word of mouth, which must mean we are doing something right."