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

Asif Alimahomed has been part of the furniture industry since 1990, he was one of the first people in the trade to take his business online.

It all started in Leicester with his brothers and from there he hasn't looked back. Asif isn't without controversy, and if his is a name you're unfamiliar with, you need to find out more about him. He's one of the trades real characters.

He chats to ben about:

• How it all started for Asif
• Meeting Ben in China
• Being an entrepreneur has been part of his life, all of his life
• How the furniture business is dog eat dog
• How other owners admire Asif for his ruthlessness
• Marketing CFS and how its changing constantly
• Has business got harder? Why experience pays off..
• Keeping departments in house
• Physical stores - are they worth it?
• Walking the shop floor - Is Asif still selling to customers?
• Looking after those customers
• The wholesale side of CFS
• The January Show - should it be moved?
• Should Ben start doing his own furniture show?!
• Moving on and going international
• What next for Asif? Golf, grandkids and a new website
• Letting your kids make mistakes in business

LINKS

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

CFS

Urban Deco

Podcast Production by Ginger Wizard Productions

John McCabe started in the furniture industry when he was just 16 years old on the YTS scheme - Remember that!?

Fast forward 40 years and John is still going strong, working as a self employed sales agent.

John tells Ben about:

• How he got into the trade
• His mum was a model for Furniture Factors
• But the firm he was doing the YTS with went bust
• What the trade was like in the 80s - his first sale was a wall clock for £59!
• Why the mid-90s was a boom time
• Why he came to supply furniture to Coronation Street!
• How trade is coming back
• Working with Sweet Dreams
• Working at shows
• The power of advertising and its effect on stores
• Ozzy the dog!!
• Art work and how it can pay its own way
• Why the furniture trade is one not many leave
• Dining and how it's not changed
• Why vans are better than an electric Porsche
• Harnessing the potential of garden centres
• Staying positive as the world changes around you
• Drop shipping and how retailers use it
• Trade shows and are they on the decline?
• How advanced China has become

LINKS

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

John McCabe on LinkedIn

Podcast Production by Ginger Wizard Productions

Getting your stock in front of potential customers is no easy task these days. In the ever changing landscape of social media, the goal posts are always moving and it can be very hard to know the best channels and the best way of using it to ultimately make sales.

Joe Land is a marketing expert who grew up with social media and now runs his own company, which he founded at just 18 years old. He's now 27.

Ben chats to him about

• How he came to be a founder at such a young age
• His results and how successful he has been
• What exactly social media management is
• How social media had changed
• The best way to post on Facebook - through posts or paid ads
• How you can target your ads on social media
• What it costs to use Joe's services
• Running your Facebook and Insta accounts simultaneously
• What a good ROI looks like with Meta ads
• Is it worth using TikTok?
• Does TikTok give you a better return?
• How should you divide up your marketing spend on social media
• Why his services are better than struggling on your own
• What drives the most traffic to your website
• Being clear on what you want to happen from your ads

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

Social Land

Podcast Production by Ginger Wizard Productions

Gav Boden has been involved in the furniture business for 40 years. He now works for Rhenus Logistics home delivery as the UK's sales director.

He started work in the 80s lifting furniture into vans and is now in charge of telling the world about Rhenus' global network.

He tells Ben about:

• How Ben and Gav met
• Trade shows
• How Gav got into the trade at 15 - and loved it
• His first sale of corner cabinets for £5,000
• Working on the road as a rep
• How outsourcing meant UK manufacturing took a hit
• Why having a full experience of the trade is so important
• The huge size of Rhenus
• Shipping and it's impact on retailers
• Why using a logistics network is cheaper
• Returns and the effect on their business
• What the future looks like for Rhenus in the UK
• The interest rates and how it's effecting trade
• UK manufacturers are now mid-to top end sales
• The Next empire after buying the rights to Made.com
• A new dawn for trade shows?

LINKS:

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

Rhenus Logistics

Gav Boden on LinkedIn

Podcast Production by Ginger Wizard Productions

We all know that photos of our stock helps it sell, but digital techniques can help customers understand how a piece will look in their house.

Using computer generated imagery, Lesley Edgar's company, Red and Grey, creates designs which means customers can virtually drop furniture right into their front room.

She talks to Ben about:

• How it works
• What you need to provide to generate the images
• What happens with copyright issues
• How the team transform your stock
• Costs
• How AI has helped their business
• Getting a perfect digital match for the physical product
• How they market themselves

LINKS:

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

Red and Grey

Podcast Production by Ginger Wizard Productions