Running a business is time-consuming. Not only do you have to run your daily business, but you have to think about the online presentation and accessibility of your products and services. 

When it comes to running your business online, you have to think about digital marketing, SEO, responding to customer questions, and oh yeah website updates. It can be a lot. But it doesn’t have to be done alone.

Kevin Carter, owner of United Furniture Services and United Quality Assurance, relies on Zibster. He uses our website platform, suite of online business tools, support team, and Pro Services to help run his business. With our support, he can focus more on his customers and less on his website performance. This is particularly helpful since he has two businesses that require double the attention.

We were fortunate enough to speak with him, to discuss how Zibster helps make running his two businesses easier.

Thank you for speaking with us Kevin. Tell us about your businesses? What are they and what do you offer to your customers?

My businesses are United Furniture Services (UFS) and United Quality Assurance (UQA).  UFS is a service provider for all things furniture industry, including but not limited to:

• Warehousing

• White glove delivery

• In-home warranty claims for retailers

• Repairs (e.g., wood, leather, upholstery)

• Delivery and pick up available if needed

• Auditing/vendor compliance

• Furniture packing/repacking

• Reupholstering

• Outdoor furniture refurbishing (strapping, sling installation, painting/powder coating)

UQA is an online store for furniture and furniture replacement parts for Thomasville Furniture and other manufactures. 

Is it B2B or B2C? Or a little bit of both?

UFS services B2B as a third party logistics (3PL) company providing services to retailers such as housing new sold product for the retail stores, labeling, inventorying, scheduling customer deliveries, opening/inspecting/assembling products, pad wrapping products, and finally delivering the product to the consumer. Using our live tracking system we are able to add pictures/signatures and note any issues. The retailers have real-time status updates of their product and it allows all parties involved to be up to date.

UFS also provides residential and commercial furniture repairs. We make it easy for residential customers to get estimates by having a link on our website to where the customer can add photos and information. 

This allows customers to get a free quote without the hassle of ever having to schedule an appointment or take the damaged furniture to a shop just to get a quote. It also allows customers to upload pictures as they are shopping and have peace of mind before purchasing a damaged piece of furniture that can be fixed and at what cost.

What about UQA?

UQA is more of a B2C. When Thomasville Furniture went out of business, we purchased the remaining parts and some inventory. Being that Thomsville was such a staple in the furniture industry, there was no doubt there would be a need for replacement parts and select groups of furniture that could no longer be obtained by residential customers.

UQA provides a source for the demand. The available furniture and parts can be found on our website and be purchased and shipped anywhere, thanks to our online presence.

I love that you saw a need for customers even with the Thomasville Furniture closure and that you wanted to remain a source for them. 

Your United Furniture Service site gives your customers a focus on results. How do you showcase that online?

The way our site gives customers a focus on results is our before and after pictures for the repair services and also the feedback from customers who have used our service in the past.

The UQA website has an inventory list of products, how does this help your customers?

The list of inventory helps our customers be able to search for the items they are looking for and not have to go through the hassle of calling different companies. This way our customers can easily see if we have what they are in need of or not. 

Also if they don't see it, they can always fill out our forms on our website and we will do our very best to give them different options or try to point them in the right direction.

Why two websites and not just one?

The reason for two is that each business provides different services and there are different overhead costs associated with each business. On our end, it allows us to have a clear picture of how each business is doing independently. 

Also being that UQA sells and ships, there are different taxes associated with that, I myself and our CPA seem to like it separate [he laughs].

I see you have used our SEO GO service, what has that done for your business? Why not do the SEO yourself?

As an entrepreneur, in the beginning, you try to be hands-on with everything. You learn very quickly that in order to grow you need to delegate responsibilities and what services your company needs to outsource. 

In simple terms, it’s not cost-effective for my business to either hire a staff member or spend the money to train someone to do SEO. Zibster and its employees are trained and familiar with what it takes to give a company the best online presence.

We are not familiar with this space nor do not have the time or money to be. So it just makes sense to let the people who are … take that headache away. It’s all about getting rid of the headaches!

What have been some of the challenges you faced online as a business owner?

The main issue our businesses have faced through our online presence is figuring out exactly the right questions to ask for our forms in order to be able to give the customer either an accurate estimate on repairing a piece of furniture or in UQAs case the right questions to be able to locate a particular part or item in a timely manner. 

Another challenge has been keeping up with the demand, you never know when you start an online business exactly the feedback or traffic you will have. We’ve had to learn and delegate new responsibilities to some of our employees to meet the demand.

We are learning every day from our customers’ feedback and are doing the best we can to provide quality service to anyone who visits our website.

How has Zibster helped you?

Zibster has helped our business tremendously. Zibster allows our business to have a presence online and grow our business, daily. It allows owners/small businesses who are not familiar with or do not have a huge budget for a website to be able to showcase their business to the world. Also, it allows you to easily and quickly make a website that stands up to “big-budget” companies. 

The best part is if I have a question or concern I can actually call and get a real person on the phone who can help me out. Call me old school, but when I call a company, I like to talk to an actual person ... not an automated machine.

Would you recommend Zibster to other businesses?

Absolutely!! There is no reason not to use your service. For the price and the service you get with it, it’s a no-brainer. They help you from day one to make sure you put a site out that reflects your business and the services you offer.

Zibster has helped our businesses grow tremendously. I can honestly say that through all of our expenses in both businesses, it is the best investment we’ve ever made.

What’s next for you?

Well, we are consistently working on staying competitive in our industry, always thinking of how we can use our services and expertise in the furniture industry to provide new and affordable services to commercial and residential customers to give them a “one-stop-shop” for all their furniture needs.

Thank you so much for your time.

Kevin and his businesses depend on Zibster’s suite of tools and Pro Services. With our help, his business is growing online. Our in-house Google-certified experts have helped him develop a marketing strategy that is generating leads and customers.  Zibster’s low-cost and effective services make it easy for businesses like Kevin’s to get found online.

Looking to have your online business supported like Kevin’s? Sign up for Zibster and try our SEO GO service to make search engine optimization a breeze. Also, be sure to check out our other services!