• Price: Generally, a “transformation” will cost up to 70% less than an equivalent new quality kitchen (depending how much of the kitchen needs to be replaced) so there is a real incentive for our customers to simply replace the doors and handles for a fresh new look – particularly if they have perfectly good carcasses and don’t want to change the layout of their kitchen. Even if the customer needs a completely new kitchen or bedroom we can offer a saving of up to 30% because we use our “own brand” doors, thereby saving the expense of the middleman – the branded kitchen supplier.

• Fully Bespoke Service: We offer a huge range of made-to-measure doors in real wood, vinyl, melamine and painted MDF, in a wide range of colours and styles. Unlike some of our competitors, our bespoke service means we really can offer doors in any size (not just a range of standard sizes) for both new kitchens and bedrooms and “transformations”.

• Quality: Using our top quality, replacement doors is equivalent to fitting a designer kitchen of the quality usually only offered by specialist kitchen studios (but without the designer price tag!). We can effectively copy many of the “bespoke” kitchen or bedroom doors of even the most expensive specialist kitchen retailers.

• Convenience: Our customers can have all the benefits of a new kitchen, with new doors and worktops, and even new appliances, without the inconvenience and mess of ripping out their old kitchen. They don’t even have to empty the kitchen cupboards.

• Our local showroom approach: Customers can come in and browse the huge selection of doors and worktop samples in a relaxed, non-pressured environment. A local showroom creates increased customer confidence because the customer knows that the business will still be there in the long term to deal with any problems or queries that may arise. It also lends credibility to the business and customers like to feel that they are dealing with a local “bricks and mortar” business, not just an on-line website or a “man with a van” who often cannot be pinned down when things go wrong.

• Our website: Our professional and heavily promoted website (www.kabt.co.uk) means that customers cannot only find us easily but are impressed when they do.

• The "transformation" process

• New kitchen and bedroom design and planning

• Sales techniques and quoting

• Dealing with customers

• Advertising and marketing

• Fitting (altough you will not be doing the fitting yourself, you will need to know what your fitters should be doing)

• Running your own business

• Legal issues - which affect your business

In addition, we provide separate training (usually on a one-to-one basis) on how to use the various software packages included in the Franchise Package, including the CAD design program.

After the initial training program, further training is tailored to the needs of each franchisee and is carried out either during our visits to you, or at our offices. We provide on-going support to our franchisees through telephone, email, newsletters and site visits.

We also assist our franchisees in identifying suitable showroom premises and in designing the layout of their showroom.

Financial Information

At £18,950 plus VAT, our Franchisee Fee is competitively priced. We are not trying to make a profit from selling you a franchise, but looking to build a long term, profitable partnership for us both.

In addition, you will need some additional funding to allow you to refurbish your showroom (if required) and purchase basic office equipment like a computer, desk, chairs, etc. You will also need some working capital or an overdraft to get you started. We think that new franchisees will need approximately £35-40,000 (including the franchise fee) in order to start up their new business. Part of this funding may be in the form of a bank loan and/or overdraft facilities – it does not all have to be in cash – and we help you with the process of obtaining funding if required.

The Franchise Package

As a Kitchen & Bedroom Transformations franchisee you will have your own exclusive territory and within that area you will have the sole right to advertise and carry on your business without competition from other Kitchen & Bedroom Transformations franchisees.

The Franchise Package includes all the sample and display doors (both kitchen and bedroom) you will need, including those required to fit out the showroom when you take one as well as smaller sample sizes for taking to the customer’s home. Also included is the sign-writing for the shop front and for your company van, a full set of stationery printed with the company logo and in company format and the specialist tools like a router, jig and a mitre saw, which your fitters will need to fit worktops and accessories like cornice and light pelmet.

You will have specialist software to keep your books, access to our bespoke company database to help you track and manage your customer enquiries and even a state of the art CAD package to draw plans for new kitchens and bedrooms.

Of course, there will also be plenty of training as well (see Training and Support section above), Rest assured, we will make sure you know exactly what you should be doing at all stages of your business development and checking that you are keeping on track.

Although you can usually start trading from home, we are committed to building a network of local showrooms and you will therefore need to move into a showroom within 12 months. Not an expensive one, but in a secondary position where customers can visit, there is easy parking and where you can display your products and store goods which are awaiting fitting. Your showroom will bring you increased credibility and therefore an increase in business – not just from customers who respond to your advertising but also those who simply walk in off the street.

Full details of the Franchise Package are included in the Comprehensive Information Pack which we will make available to you when we meet. This will also include some Profit and Loss illustrations which will help you put together your own business plan.

What kind of franchisees are we looking for?

We are looking for independent, self-motivated people who want to be their own boss, but who at the same time would like to be guided by the expertise and experience we have developed in this business, rather than just “going it alone”. We need people with ambition, who want to build a business for the future (perhaps as a legacy they can pass on to the next generation), rather than just earning a living for today. Above all you must be outgoing (and enjoy dealing with the public), positive minded and have a desire to become a successful local businessman/woman and to succeed in your new venture.

High pressure selling skills are not required, nor is this something we teach or encourage. Our business is about providing the customer with the right combination of high quality kitchens or bedrooms and competitive prices which means that, with the right presentation, the products sell themselves and there is no need for pressure selling techniques. However, it is important that you can build a rapport with the customer and that you have the confidence to actively promote the benefits of your products and services over those of your competitors. The customer will only know that yours is the best option if you are prepared to tell them!

You do not need any prior experience of the kitchen or bedroom business as full training will be given, both initially and on an on-going basis. However, some DIY knowledge would be useful as this will help you when dealing with your fitters. You will need to be computer literate as you will be using a computer to produce quotations and correspondence, to access the company’s on-line customer database and to design new kitchens and bedrooms using the CAD design software that we supply as part of the Franchise Package.

Finally, people management and organizations skills will also be important for your new business. See the description of the Franchisee’s Role (below) for more details.

As a franchisee your initial day-to-day activities will include:

• Planning and arranging local advertising for your business in Yellow Pages, local newspapers, etc, using pre-approved template advertisements which we supply

• dealing with customer enquires by telephone, via the website or in person in the showroom (once you have one)

• visiting prospective customers in their homes to discuss their requirements and measure up to provide them with quotations

• preparing written quotations and running the showroom on a day-to-day basis

• appointing kitchen fitters to carry out the fitting work and then supervising the jobs in progress, to ensure they progress smoothly and that the customer is happy.

As your business develops and grows you will employ other members of staff to help you. This is particularly important once you have a showroom as you will need to have someone there whilst you are out seeing customers and you will also want someone to help with the paperwork and the logistics of scheduling orders, fit-outs, etc. By this stage one of your key roles will be managing other employees and project managing the ordering and fitting of customers’ kitchens and bedrooms. Good people management and organizational skills are therefore very important. But don’t worry if you run your own business or had a management role before, because we will give you training in the methods we have used ourselves and what we know works for other franchisees. In addition, we have developed tools to help you, such as our on-line customer database which has been specifically designed to help you keep track of the day-to-day activities such as dealing with customer enquiries and placing your local advertising.

Note: We particularly welcome prospective franchisees whose partners are keen to get involved in the business too. As you can see from the description above, this is more than a “one man” (or woman) franchise and we have found that husband and wife teams have worked very successfully, often with one taking charge of the showroom whilst the other concentrates on the sales side i.e. going out to see customers in their homes.

Territories/Locations

Franchisees are given their own exclusive area to trade in and we have areas available in most regions of the United Kingdom.
Please contact us for more detailed information.

Contact Us

If you would like to be part of this continuing success story, enjoy the rich rewards and satisfaction of being your own boss but be able to benefit from the know-how and expertise of a well established company and be supported at all stages of your business development, then click on the link below to find out more.

or COME AND SEE US AT THE NEXT FRANCHISE EXHIBITION : click here for more details
We are provisional members of the British Franchise Association.