SHOPFLOOR ANALYSIS | Mission creep
MISSION CREEP:
Where should you draw the line on projects?
With a tightening market, are you feeling pushed into taking on projects that are outside of your comfort zone? Or do you find that offering a full-service home improvement package brings its benefits? Toby Griffin investigates
A
lthough a phrase originally coined in reference to US and UN military involvement in other countries, the
term mission creep is now more generally used as a catch-all phrase to refer to any plan that starts with a specific intention or goal but then, through circumstances and demand, mean that it is drawn away (often unwittingly) from that into something different. So, what has this got to do with the KBB industry? As we all know, our sector very much sits in a grey area between a number of high-profile industries: construction, interior design, architecture, plumbing, heating, and joinery to name but a few. Despite the majority of businesses in the sector specialising in the sale and design of kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms, we are often pressured by clients – and our own business ambitions – to take on other associated elements of a project, elements that can take up valuable time and energy to deliver, and, often make less or no profit.
For clarity on how the potential for mission creep
affects independent KBB retailers, I posted a poll on LinkedIn,
asking those who offer an installation
service, “how much building work will you take on as part of a kitchen, bedroom or bathroom project?”. The results were surprisingly even, with 21% saying that they only install the products they sell, 24% saying they would install or remove stud-walls and doors, 33% saying they would also remove supporting walls and install RSJs, and the final 21% saying they would go as far as building extensions for their clients.
Jack-of-all-trades Olympus Bathrooms is one such showroom that has developed into a company that frequently goes beyond the KBB retailer brief. Director Roxanne Baker explains: “It’s quite rare for us to do a straight- forward bathroom nowadays. The clients that we currently service want the ‘above and beyond’ and I think we’re capable of offering that. Our work is still predominantly made up of bathroom projects, but I’d say about 40% of it currently makes up other rooms such as utility, cupboard,
wardrobes and room
upgrades. Recently we built an airing cupboard where there wasn’t one, merged rooms into one, converted spaces where there
bathroom side, we include lights and decoration on projects,” he says. “With around 20% of projects including elements of building work.”
On the kitchen side, Burton goes on to explain that 90% of his kitchen sales are dry fit only due to the fact that the huge majority of their designs are for planned extensions – most of which already have enlisted the work of builders. In contrast, Steve Root, partner at Roots KBB, explains: “It’s very unusual for us just to do a dry fit – we probably only do one two or three times a year, and that is normally because the other trades are already on site.
“If a client asks for something new and unusual, we will take the time to learn about the product and then add it to our knowledge base going forward. “We do the full service,” he says, “Including decorating and windows etc, as it’s the only surefire way to compete these days.”
It’s rare for us to do a straightforward bathroom nowadays. Our clients want the ‘above and beyond’ service and we’re capable of offering that
Roxanne Baker, director, Olympus Bathrooms
hasn’t been a bathroom and created new drainage where there hasn’t been any before. We’ve also done a few utility rooms, heating jobs and we’re also in the process of doing our first kitchen project. We handle the decoration and lighting for all bathrooms and the doors for most.”
In fact, offering a “turnkey” service is something Chris Burton, MD of The Brighton Kitchen and Bathroom Company, takes great pride in. “On the
Concerning pricing for additional elements, Root explains, that – for decoration, as an example, “we price on a day rate. We know that an average-sized room will take us around two days, and we just add on a little extra for paint and other materials”. So how would these busi- nesses be affected if they weren’t happy to venture outside of the specific
kitchen, bedroom or bathroom remit? “There isn’t really anything that we say ‘no’ to,
which makes our service more premium and sets us apart from competitors,” says Olympus’s Baker. “If we didn’t offer these services, we wouldn’t attract the type of client that we work with now.”
But many retailers have clearly drawn lines that
they are not willing to cross, often learned through bitter experience.
26
• December 2023
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