Colm from Ramboo Tools is based in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. He has a very exciting business selling all types of tools. Ramboo Tools has been trading online from 2007, which is over 8 years. Ramboo Tools a small family business that Colm runs with his sister and small team that comes in and out to help.
Hi everyone, Colm from Ramboo Tools shares her incredible journey on SellingOnlineToday!
Listen online: http://www.sellingonlinetoday.com/podcast-interview/ramboo-tools/
Listen on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/sellingonlinetodays-podcast/id980276311
Some thoughts from the interview
“Initially got into selling online back in 2007/2008. Primarily our business is aimed at wholesale to builder’s merchants, timber yards and tool shops."
“Around 2007/2008 the construction industry in Ireland took a bit of a nose dive and as a result of that we found ourselves moving on to online selling to shore up our existing wholesale business”
“The very first listing we put on line was through eBay. We began with stock that we had quite a large volume of and eventually we moved to a position that we created listings for all our popular lines."
"We did take quite a bit of time and put the effort in to increasing the variety of products we have.”
“We use a third party piece of software that allows use to sync the inventory across all channels.”
“We use a platform called channel grabber. We’ve been using them for 3 or 4 years and find that from the syncing of inventory across channels it is absolutely top class.”
“You do very quickly realise the issues around the practicalities around actually running an ecommerce site across various channels can be quite demanding and require very close attention to be paid to the overselling of stock.”
“Something we would be looking towards would be full synchronisation across all and our physical store.”
“There is a ready-made customer base, it’s almost the default go to for someone that is looking for in particular in our industry looking for hand tools. They go to eBay almost by default.”
“My own personal preference between the two would be eBay. It is much more user friendly, it’s simpler from a selling point of you, it has a much easier to use listing system."
“Amazon is seems to have more intricacies. There are a lot more requirements set out to be a successful seller on amazon. They are much more stringent they require about a product, some of it relevant of it some of it not so much, but you have to put it in there anyway.”
“Going forward, our own website would be where the effort will be concentrated.”
“ Its important people recognise the name, its important people associate a certain type of product or a certain level of service with the brand. The other well-known brand names, it takes it all in our experience. It’s necessary to have the bigger brand names as part of your business as it attracts the customers. Although the margins may not be quite the same you still have to have them.”
“We would use Facebook quite a lot and twitter to an extent. Facebook we have found to be very useful in raising awareness in our brand and product range.”
“We have done a little bit of advertising with Facebook ads and Google ads. It has be very limited in what we have done and it is probably something we would be looking towards expanding on and doing a little bit more on going forward.”
“In any business in any industry, it’s not the product it really is the people.”
“People do business with people and that to me is absolutely key.”
“If there is a problem, lift the phone. If there is a issue, lift the phone. I’m not a fan of hiding behind the emails. It can be easy for a keyboard warrior to make a mountain out of a mole hill very, very quickly. Communication is key.”
“Not everything is going to be done as you would do it, but I think if you accept that it will be done to a high standard, it may not be done the way you would do but as long as the results the same it’s ok.”
“Nike sum it up well, just do it. Try it out.”
“I don’t buy into the thought that you have to spend an absolute fortune of money to have an ecommerce business. The technology that is available today, it can be done with very little money. Try it, baby steps to begin with. If it works, happy days do more of it. If it’s not working tweak it, the smallest change can make a difference.”
Best advice: “Do what you enjoy in business and in life, as I say the accountancy wasn’t for me. My view would be, if you not enjoying something, cut it, get rid of it, move on to something else. As far business goes, don’t do it for the sake of doing it, make sure it works. There is no point of going through the motions and being a busy fool. We are all guilty of it from time to time. It’s important to catch yourself on reasonably early if you find yourself going down that path.”
What do they offer?
Ramboo Tools is a family run business with over 70 years experience and pride themselves on providing customer service that is second to none. They supple plastering, building and tiling tools for 40+ years direct to the trade and wholesale. Ramboo Tools hope to meet all the customers buying needs and are only an email or phone call away should the customer have any questions or requests.
Make sure it’s viable, don’t waste your time, your effort, your money.
Rob from Parade Antiques sells items in the area of collectibles, memorabilia and antiques. Based in Plymouth, the business was established in 1997. Around five years ago, Rob started the Company’s eCommerce business alongside friend and business partner Alex. Parade Antiques trade through their own website and through eBay and are based in an old early 18th century warehouse near the waterís edge of Plymouth.
“You always have to try and achieve a profit on every sale.” Alasdair from Badger Inks
Alasdair has been trading ink cartridges online since 2009 through eCommerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay and through his own website badgerinks.co.uk. He is based in East Sussex with a small team around him. Alasdair has recently started a bricks and mortar business alongside his thriving online business selling brands such as Canon, Epson and Lexmark.
It’s an art form in capturing the customer and keeping them buying from you again and again
With over 15 years in the business Andy has perfected his selling technique on online platforms such as eBay, Amazon and his own website. Printer Basics is located in Cheshire UK and was originally a mail order service but was updated to a eCommerce website as the times changed!
