06/04/2026
ESTABLISHED 6/4/1998....28 YEARS IN THE BAG
28 years ago to the day was the first official day of business for Raymond Mackenzie Upholstery. If memory serves me right, week beginning 6th of April 1998 was similar to right now, with cold spring days and flurries of sleet and snow. The country was also beginning to get excited for the upcoming World Cup in France where Scotland would take part in the opening game against Brazil....who would have thought it would take another 28 years for us to reach that tournament again.
I remember those first few months well...the news stories of the time, the songs in the charts, the enthusiasm, the thrill of starting a business and of course the novelty of being my own boss...something which I hope I have never abused or taken for granted.
But, here we are 28 years on, enthusiasm still intact, job satisfaction box ticked, and a love of doing upholstery work which has never diminished. There is no doubt that the 'being my own boss' bit has became measurably more difficult, and a steady flow of work has at times manifested itself into a Tsunami which can completely overwhelm at times.
Would I have it any other way ? The answer is probably not !
Would I change anything ? Again the answer is probably not !
During these 28 years our main priority has been to do the best job that we can. Above all else we like to think that this is one of the reasons that we have always been able to answer the most common question we get asked in a positive manner. 'Are you keeping busy ?' I am pleased to say that without exception, the answer has always been a resounding 'Yes, its very busy thanks'
There are also many factors outwith our control which have meant that demand has increased and our time is under more pressure than ever before. I think there does come a time that despite doing our very best, I have to accept that we are a small business with a limited capacity and that we just cannot keep everyone happy at the same time.
The truth is that being somewhat established by now, we are in a very fortunate position of having work come to us on a regular basis. Whilst this is great for us in terms of job security, it is clearly not so good for our customers who are having to wait patiently on the job list for us to get round to helping them. We are taking steps to improve this, but it takes time, patience and a lot of hard work to improve systems and increase working capacity.
One thing that is clear to me is that as a business owner and upholsterer I need to ensure that I protect my time in the workshop much better to improve productivity. I am in no doubt that for too long I have allowed myself to be dictated to as to what I work on and when I work on it. When doing your best is no longer good enough then things most definitely have to change.
Please dont misunderstand, despite the current challenges, I feel we are in the best position as a business we have been in for a long time. We have been catching up or are in the process of catching up on some long term outstanding jobs. We have made big efforts to make our physical workshop a bit tidier and more efficient. It is small space so it will never be perfect ...but it is better than it has been for many years. We have systems in place as regards accounting, job management and appointment scheduling software... we just have to make sure we use them to their full advantage.
There will be some minor changes to come in the way that we do things, if our business is of interest to you then please keep an eye on our website (particularly the 'latest news' page) as well as our Facebook, Instagram and TikTok which we have been trying to update on a regular basis.
I doubt we will do this for another 28 years but who knows , even Mrs Raymond Mackenzie Upholstery may get me to do some of the jobs she asked for if I 'Protect my time' a bit better !
Thanks for taking the time to read this !
All the Best
Raymond
