Bizstartup.ie - NewsTeamwoodcraft finds a market niche

Explaining the reasons for starting the company, Aisling Hurley says: “Liam is technically brilliant and we could see there was a huge gap for cabinetry that was both beautiful and functional, but at an affordable price delivered in a professional manner.”

The company’s success to date in bridging that gap can be measured by the fact that staff numbers have increased from three to 27 in the past 15 years and that its workshop has been expanded four times to a present floor space of 10,000 sq ft.

According to Hurley, developing strong customer relationships has been central to the company’s strategy and ethos from the outset.

“Teamwoodcraft is hugely concentrated on our client base, as it is a very consultative business,” she says. “They are our number one priority and we usually exceed expectations, thus relying heavily on client satisfaction and client referral.”

As regards its approach to marketing, Hurley maintains the company has always understood the importance of reaching its target market. “We made a conscious decision early on to concentrate on each client and their project. As I had no marketing budget, we took the decision to grow the business initially by word of mouth.  This is very slow but we now have a 90pc word-of-mouth referral rate and this leads to 50pc recurring business yearly.”

While this has been an effective strategy, Hurley says she had to get more inventive in order to grow the business further.

“I decided to start entering award schemes and actually winning them,” she says.  “Since 2004 we have won an award every year. This generates lots of media coverage and interest, leading eventually to increased awareness of the brand.” In 2009, being shortlisted in both the All Ireland Marketing Awards and the Small Firms Association’s (SFA) National Small Business Awards generated huge publicity, which was all free of charge to Teamwoodcraft. 

Because it can be difficult to measure the effectiveness of advertising and PR campaigns, Hurley says she strives to be as inventive as possible and to get involved with initiatives that don’t have a financial cost.  “I have done a lot of volunteering, including becoming Network Laois president, and being on various boards of management including the Chamber board,” she says.  “This always generates interest.”

In fact, through her involvement in Network Laois, she was approached by RTÉ to take part in the ‘Not Enough Hours’ television programme. 

“This was a huge gamble on my part as I was really putting every grain of my life under the microscope, but that week our website had 25,000 hits,” says Hurley.  “It was the most-watched episode of the programme which was gratifying as it got our name out there.”

Hurley says it’s vital to stay focused on reaching the target market, particularly in the current economic environment.  “You need someone creative in your business who thinks outside the box and can generate the interest.  And that person needs to be able to do it in a cost effective way. Entering the SFA got me a slot on the ‘Down to Business’ radio programme; being involved on the Chamber board means that business radio shows ring me for interviews; and networking led to RTÉ putting me on ‘Not Enough Hours’. 

The company’s website is used as a reference tool for existing and new clients and has the primary function of showing the quality of Teamwoodcraft’s work. “We keep it up-to-date and it changes every week or two with new projects or news snippets. This keeps it interesting.  As far as I am concerned if you don’t have a website that regularly changes you are not really serious about your business.”

Word of mouth has been hugely important to the company since the beginning and, according to Hurley, has resulted in near perfect marketing.

“When you are starting out, you know you can deliver but you have to prove it.  I always take the attitude - as the entire team does now - that you are only as good as your last job.  When people invest in our products they spend a lot of time consulting us.  We listen very carefully to their needs and meet them accordingly. We always exceed client expectations and this attention to detail fires the word of mouth aspect.  This is central to our ethos and is what has given the company a very solid ground base which has helped us to ride the recession wave. 

“The word of mouth has spread to magazine articles which were done with other people who speak of our work. People have blogged about us and with the speed of IT and ease of access to it now the word is spreading.  I think a lot of companies underestimate the power of word of mouth.”

Aisling Hurley’s advice to start-ups on effective marketing 

1. Identify your ideal client and then identify what they read, what they watch and who they listen to
2. Don’t advertise unless you know you can deliver on what you are saying
3. Referrals are king
4. Keep all marketing material fresh
5. Network, network, network with as many people as you can
6. Twitter is a great place to launch new products and ideas or special offers
7. Identify your USP before you start advertising. This is painful, but once you have done it, it’s done forever
8. Newsletter emails are a good way of getting your message out there
9. If you can, run competitions with your service or product as the prize
10. Sponsor charity events or awards that tie in with your company ethos.

What we ask everyone:

If you had one piece of general advice for someone starting a business, what would it be?

Believe in yourself and help others because you get back what you give out tenfold.

In your view, what book should someone read when starting a business?

The Ultimate Business Resource by A & C Black is a great reference tool in difficult times.

What software would you recommend to a new business owner?

Software is very personal and depends on your business, the size of it, whether it’s graphical or not.  I think generally the most important piece of software you are ever going to need is a good antivirus kit!

In your view, what is the most useful website for new businesses?

Why Bizstartup.ie of course!