After buying our home, furniture was our next most carefully considered purchase. The pieces of furniture you select for your home are generally a big financial investment, and something you have to live with everyday…no pressure! This week we caught up with Anesley Clarke, Business Owner & Director of B2C Furniture, and discovered how he makes the experience of purchasing furniture special.
1. Tell us a bit about your business and how you got to where you are now?
Furnishing your home should give you warm and fuzzy feelings, not leave you frazzled and fed up! But unless you’re a carpenter with an eye for detail and design, you’re in real danger of getting lost in the abyss of ambiguous information like a coin that’s fallen out of your pocket and slipped beneath the cushions of your couch.
Furniture should be functional and hard-wearing, without lacking in style of course! You’ll generally have to pay a pretty penny for the pleasure of taking home all three.
By sourcing direct from the manufacturer, taking out the middle man and selling online, B2C furniture can offer a range of exceptional quality pieces crafted from solid timber, at prices usually associated with furniture that is vastly inferior in quality and design.
B2C Furniture set out to build a furniture range with sustainable hardwood timber being the focal point of each design as opposed to most of our competitors who manufacture from cheap chipboard which ends up in landfills and pollutes our precious planet.
B2C Furniture has range that has a five-pronged focus – bedroom furniture, kids beds, dining sets, living room furniture and furniture packages.
2. What do you love most about your business – how is it unique?
We are a genuine 100% Australian owned “Business – 2 – Consumer” (B2C) company. Cutting out the middle man allows us to offer exceptionally crafted designs at half the price of our competitors so our customers benefit from the significant savings.
Our website is our shop window. The emphasis on quality is evident at the click of a mouse.
There are a number of key features that differentiate our online offering, including;
– Intuitive, fast, and easy to navigate website
– Lifestyle pictures of our entire product range with in-depth descriptions
– The ability to deliver Australia-wide
– After browsing the range online, local customers can visit our showroom in Dandenong, Melbourne to see for themselves what exceptional value for money they’re getting.
– We openly inform our customers to visit our competitors, see what they’re offering, compare the price. Invariably when we do that they come back to us. We get so many repeat sales, because we’re creating a level of confidence in our brand. We have a conversion rate of more than 90 percent for customers who come into our showroom after viewing our range online.
However, the single most important aspect which differentiates us from our competitors is our customer support.
In a competitive industry where most competitor transactions are emotionless, B2C pride ourselves on an endearing after-sales service that inspires strong feedback.
We have an in-house team that personally follow up with our customers once they have had a chance to enjoy their pieces in their homes and check in on how things are going. ‘did you receive the furniture, are you happy with it, do you have any issues or feedback?’
Product reviews are especially important for us, and we average 4.9 out of five stars. We were awarded “The Best National Furniture Store for 2020” by product review.
Furniture is one of the biggest commodities globally and by cutting out the middleman and offering stunning furniture constructed with solid hardwood timber direct, we believe we are offering pieces with substance and style at a price point they would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.
3. What’s your life mantra?
My life mantra is “when the student is ready, the master will arrive”. In my experience I’ve discovered the importance of having the courage to follow your passion even though you don’t have the knowledge at the beginning of your journey to achieve it.
I’ve recognized that inexplicably you will meet the people who will educate you on how to take the next steps if you have the courage, belief and tenacity to stay the course.
4. What else would you be doing if you didn’t do what you do?
I’ve always been an entrepreneur since I graduated from RMIT as an Aerospace Engineer. So if I weren’t involved in running a business I would be designing rockets to explore the universe 😊
5. What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?
The most precious gift I’ve ever been blessed with is my 6 old daughter. When she was born, I suddenly saw the world in a new light; the awe-inspiring feeling of pure love, the enormous gratitude of being blessed with a life so precious.
6. What’s the best gift you’ve ever bought someone?
My mother is a widower who is 86 years young. She is battling the onset of dementia which is a terrible illness. Two years ago during the onset of this disease I took her on a trip to Europe.
I’ve always been busy with various business ventures ever since I left university. So, I never truly had the opportunity to sit one-on-one with my mother and just talk as adults.
But spending three weeks with her visiting historic cities of Europe and taking the time to have a coffee with her in some enchanting little cafes was amazing… To listen to her stories, to understand her joy, sadness, and wisdom was an enriching experience for both of us. One that will live in my heart forever…
Anesley Clarke is the Business Owner & Director of B2C Furniture. Furniture should not cost you the earth…nor should it cost the earth its survival.
Want more inspiration like this? Subscribe to our newsletter here…
