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

When Joseph Shenton was 18, he was looking to make a bit of money. So he went to an auction to try and flip some stock, any kind of stock. But that's where he discovered the margin that could be made on furniture. From there, he is now the co-owner of two massive stores in the north of England - Joseph James.

In this episode he talks to Ben about:

• How he stumbled across the furniture trade
• Why Facebook marketplace was the starting point
• Covid and how that effected his brand new business
• Tik Tok and Ebay, and how they drive their business
• How they compete with the big companies like DFS
• Expansion and how they plan to grow
• Why importing isn't for them
• The importance of a decent delivery team
• Staff - and getting the right people
• How to make retail parks work
• Avoiding returns
• Breaking into the south and their plans to trade there

LINKS:

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

Joseph James

Grant Berry got into the trade completely by accident after he swapped a bit of carpet with a bloke in Lincoln UK. That was 35 years ago and he hasn't looked back since. It's hard to find anyone in the industry with a genuine passion for furniture and doing deals than Grant.

In this episode Ben finds out about:

• Grant's past life selling carpet
• How the seconds and returns trade started it all for him
• The financial crash and how it stunted his business' growth
• Retail parks and how the costs don't work for him
• Advertising and what works for him
• How business is his hobby - and how he adores it
• His first trips to China and the profit he made
• How he combats people using the store as a testing station
• The key to success is hard work
• Finance and how it works for him
• The Manchester Furniture Show and is it worth it?

LINKS:

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

Home World

Delivery services are becoming more popular in the furniture trade as companies outsource the service.

When Alex Bailo came to the UK from Brazil, he couldn't speak a word of English. Ben talks to Alex about his journey from being a vet, looking for work in Leeds to running one of the biggest delivery firms in the UK.

In this episode we find out about:

• Alex's journey from vet to delivery service
• How the furniture side of his business is growing
• The huge amount of the country they will cover
• How his dedicated team will go to any lengths to deliver their goods
• What they do to integrate with their customers systems
• The huge warehouse they operate from
• Why using a firm like Alex's can save you hassle and cash

LINKS:

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

ASB Delivery

Ben travels to China to talk to Paul Wray. He has been in the trade for almost 30 years, and has spent the last 18 living and trading from China.

He is a former police officer in the UK, went through a divorce after he left the force and he took a job delivering mattresses. From there, Paul has gone on to develop a passion for the furniture trade and run two successful businesses.

He gives Ben insights on;

• Living and working in China
• How world events are influencing shipping
• Dealing with very different cultures in business
• How keeping on top of quality control is crucial
• Keeping two businesses running at the same time
• The impact of high shipping prices on Chinese factories
• Fake fire safety certificates
• How the American trade war has made the UK a better prospect in the Chinese market

LINKS

Trade Only Furniture Group

B Womack Furniture Ltd

Find out more about Paul Wray

Wanting to find out more about the furniture trade in the UK? This podcast is for you. Join Ben Womack each week as he finds out more about the people and personalities behind some of the UK's biggest furniture businesses. Ben founded the Trade Only Furniture Group on Facebook and has many years experience in buying and selling furniture himself.