Meet Steve, the owner and operator of Surefit Fitted Furniture. Steve’s a cabinet and furniture maker by trade with more than 33 years’ experience.
He’s been running Surefit since November 2019 – so it’s a relatively new business.
“I decided to go out my own again after a 33-year career in the industry, in order to be a master of my own destiny.”
For the last 33 years, Steve has been in the industry in a mix of employed and self-employed roles, since he was 16.
Steve’s main focus is to ensure he has enough work booked in advance and tries to achieve this by growing a loyal customer base. He does this by creating good quality pieces and keeping his prices competitive.
Although Steve admits that pricing is not an easy thing to get right. “I sometimes worry about whether I’m underpricing my work, and don’t want to become a busy fool, so striking the balance of finding the right work is sometimes challenging.
It’s a delicate balance that’s constantly evolving
“Ultimately, I want to make sure I have enough working capital built up to help finance future jobs and any bills I have to pay.”
But Steve admits it’s not been easy during COVID. As he started his business in November 2019, he wasn’t eligible for any support. He made the decision not to take any work during lockdown, due to the health implications.
Steve from Surefit Fitted Furniture
“I know some people were working and I was offered a few jobs, but it didn’t seem like the right thing to do. Even if I needed to”
Running the business
“I use Mettle for all aspects of running my business finances, whether that’s raising invoices, I normally do this as soon as I’ve finished work, on the go, capturing receipts, paying bills, buying supplies or monitoring what’s coming in and out of the account.”
Biggest challenges
Steve is focused on ensuring he has enough work booked in advance, and tries to overcome this by growing a loyal customer base and using online tools and social media to market himself.
Keeping track of what’s coming in and out of the business is hard when you’re trying to manage it Steve admits. “Since joining Mettle I’ve been able to see what is owed from jobs I’ve done and also what I’ve spent on materials and other things”.
