Mark Garton – Managing Director
More about Mark Garton; lead designer and Voga Interiors’ Managing Director:
Mark runs the successful Interiors company Voga Interiors Cirencester. But once upon a time he dreamt about being a rock star…
“I loved rock music (I still do), I played lead guitar in various rock bands in my early 20’s, we sent demo tapes to record companies and gigged in and around London, but sadly it wasn’t to be…”
Looking back on his career Mark knows that there were challenges to get where he is today.
“When I was younger I was quite shy and used to nervously talk over people. My boss at the time told me to shut up and listen to the customers! So I did and ever since I’ve realised that you can gain so much from taking a step back and just listening to people, the more you listen the more they will tell you and the more you learn”.
This advice has stood Mark in good stead because listening, learning and asking the right questions is a huge part of being a successful designer and running a business. However Mark does wish that he had set up his business earlier.
“I kept finding reasons not to set up in business. But then my son came along and this gave me the impetus to go for it. It has been a huge risk and a lot of work but I now really wish I had taken the plunge years ago!”
Running a successful business has its every day challenges and Mark still feels ‘wet behind the ears’ but has come to realise that keeping calm and allowing things to evolve helps.
“I used to get stressed and try to force things thinking I needed to advertise everywhere and be top of the Google rankings. But I soon realised that concentrating on doing a good job and ensuring repeat business referrals is infinitely more important and the rest will follow”.
Business admin is not the favourite part of Mark’s working week, paperwork and quoting isn’t as much fun as designing a slick new kitchen. However for Mark the time and effort is worth it for the satisfaction of meeting his client in their newly completed space.
“From the initial design through to the finished article can take many months, when it’s all done and dusted and the client is beaming with joy, it gives me immense pleasure and satisfaction”
On a final note, see how Mark and the wider team at Voga Interiors’ hard work has really paid off.
