Toolport has been a family-run business since 1999, providing professional and DIY Air Tools, Automotive Tools, Power Tools, and Hand Tools. We also have a variety of items available for your Home and Garden needs, including Stain Removers, Pans, Bakeware, Tarpaulins, and more.
At Toolport, we strive for the best customer service possible. All orders set by 2 pm are shipped the same day, either through Royal 24 & 48 Mail or a 48-hour courier for larger items. If you'd like to pick up your items in Doncaster, contact us first at 07412 661189 or SALES@TOOLPORT.CO.UK.
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This has been our "about us" page for over 20 years with a few tweaks here and there. Bit of a bog standard google template .
BUT now we are here in 2024 and I feel it needs a upgrade and I think a bit more true to self
Also as you can probably see there was no AI 20 years ago.
So here is my in depth about us page;
I created my business in 1999 selling on ebay under the name "FROM-LOU-TO-YOU"
My partner at the time worked at a tool warehouse and was able to purchase end of line tools etc which I sold , as I was at the time a stay at home mum with another on the way.
Everyday I would prepare the orders , load up my daughter's pushchair and walk to my local post office to send off the parcels. Now this was quite unusual for them at the time and it would take quite a considerable amount of time for them to label the parcels up. Put it this way, if there were any customers waiting I would not dare turn around as I could feel the eyes piercing through my back while they just wanted to quickly cash their giros.
Sadly this ended when the post office decided to close their doors which put me in a bit of a predicament and at that time my partner was still working and I had no transport.
But after a bit of research , I discovered I could have a FREE collection from Royal Mail as I was spending enough annually (I wish I had known earlier but I did gain some lovely friends who worked at the post office so all not lost oh and we had to walk past a park ; I was the best mum haha)
In 2000 I had my second child and even though I was doing Ok with my tiny business it wasn't enough to keep a family of 4 with food and clothing. So I got a second job working nights in a care home (which I loved) and managed to still run my business through the day as bed wasn't an option when you have a 2 year old and a newborn.
I did this for around 7 years all from my garage and never really looked back.
In 2007 I left my job as I was pregnant with my third child and decided to try to push the business so it was enough for a full time job and to not have to go out to work and get childcare
This went smoothly for many years I tried a few different sites - Amazon (still selling on there) Play.com on buy etc but I have to give ebay the credit as we always had a basic income when the other sites did not perform too well
Then when the lockdowns hit I thought it was the end of us I still remember going to bed that night when we were told everything would shut down apart from essentials (supermarkets etc ) thinking I need to find a job and Quick!
When I got up that morning and off i went to my portakabin ( I had advanced from my garage by then ) in my garden thinking what am I going to do
I was knocked sideways as lockdowns didn't affect us in the way thought it would- we could still sell and send out. What I wasn't expecting was the surge of orders
For a good 6 months it was as I would imagine running a mini amazon warehouse it was my dream I love being busy I love the buzz of the rush, but things did slow a little as time went on when lockdowns started easing and shops started to open back up to normal business and sadly our buzz was slowly fading away
It was hard to go back to ordering 10 of something instead of a case of 100 and it took probably about a year to go back to what we were originally and actually felt a bit depressing as it felt like we were so quiet.
The last year has been tough but we are still here doing what we do and yeah I probably will be doing it till I'm not able if the work is still there
The past year I have put more of my love and thought into my website as even though we say "we have our own business" or " I work for myself That's not entirely true when you sell on ebay amazon etc as they hold the baton you have to follow every new regulation, rule ,silly new addition to their site or you are out !
My website is priced without all the extra fees you get charged on the selling sites. I don't have to compete and sell sometimes at a loss just to get on page one on Amazon or pay their extra advertising fees just to be noticed. Which is getting harder and harder.
So if you do buy from us the price is always inline with the market or if we get them on offer so do you!
My last line of our "about us" page is just to let all my customers know their tools etc will be sent with a little bit of love but most importantly a smile because how else do we get through this tough life - a smile costs nothing but can brighten up anyone's day and I have a big cheesy one.
If you have read all this dribble thank you for taking the time and no I still don't use AI but I did use a spellchecker!
Thanks again
Lou