Startup interview: Keiran Hewkin, Co-founder, Swyft

RTIH sits down with Keiran Hewkin, Co-founder of Swyft, an online furniture brand that has just turned one, to discuss startup life, Brexit challenges and standing out from the e-commerce crowd.

RTIH: Tell us about Swyft

KH: Now a year old business, Swyft is a fast growth startup looking to change the way furniture works. We deliver great design that arrives in a box and without compromise.

The sofas arrive flat packed meaning that they will fit into any home, through any doorway or up any flight of stairs.

They are guaranteed to fit. We have a remarkable delivery time of just 24 hours, meaning no 13-week wait for your dream sofa..

RTIH: What was the inspiration behind setting the company up?

KH: When we set up Swyft, we wanted to make things better for customers.

In the past, they have had to do all the hard work and battle with tools or allen keys, or struggled to get bulky sofas upstairs or through doors.

Typically, customers have been asked to wait weeks and weeks after paying for their sofas for their delivery to arrive.

Flat packed furniture has always had cheap connotations, nobody would have thought you’d be able to get high quality furniture delivered flat.

We wanted to change all of that, and to offer our customer beautifully designed sofas with a 15-year guarantee, that arrive in a box at speed.

RTIH: What has been the industry reaction thus far?

KH: So far, the customer reaction has been incredibly positive.

We have had to raise our production rates multiple times in our first 12 months to keep up with the demand, which has been incredibly fortunate and shows that there’s been a real gap in the market.

We get amazing comments on social media and in customer reviews, and we’ve had a fantastic reception from the press thus far. As an aside, we believe deeply in our products and think that it is the next big thing for the industry.

More and more sofa in a box products are appearing on the market, including from DFS who launched a sofa in a box product at the end of last year.

RTIH: What has been your biggest challenge/setback?

KH: We design, manufacture and sell all our own products. We run a vertically integrated manufacturing and direct to consumer business, which doesn’t come without its challenges.

Our fast growth, which coincided with navigating Covid and Brexit has made it even more difficult.

So much of our supply chain is global, and so during the pandemic we struggled since for components and then we had various lockdowns and shutdowns, followed by an almighty boom in demand.

Since Brexit, exporting has been a challenge and it has basically doubled our lead times at best. To overcome this we have increased our inventory cover, contracted a customs clearance specialist and added the lead time to our process.

On top of that it has added 30% of cost on to our cash flow as we pay tax in Europe on the raw materials.

RTIH: What are the biggest challenges facing the e-commerce sector right now?

KH: Differentiating yourself from the crowd, and standing out.

There are so many choices for customers these days due to the boom in e-commerce businesses launching, or offline businesses pivoting to online.

Creating an authentic, interesting brand that stands for something is so important. Fundamentally, if you have good products, they will do all the talking.

RTIH: What's the best question about your company or the market asked of you recently by a.) an investor and b.) a customer?

KH: An investor - How is Swyft still managing to do next day delivery with the Brexit challenges?

To overcome the delays caused by Brexit, we’ve increased our inventory cover, contracted a customs clearance specialist and included the extra lead times in our process.

A customer - Who designed your clever Swyft Loks and what inspired them?

Our Swyft Loks were designed in house. Design Director, John O’Leary, credits Victorinox swiss army knives as a key part of his inspiration.