In this episode, it's all about making sure you've got a friendly face in the country you're exporting from.

Ben is chatting to Henrik Pontoppidan, who works in Vietnam running his company S2U Design Containers. Their mission is to help you if you need to import or design furniture or help with red tape getting pieces out of the country.

He's been running his firm for 15 years, and in this episode he talks to Ben about:

* His journey into furniture - in the 90s

* How he go into design

* Importing beds from Brazil

* How he fell into online selling

* Why he moved to Vietnam

* Covid and how it changed him for the better

* And why that made him pick up new skills - including 3D designing

* The importance of using someone like him to make sure you're importing good products

* The variety of factories he works with

* The effect of Trump's tariffs on the furniture trade

* The importance of having someone on the ground when importing

* Why Vietnam doesn't advertise itself so well

* And why the country is full of hidden furniture gems

LINKS

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

S2U Design Containers

Podcast Production by Ginger Wizard Productions

Have you ever thought about providing your staff with better sales training?

In this episode Ben talks to a man who knows the furniture trade and sales inside out. So much so, that when Adam Hankinson, founder of Furniture Sales Solutions, delivers training to a client, he is often offered a job on the shop floor!

Ben chats to Adam about:

* How did Adam move over from being a salesman to training it?

* What's DFS' turnover like

* Why he left the security of DFS

* What's in Adam's courses

* How not to lose sales

* Confidence and how important that is

* The art of not being pushy on the store floor

* Why learning on the job could be costing you money

* Training is just about correcting failure

* Why Adam is often approached by stores to work for them!

* Is it different selling on social media?

* There are no shortcuts in training

* How you avoid "I'm just looking" - Cleaning is your magic weapon!

* Know your products

* How profitable training can be

* Adam wants to be the go-to training school

* And now he is eyeing the American market

LINKS

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

Furniture Sales Solutions

Podcast Production by Ginger Wizard Productions

After a two week break Ben is back - and in this episode he's talking to Ian Bellis.

The founder and director of Furniture Outlet - His stores are based in the south East of England.

Ian's journey into the furniture trade can be traced back to the other side of the globe, and now his company is an "eight-figure powerhouse".

So how did he do it and how does he stay ahead of the curve?

Ben talks to Ian about:

* How Ian started in the electronics industry

* But a move to New Zealand changed all of that

* His first furniture business was based on a retail park

* But ill health forced him to return to the UK

* He was given a 10% chance of survival and six weeks to live

* But he was soon back to work selling high-end sofas

* The 2008 crash made him change tack

* He then set up furniture outlets

* But a change in online returns policy made him have to change again

* This time to end-of-line

* He now has a relationship with 18 factories in China

* After a rocky relationship with the trade, he's now back in love with it

* His son is even now working with him!

* They now won't look at stores under 20,000ft

* They also offer over 2000 variations of tables and chairs

* But they hardly sell anything online, it's all in store

* He believes that customers want to see and touch products

* How video marketing has boosted his trade

* China and how it's changed over the 20+ years he's been dealing with the country

* The standards of fire retardants in imported furniture

* And why Ian steers clear of factories who cut corners

* He even employs his own team to test the products

* We're back to shipping again - how has Ian coped with the increase?

* How he plans to use marketplaces with smaller goods

LINKS

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

Furniture Outlet

Podcast Production by Ginger Wizard Productions