Ben Morris-Spicer
He Liked It So Much, He Bought a Franchise!
In the final stages of renovating their home, Ben and his wife decided they wanted a modern, energy-efficient, and stylish window covering. So, they decided that interior shutters were the perfect match for all their requirements.
They met with Gene Astell of Shuttercraft in St Albans, and fell in love with the look and feel of the Shuttercraft products.
Ben had been project managing their property renovation and looking after the family whilst his wife carried on with her career. During this time, him and Gene agreed that if ever he needed any help installing his shutter orders, he would be interested in working for him.
After the pandemic, Gene got in touch and Ben began working with him a few times a week. However, the orders were coming in quickly, so this increased to a full-time job.
Ben loved the entire process – the customer interaction, the installations, and surveying and sales visits and knew from his previous business experience that the Shuttercraft franchise was a robust model with lots of potential.
Ben is now running his own extraordinarily successful Shuttercraft franchise business in Bedford!
He attributes his profound success to three things; the fact that he purchased a business that had been set up to be operationally efficient and sales driven; the support of the Shuttercraft head office; and his broad range of business experience.
Mark Richardson
Why I Bought a Shuttercraft Franchise
For more than 30 years, Mark Richardson had enjoyed a career as a successful salesperson in the motor trade. His positive nature and soft-sell approach saw him bounce back from three redundancies, but at the age of 52, Mark finally decided to do something for himself.
He attended a franchise exhibition where he first came across Shuttercraft. Having recently had shutters fitted in his own home and been very impressed, he was sold on the concept.
“I’d considered another shutter franchise, but what attracted me the most to Shuttercraft was how this had the potential to quickly become a management franchise.”
Mark was determined to build his own business that didn’t rely on storing or wasting stock, that was cash positive and that he could take a back seat in further down the line while enjoying a healthy income, and then possibly sell for a lump sum. Shuttercraft ticked all of the boxes.
Mark is also a self-taught DIYer and has renovated four properties in the past. With his partner being an accountant, he is also confident with the business reporting side of things too.
“Technology is definitely my weakness,” said Mark. “Thankfully there are people on the Shuttercraft team that will help me with that, especially the digital advertising and website.”
Simon Moody
From Teacher to Successful Business Owner
Simon Moody was already at a crossroads in his life when his wife’s love of reality show ‘Made in Chelsea’ suddenly led to him finding the perfect business opportunity in the Shuttercraft franchise.
“My wife was obsessed with the home interiors featured on the show and really wanted to look in to getting shutters,” said Simon.
“I then found someone online, who happened to be the Shuttercraft franchisee in Bristol, and he told me how he’d never been happier. I instantly wanted to know more.”
Four years before this, Simon gave up his 20-year career in teaching, wanting to take control of his own destiny. He took a year out to focus on writing, which included freelancing for the BBC, and then took a job with Sky, while looking for the right opportunity.
A right-brain creative person, Simon was not particularly detail-driven and had limited experience with practical DIY.
Simon said: “I just knew I wanted to get out of being employed and being tied to a desk, but I was terrified of working for myself, had no idea about setting up a business or how to fit shutters! But what appealed to me was the ability to take control of my own destiny and at my own pace in a growing market.”
His business is now giving him the life he wanted: “Building my Shuttercraft business was about being able to control how and when I worked and the ability to get the work/life balance I wanted.” said Simon.
