Chris Maffey – Turning Passion Into A Successful Cabinet Making Business

This is the eighth Case Study in our series of Entrepreneurs from within Saddlers’ Company.

Chris set up C M Bespoke Designs during the Covid Pandemic, after several years gaining experience whilst working in the industry.

Chris left school with little idea as to what he was going to do. Seizing an opportunity to work on the set of ‘The Hobbit’ building and working on sets in New Zealand, he discovered he loved cabinet making and joinery. Upon returning to the UK, Chris completed a degree apprenticeship with Rycotewood Furniture Centre in Oxford. He went on to make and install furniture for high-end retail brands across Europe on behalf of Tony G Ltd, while producing tailor made commission pieces for individual clients.

After several years working for other people he realised that his passion for cabinet making and joinery was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Covid caused work to slow down as it was no longer possible to undertake cabinet making on location for businesses. The work changed to pieces having to be shipped to businesses. This was the catalyst for Chris to make the leap to set up on his own.

Also, by this stage, he was already making products for friends and family. Building from this base, his passion and experience, C M Bespoke Designs was born.

Chris’s wife was behind his decision, and as the business grew she left her previous job and now works with Chris. As they live on a farm he had the opportunity to convert the barns into a workshop for his joinery and creating high end furniture. It involved making a capital injection into the business. Chris was able to do this by benefitting from a bounce-back loan from the government during Covid. The timing of the loan was crucial to the development of the business. Chris has witnessed that it is difficult to make the necessary margins unless you have a workshop. Key elements to his organic business growth have been having the workshop alongside both a good client base and wide-ranging contacts. By working alongside landscaping, construction and interior design experts he has been able to provide unique creative solutions for his clients.

Chris is based in Warwickshire; however his works spans across many counties and even to France.

Challenges

At the beginning of C M Bespoke Designs, Chris had only a small range to show to people. He took the view that he would undertake several jobs charging a lower price in order to grow his portfolio. This helped him to build experience and develop his offer. This paid off, as Chris has now reached the stage where he has a mature portfolio and is able to charge the correct value for each job.

Being self-employed brought several challenges, including learning how to best manage clients’ demands, whilst continuing to develop his craft skills. Over time, he has learnt to improve communications with clients, which in turn has created a more seamless approach and also helped him manage the emotions and stress of dealing with clients. As a consequence, Chris sought business advice and mentoring, both of which played a fundamental role in developing the business.

At the beginning of building his business some of the projects they worked on were too large to manage for the size of the business. He had a few difficulties managing time frames, while also chasing new projects, and quoting on jobs. There were times where he ‘lost the love’ for both joinery and cabinetry when working all hours with two young children under three. Chris found that by continuing to develop the business and sticking with his passion, he has learnt to better manage these situations. He firmly believes that if he had not gone through these difficult times he would not be where he is now.

Tips for potential entrepreneurs are:

Chris has found that his clients like the personal contact of working directly with him.
Having a passion for what you do carries you through harder times. You are driven to make it work.
Chris wants to make people happy and gets a lot of satisfaction from seeing the customer also satisfied.
Use experience to streamline what works and what doesn’t; continuously strive to improve processes and the efficiency of the business.
Developing a pricing structure has made a huge difference to the business. Chris does the initial concept free of charge. If the client likes this and wants further drawings, then there is a cost. But this cost is then deducted off the final bill if they decide to go ahead.
Developing contacts and knowing his marketplace has allowed Chris to work closely with architects and landscape designers. He has built his client base through word-of-mouth, which is now his main source of business.

Being a member of Saddlers’ Company has been beneficial as it has provided another platform to talk about C M Bespoke Designs. Chris has received a great response and helpful advice from other Saddlers.

He would say his USP is developing a wide product range, providing high-level skills and adaptability to customer needs.

Website – https://www.cmbespokedesign.co.uk