Covid Made This Former Finance Exec Rethink His Career Options

(Boston, Massachusetts)-In a way, Bill Crouch took all the aspects of what he loved about his former career and scaled it down to snow-globe size. And he couldn’t be happier. The Marblehead resident is a new franchise owner, having launched operations in August with Floor Coverings International, the brand that’s consistently ranked No. 1 in the mobile flooring category, visiting customers’ homes in a Mobile Flooring Showroom stocked with thousands of flooring samples from top manufacturers. Floor Coverings International of North Boston serves customers in Marblehead, Swampscott, Salem, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly, Reading, North Reading, Lynnfield, Middleton, and Manchester-By-The-Sea.

Crouch spent 25 years in the finance industry, traversing the country almost every week, meeting with clients to understand their needs and wants in addressing their financial goals. Crouch loved the freedom and sense of fulfillment he got from his career until it all came to a screeching halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The first few months of COVID I felt like I was in prison,” Crouch said. “The lack of travel and meeting with client in person was so different that I felt like I was going crazy.”

Despite having his world turned upside down, it also gave Crouch a new perspective. His restricted travel schedule made him realize how much he appreciated having more time with family and friends, as well as the opportunity to be more engaged in his community and everything it offered.

That’s why Floor Coverings International proved the perfect fit for Crouch. Instead of having to travel across the country, he can do everything he loved in his old career within the beautiful communities of North Boston. And not only that, he’s also running the whole show himself as a small-business owner.

“My former career was very satisfying, but I know all my experiences are applicable to the flooring business,” Crouch said. “And coming from the corporate world and being a W-2 employee my entire career, I had always envied my hard-working friends who worked for themselves and the independence they had in many ways that I could only imagine. Now, I’m in their shoes.”

In Floor Coverings International, Crouch found a company that has tripled in size since 2005 by putting a laser focus on consumer buying habits and expressed desires, its impressive operating model, growth ability, marketing, advertising, and merchandising. Floor Coverings International further separates itself from the competition through its customer experience, made up of several simple and integrated steps that exceed customers’ expectations. For this, Floor Coverings International was given the Innovation Award for Customer Response from Franchise Update Media in 2020, and the same award again in 2021 for Best Use of Technology. Franchise Update is the benchmark publication and conference entity that is the Gold Standard of Franchising.

With the home improvement industry booming, the flooring market is also keeping pace. The global flooring market was estimated to reach $409 billion in 2021, according to Grand View Research. The market is expected to grow at an annual rate of more than six percent through 2028, reaching overall sales of $621 billion.

“Everyone needs a floor, that’s a fact,” Crouch said. “But the current and emerging generations of homeowners seem more interested in using their free time for causes they care about and travel and leisure. They seem less inclined to want to learn how to install flooring and are willing to hire professionals they trust for such purposes.”

For information, visit https://Northbos.floorcoveringsinternational.com/ or call 978-414-3111.