Shuttercraft franchisee provides insight into business

Shuttercraft’s Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire franchisee has revealed details about his life as an investor in the window coverings industry.

In an interview for The Business Owner Magazine, Matt Blewett, who covers the management franchise’s Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire territories, described how his career began with a carpentry and joinery qualification.

In the early 1990s, he moved into the blinds sector, working as an installation professional in South Wales and the South West. Later on, he became a regional sales manager, helping to turn over £2.3 million in the South Wales area, and then a senior sales designer, before becoming self-employed.

Keen to be his own boss, Matt approached shutter supplier S:CRAFT and became a trade partner in Gloucestershire, before seizing the opportunity to buy a franchise unit. For the past nine years, he has built a business with four employees, and expanded into Oxfordshire with a second unit, turning over £500,000.

Matt said,

“My favourite part of my day is meeting new customers and making their homes look amazing with newly fitted stylish shutters. Their reaction on seeing the shutters fitted on their windows speaks volumes.”

Now, Matt is optimistic about 2021. According to the hard-working franchisee, the shutter sector is flourishing and his unit should expand by 10 percent this year, an achievable goal following its 34 percent growth last year.

He even gave some advice to other young aspiring entrepreneurs:

“Believe in yourself. You can achieve anything you put your mind to by working hard. Set yourself realistic goals that are achievable. I was told by a very wise old man - my father! “The world is your oyster”, you do anything you want, as long as you work hard and set yourself achievable targets.”

He added,

“Never make promises you cannot keep to a customer; be honest, be yourself always, no matter what you are trying to achieve. Most of all, sell! Sell!”