Chris Moffitt, founder of Kithara Guitars in Co Antrim, makes bespoke guitars for global stars like Lewis Capaldi to The Killers

Transcript

00:00So I'm just a one-man team, hand crafting guitars out of a tiny garage in

00:11Ballyclare, reaching some of the world's biggest stages.

00:18So I'm Chris and I am the founder of Gothara Guitars and we manufacture handmade electric

00:24guitars in Northern Ireland. Dad had a traditional sign writing business where he would have worked

00:29with his hands with brushes and I was really inspired by that and how he turned that into a

00:33business. So that inspired me then to look into my love for music and guitar but also my love for

00:38creativity working with your hands woodworking. So obviously guitar making was the perfect kind

00:42of marriage between those two. Each one's unique so that's been a really special experience for

00:46the customers that they're able to work with the maker but also the business owner and really create

00:52their dream guitar tailor to them. So I've been really fortunate to work with some of the biggest

00:56musicians in the world. Over the years Lewis Capaldi has been a frequent customer, The

01:00Killers. So I reached out to Go Succeed. Cathara was at a stage of restructuring and I know how to

01:07build a great guitar and you know I know about my business but I just needed that extra advice and

01:12help you know to kind of put that into a package though that I could know where I wanted to go with

01:17it. Honestly, Go Succeed, I heard people talk about it and I sort of thought oh I'll go here and

01:21I'll you know I'll just I'll get a grant and and I'll be on my way but it was so much more than

01:26that. The advice and the mentorship that I got was just amazing and it really transformed my direction

01:31I'm going. When I reached out to Go Succeed to see what they could help me with, in my head I was

01:37thinking about export and trade and they were able to link me to the right people and being InterTrade

01:43Ireland. So the difference Go Succeed had on the business was immense. So I now have a clear goal of over the

01:51next couple of years where I want to go and how to scale responsibly and organically.