At 24, I was lucky enough to land a job as a trainee kitchen designer at our local independent builders’ merchant. I’d escaped a big corporate role where I was on a “promising career path” but deeply unhappy. 

The switch was risky. However, kitchen design was a revelation: real customers, real rooms, real impact. I loved the people, the creativity and the fact that, in KBB, you never have the same week twice. 

I spent 10 years with a local builders merchant, moving from store to store. Trades followed me because people tend to buy from people – and I had a few useful traits: slightly OCD about symmetry and detail, naturally positive and outgoing, and a hopeless people pleaser. Naturally, I sold well, I designed well, and I genuinely loved my job. 

In 2007, after a difficult period in my personal life and a year out back-packing like a teenager (at 30!), I came back with one clear idea: I wanted to start my own kitchen business. 

It made sense. I could design, I could sell, and I had loyal clients. What I didn’t realise was that running a business is a completely different language. I had no real business plan, no model and no real marketing strategy.

I had suppliers, an ordering system, product – and that happy-go-lucky, eye for detail, passion and luck. Clients came because they knew me. They turned up when they felt like it. I didn’t really “acquire” them; I just welcomed them when they appeared. 

In my head, being great at design and people was enough. However, my overheads grew, a van initially, then a small office, then staff (as I could not keep up) then a showroom to put the icing on the cake. 

Demanding

I had no processes, no plan, from the outside it looked like a dream. I used to describe it as ‘my baby’ but it was only when I had an actual baby that I realised the business was more demanding than caring for a newborn. 

But everything changed when I met Kevin, a business coach. He started asking questions that, to me, sounded like a foreign language: KPIs, margins, conversion rates. 

I smiled and nodded while quietly thinking, “I just design kitchens…” and “I am doing fine, thank you” (forever being polite).

Then came the question and analogy that changed me and my course of actions: “Where is the business going?”. He used a simple analogy. Imagine your business as a bus, full of staff and clients. If no one is actually steering, the wheel does what it likes. You hit potholes, trees, ditches. You go round in circles. No destination, just motion.

It did make me question myself, as by that time I was now 10 years in and had no real sense of a destination. I had thought that for sometime that I was on a hamster wheel so part of that resonated with me. 

Then he asked me for a £20 note (in those days, before Covid, when we had cash in our wallets or purses!) he handed me back £100, making the point that, if you could consistently turn £20 into £100, you’d do it all day long. That’s what investing in business skills could do. 

So, I signed up for coaching! Kevin, in sales, had done his bit. And that’s when I met Colin. 

KBB S.O.S.

He was direct, and entirely focused on numbers, processes, and abbreviations. I was mildly horrified and put under a lot of pressure to learn another language – AOV, KPI, HPA etc. I actually had little respect at the time as he had no interest in seeing my showroom! How could you help a KBB business without admiring the kitchens? Very easily, as it turns out. 

Colin didn’t want to see my showroom. He wanted to see my data. Every fortnight I had to report on how many leads we had, how many converted, where they came from, how we could get more of the right ones, and then profit and loss  for each job – margin at the start and at the end.

If the end margin was lower, I had to explain why and what process I’d introduce to stop it happening again. At first, I turned up with stacks of paper, job sheets and a calculator, stressed and very defensive. I had little respect and thought he has no idea. I don’t like to be questioned or proved wrong and he did both. 

I used to think he was an ogre putting me through my paces fortnightly, I dreaded our meetings. I had paid good money for this experience and questioned my own sanity, but I don’t shy away from a challenge either so I kept going back for more. 

Over time, something began to shift. I knew my numbers. I recognised patterns. I started putting processes in before he asked. I couldn’t wait for the meetings and I actually started to really like Colin and I now owe him a debt of gratitude. He had done his job! It was emotional when he said ‘You don’t need me anymore’ and I felt a great sense of pride. 

The big realisation was this: Being good at design and people came easy and I was a natural. Running a business is a language and science of its own. 

They are related, but they are not the same. And the “science” – the statistics, systems and structure – deserves just as much respect as the creative side. 

Future investment

That coaching cost me around £2,500 – and it has paid for itself many times over. Research regularly shows that the majority of organisations that invest in coaching recoup their investment and more, thanks to improved performance and decision‑making.  There are lots of key points from that time that I still carry with me today, that are simple but powerful.

I know how important it is to truly know the market – most of your profit comes from a minority of your work.It’s also important to market yourself to your specific client demographic, measure everything, repeat what works and ditch what doesn’t.

You have to count the profit at the end, not just at the quote stage. And when something goes wrong, build a process so it doesn’t happen again.

Understand your SOPs, KPIs and average order values – and use them to steer, not just to report. Then monitor leads and conversion rates and let that steer too. 

Today, I could sit down with a set of figures from almost any KBB business, never step foot in the showroom, and tell you a lot about how healthy it really is. The conversations I have now are as much about statistics and conversions as they are about door styles and worktops – and, unexpectedly, that language is incredibly rewarding. 

In short, talent, an eye for design, and people skills will get you into business – but understanding the science behind the numbers is what keeps you in it.