Design teacher quits profession to take on kitchen makeover franchise

“Dream Doors is the best thing I have ever done!”

Design teacher quits profession to take on kitchen makeover franchise

Matt Jones, the new owner of Dream Doors Truro, worked as a design technology teacher for 12 years before taking on a franchise. He’d spent some time searching for a business for sale in the west country, but was struggling to find an opportunity that excited him. Then he stumbled across an existing Dream Doors franchise for sale in Truro and, after researching the kitchen makeover brand in depth, he felt confident the business could meet both his financial and personal goals.

“I wanted to be my own boss and have control over how I work and the money I earn,” Matt says. “Dream Doors ticked all the boxes. I have my freedom now, but what’s also nice is I’m using some of my old skills as a design technology teacher to help customers design their dream kitchens.”

Matt admits that quitting full-time employment was quite a risk. He had a young family to support and would be leaving the security of a regular pay packet. What’s more, jumping head first into a business that was already trading – and in an industry in which he’d had no previous experience – left little room for error. But Matt had seen what other Dream Doors franchisees had achieved and, reassured by the brand’s success and it’s reputation in the franchise industry, he felt the potential rewards far outweighed the risk. Nine months on and those rewards are no longer potential – they’re real. And, as he explains, Matt is more than pleased with his decision to join.

“Dream Doors is the best thing I have ever done!” he says. “Sure it can be hard work sometimes, but it’s definitely worth it for what I get out of it. The training provided was top-notch too; I always knew what I had to do and how to act, but I learnt so much during that period that is bound to help me way into the future.”

Matt’s final words are for anybody else thinking seriously about buying a franchise: “Listen to all the advice you’re given; you don’t know everything and that’s okay. You buy a franchise to learn from other people’s experiences, so just listen to the professionals and embrace change as that’s how you become a success.”

Dream Doors is the UK’s largest kitchen facelift retailer with more than 70 franchised showrooms nationwide. The company is attending the National Franchise Exhibition again this year; the team will be on stand L60 on 30th September and 1st October looking for new franchisees to cover areas throughout the country.

About Dream Doors

Dream Doors is the industry leader in kitchen facelifts with close to 80 franchisees.

The franchise fee is £25,000 + vat with a further £45,000 to £50,000 needed in working capital, for showroom fit out, for a vehicle lease and for other start up costs.

Dream Doors has won the BFA’s Franchisee Recruitment of the Year Award, is a former BFA ‘Brand Builder of the Year’ for 2008, and in 2008 won a Department of Trade and Industry backed National Training Award for the strength of its sales training programme.

The company has been shortlisted for a record 28 Franchise Marketing Awards, winning 8 trophies in total.

The Dream Doors franchise is a management operation that can be operated from a home base for just the first six months while sourcing suitable retail premises.

Franchisees do not need any previous experience of the kitchen industry as full training in sales is provided, and head office help source local kitchen fitting contractors.