Quantity Surveying student develops luxury custom furniture business alongside studies

A GCU student is developing his own custom furniture business, after making the decision to return to university and complete his studies in Scotland.

Quantity Surveying student Roberto Oddo decided to complete another degree, after making the move from Sardinia in Italy to Scotland in 2017.

Alongside his studies at GCU, Roberto has been developing his own custom furniture business ‘OddoSway’, which includes plans to produce one-of-a-kind pieces made in a collaborative effort using artists, designers and carpenters.

Roberto speaks of his journey to Scotland, his passion for furniture design and how the pandemic allowed him to develop a business idea which began as a small hobby:

Roberto’s journey to GCU

“It’s been a long journey! I moved to Scotland in 2017 to learn English, initially moving to Edinburgh. After doing some casual jobs for a while, I decided that I wanted to return to construction since I was a quantity surveyor in Italy. The qualification I got from Italy isn’t exactly the same as ones that you would get here, so I decided to go back to university and start from scratch.

In Sardinia, it is very hard to find a job in construction. You’ll mainly find jobs in hospitality, etc.

When I finished my course in Quantity Surveying in Sardinia, I re-located to Milan and worked for an interior contractor in a carpentry shop. It was a small company, but we were dealing with international clients because we did exhibitions all over Italy. We had clients from places like Dubai, London, etc. My role involved working in an office and coming up with quotations for clients and I also supervised the workers who created the furniture.”

Discovering his passion for furniture design

“When I started working for the shop, I was involved with many projects and it helped me decide to start coming up with my own furniture designs. I didn’t want to just come up with quotations, but actually create furniture. I realised in my job that most clients pretty much wanted the same thing, so from that point I started creating ideas for furniture relating to what they were asking for. In my spare time, I was always drawing and sketching ideas. After a while, I had created enough ideas that I thought to myself ‘These might actually be good’.

I returned to Sardinia and decided to actually create these pieces of furniture that I had designed. At the beginning, I started with three pieces of furniture and then created around 20 prototype pieces. This was a side hobby, so I had to do it during weekends. I decided to make it into a brand and I flew to Lugano in Switzerland to speak to someone that I had met in Italy. His name is Giorgio Ronchi, who is known for being the founder of the technology company Memorex. It was a really great experience getting to meet with him. We actually met by chance when we met in Sardinia, and now we like to keep in touch. In Switzerland, I pitched my idea and my prototypes to him in his office. His office was amazing, like nothing you could ever imagine! Unfortunately, he couldn’t help me with my business idea because his background was more in technology and finance. However, he did offer me the opportunity to go to California to speak to a friend of his. He asked me if I spoke English, which at the time I did not. I knew that this was a really important opportunity to launch my project.

After a few changes in my personal life and the lost opportunity to go to the US, I decided to go and learn English anyway. By chance, I decided to move to Edinburgh in 2017. I worked in restaurants and hotels, but once a week I would work on my furniture designs and learn other skills.

During the pandemic, I was put onto the furlough scheme so it gave me the chance to work full time on my business. I decided to re-brand the business from ‘Unique Design’ to ‘OddoSway’. Furlough was a long experience, so I spent six months doing an online course about marketing so I at least had some knowledge of it. I wanted to keep busy and make good use of my time. I also decided to separate my protoype ideas into different lines for different markets. In total, I have four lines and 90 different products. For example, one product may have multiple design options.”

Developing ‘OddoSway’ alongside his studies

“It’s a project that I’m going to continue to shape. The goal is for it to be profitable one day. I don’t know when, but it’s something I’ll keep working on even after I finish university. I know it’ll be difficult, but in the next three and a half years I am hoping to host some exhibitions in Milan, which is one of the best locations in the world for furniture.

I want to try and make 25/30 products which I can showcase at these different exhibitions and try to find some clients there. Let’s see what happens.”

Collaborating with the talent of Italy

“Along the way, I may need to make some changes in terms of the operational side to the business. It’s difficult doing it all as one person; you need someone who understands the specifications of the product, the construction, the paintwork, the designs, etc. I need to be responsible for the manufacturing and the sales, so it’s a lot for one person. I’m currently doing all of these things, as well as create content for our social media pages.

Another important factor that is important to me is ensuring that we are using environmentally sustainable materials. The idea is to at one point have a studio somewhere in the North of Italy. Here, I could invite local tailors, artists, designers to help collaborate on the products. I want to focus on being based in Italy because we have a strong background as producers of furniture. I want to combine modern skills with traditional skills, so using the talents of Italian creators is something that I really want to consider in the future.

The pieces I am hoping to create won’t be the kind of furniture you can get in any store. The idea I have is to create custom, one of a kind pieces of furniture, which may take months to make using the help of different craftsmen and artists. These will be long lasting pieces that will last for many years. It’s also a good way for artists to receive regular work, since it can often be difficult for artists to find work for a returning client. This idea would allow them to work with a brand where their work would be required for different orders, and then seen by more clients at our exhibitions. It would be a great opportunity. There’s a lot that needs to be done until then, but that’s my goal.”

Find out more about Roberto’s business idea by checking out the OddoSway website

By Rachael McAlonan

Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media here