Phil Hall opened his kitchen and bathroom showroom in Seaham, just outside Sunderland, in October 2007. He runs the company alongside his business partner Rob, his sister Julia and Rob's apprentice Neil. Hall took time out of his busy schedule to talk to us through a typical day...  

6.30am I've got a brand new alarm clock now in the shape of my nine month old son and he usually wakes me up around 6.30am every morning. My wife tends to my son so I have time to grab a shower and manage to have a slice of toast or some cereal before heading out of the door for work. 

8.30am I leave home for work at about 8.30am and I'm about a 20 minute drive away from the showroom which is situated right on the sea front, on a small promenade of about eight shops. It's a fantastic location because the view of the sea and beach is right outside my front door, and that helps bring in customers. The showroom is surrounded by a Sainsbury's Express, a hair and beauty salon and a couple of restaurants which all help to generate customers. There are also plenty of parking spaces too which has a massive impact on footfall.

9.00am I arrive at the showroom just before 9am and spend some time before opening to make sure everything looks good for our visitors. I check to make sure all of the displays are clean and tidy and change any bulbs that may have blown. My main priority is to check my diary for appointments so that I know how to plan my day. I also catch up with Rob, my business partner, who does all of the installation, to discuss the job we've got planned for that day and to find out how things went the day before. 

9.30am We open at 9.30am until 530pm every Monday to Friday and 9.30am until 3pm every Saturday. It's difficult to give an average footfall figure really because no day is ever the same. We could have a really busy Monday one week but a really quiet one the following, we just take it week by week really.

12pm I don't tend to stop for lunch, I'm always so engrossed in work I end up working through most days. I guess because it's my own business I'm still on a real high every day. When I wake up in the morning it doesn't feel like I'm going to work because I actually really look forward to going to the showroom. I'm prepared to put in a hard days work but at this moment in time it doesn't actually feel too much like work, it's a great feeling running your own business.

2pm Running your own business means there is a lot of paperwork to deal with, particularly invoicing which I guess is the only down side to the business really. Rather than dealing with each invoice as it comes in, I prefer to dedicate a whole afternoon, usually on a Friday, to sort them out.

3pm Something else I make a point of putting time aside for is business planning. I think I've learnt the need for planning ahead from my time at MFI and now as a rule I like to clear my diary for an afternoon every so often to look at the our three month marketing plan. I also welcome visits from reps because it keeps us up to speed with new products and trends but also how the rest of the market is doing.

4pm The rest of the day is generally taken up with showing potential clients around the showroom, appointments with clients in the showroom or at their houses, working on designs and quotes and to be honest it's amazing how quickly 5.30pm comes around. I'm constantly being pro-active around the showroom and am always trying to better the business. I've spent a lot of time recently getting our membership with the iKBBI sorted out and I feel that has already made, a huge difference to our business. I don't think our clients initially choose us because of our
iKBBI membership but it definitely has been a deciding factor for some of our projects once people understand that we are recognised by a regulating body for good workmanship and good practice.

5.30pm Not all customers are available during the working day so although the showroom closes at 5.30pm I've usually got night time appointments scheduled in the diary for at least two or three evenings per week. The design is one of the most important aspects of our business and if it means spending hours perfecting the design and creating our client something spectacular then I am willing to dedicate as much time to this as necessary. I love all aspects of this business but I think the interaction with clients, and seeing a project right through from the initial design to the finished product is really special. Even though I've been doing this for 16 years I still get a massive buzz seeing my design made a reality by Rob and seeing the reaction from our customers.

9pm When I have a free evening I'm usually at home spending time with my wife and son and just trying to relax. I'm also a bit of a sports fanatic so I try and sneak in a game or two of squash every week. At the weekend my wife and I go for long walks and I'm also a season ticket holder at Sunderland, for my sins, so I try and go to as many games as possible during the season. What with a new business and young son I'm usually in bed by 10.30pm on a weekday.