Garage and Roller Door Services
Garage and Roller Door Services launched in 2020 following a leap of faith by owners Luke and Sara Williams.
Luke, a boilermaker by trade, had also pursued a 10-year career as an aerospace tradesman. Luke was earning well, but was not happy. He knew the job was not where he wanted to be for the rest of his life: not only was it not family friendly, but he also just wasn’t enjoying heading off to work each day.
Fortunately for Luke, a friend from his apprenticeship days was doing garage doors and offered to show him the ropes, so Luke shadowed him and built his business up over a 12-month period, putting in hours after work and on weekends to get a steady handle on it all.
Then in 2020, just before their third child was born, Luke and Sara took a leap of faith, with Luke putting his hand up for a voluntary redundancy and together they launched Garage and Roller Door Services.
Their saying is “Luke’s the Hammer and Sara's the pen”.
You'll see Luke out doing all the installs, while Sara oversees the business. You might have even met Sara at a business building session or networking events. Sara also looks after all the socials, and the business has just reached 1000+ followers on Facebook. 2024’s target is to reach the same on Instagram.
A key success for Luke and Sara is knowing their business well, and as such they only deal in residential garage doors, specialising in the repair, motorisation, installation and general enhancement, with wi-fi add-ons, brush seals, and insulation of your doors too.
They have also recently become authorised Ziptrak blind resellers through Bartlett Blinds, and have access to their full range of products.
There have been learning curves along the way: there was an injury or two (Luke clocked himself in the nose while installing a motor once), addresses were recorded incorrectly (Luke rocked up to the wrong house), a door was measured and ordered incorrectly (that was an expensive mistake!).
But they have learned a lot. Safety is paramount, addresses are double checked, and they definitely apply the tradie saying 'measure twice, cut once' to any quotes now!
Sara says there have been other challenges too, including Luke’s health. With four surgeries in two years, building momentum with the business has been up and down at times.
“But we both know that they are so incredibly fortunate that Luke does work for himself,” Sara says.
“What other boss would allow so much time off?”
Sara says this flexibility also has benefits for their family life.
“Having young children attending primary school means that someone is always available for school pick up and drop off.
“And the fact we get to work our schedules out to be there for milestones such as student of the week or Easter hat parades or other special mornings make doing this job more than worth it!”
Along the way, the couple have made some great friendships with other business owners.
“It has been fantastic to be able to talk shop with people in the know,” Sara says.
“People who have been there and done that and learnt the things to do and not to do.
“We also work with some really great Real Estate Agents in the area and appreciate the fact they recommend on to others as well. Supporting small businesses is really important, and they love collaborating with other like-minded people.”
There is more to come for Garage and Roller Door Services, including a service scheduling system where they will send customers annual reminders of when they need to get their door serviced to keep it running in tip-top condition.
So, if you have a noisy or unsightly door and are wanting to 'up your street appeal', hit up Luke and Sara at Garage and Roller Door Services, for all your residential garage door needs!
Get in touch (and check out Sara’s social skills) on Facebook, Instagram, at their website or call 0438 281 541.