Erin Woodger’s MAFS thoughts

Industry business coach Erin Woodger joined Joinery Network colleagues at the recent Materials and Finishes Show at the NEC in Birmingham. Below, he gives his post-show thoughts, and what key themes he heard when speaking to visitors to the show.

It was great to see the show back after a three-year hiatus. Although smaller in size, there was a really high quality of exhibitors and delegates that meant the level and depth of conversation was unparalleled.

Throughout our time on the stand, we spoke with mainly small to medium size companies who would be a perfect fit to come on board with the Joinery Network. The main focus of conversation in most cases was around business growth and investment. Business owners were looking for new products, innovations and support to grow their business. This felt hugely positive and was a refreshing change from people needing to look at cutting costs and downsizing.

People were looking at taking steps forward to proactively grow their businesses rather than relying on referrals and what had worked in the past.

This is something I love helping business owners with. I often see people who have grown from a one-man band to having a successful business, the knowledge of which remains firmly in the head of the owner. This means they can often become the ‘bottleneck’ for queries and work slows or halts completely if they take time off.

It’s massively rewarding to help businesses grow in a sustainable way that doesn’t add workload and pressure on the founder. In fact, I often support companies to increase in their resilience and reduce their reliance on a key individual. This is alongside supporting the business owner to grow their own knowledge and begin to systemise and build business processes that they may not have experience in.

Finally, we spoke with a lot of people who were worried about the new PAS 24 regulations coming into force. The Joinery Network was able to clearly demonstrate how the Lignum product range meets the legislation requirements, giving joiners peace of mind.