How LITH-TECH has survived Covid 19 and how we will survive anything else the world has to throw at us

By Published On: 12 June 2020

LITH-TECH Mobility was born exactly 3 years ago. It stemmed from myself (Toby the CEO) becoming increasingly unhappy with the industry my last business was in and just knowing I needed a change as I didn’t feel good about it anymore. So almost intstantly I decided to start cashing out of my current venture and instead look ahead to the future (which would eventually turn out to be Lith-Tech Mobility)

Ive always been a very creative and driven person and even from a very young age have always had my own ideas and later on in life would go on to own various businesses (starting as young as just 24) now just over ten years ago! So i’m no stranger to the entrepreneur lifestyle of what it takes to starting, setting up, running or even selling my own businesses.

The first six months was a huge learning curve and incredibly stressful but also would turn out to be 100% worth it. (12 hours a day, 6 days a week for the first year) Learning all about a brand new niche, sector and the different disabilities in such an amazing and complex industry. I already deeply cared about people and always have from a very young age (something ingrained in me by my parents), especially when it comes to giving people equal opportunities (or as close as physically possible). But at the same time just because someone has a passion for something doesn’t mean they will instantly turn that passion or drive into a viable business model, succeed or even get that business off the ground. Remember 60% of businesses completely fail in the first couple of years in the UK.

So its an incredibly hard slog…..few succeed, let alone thrive, and probably about only 2% then go on to lead or dominate any given niche or industry!…..LITH-TECH have proven month after month that we are in the UK’s 2% in our niche.

With a mixture of competence, products, luck and personality our company managed to get our foot in the door and to make some real traction within the mobility market in just our first year resulting in an end result of (£250,000) in sales which is crazy for a new business especially which whom was only a one man band in our first year. 2019 was the year where things just completely took off for LITH-TECH taking us on a one direction rocket ship to the big leagues with sales increasing month on month, with us eventually finishing the year on an insane (£750,000) in sales (3 times more than the year before) with just now a two man band but most importantly a team with an incredbible amount of knowledge and customer attention let alone the best range of chairs in the whole UK without a doubt.

On the 1st January 2020 LITH-TECH now positioned as the no.1 or no.2 folding electric wheelchair company in the country, we set ourselves a modest yearly target of £945,000 by end of year.

When I created LITH-TECH I thought I was creating a recession proof business, where I would always be helping people and there would always be a need for our products……Little did anyone know that in early 2020 a virus that attacks one’s immune system would break out and spread world wide making people very sick and which was highly contagious. This virus had a devestating effect that the world was not prepared for. From killing people, to making people very ill, from creating world panic due to how contagious it was, crashing financial markets around the world resulting in people loosing their homes, their jobs or loved ones.

As a sensible measure of precaution a government lock down was issued, stating that the elderly and people with pre existing issues were most at risk of the virus so must stay at home and self isolate. These same people also happen to be LITH-TECH’s core customers…..the old, the vulnerable or some even in both categories. Within the coming days we had phone call after phone call resulting in all our in house customer demo’s being cancelled not just for that month but for the rest of the year. (This was scary as 95% of demos convert into sales) so that’s instant revenue vanished. Expected sales over March and April unsurprisingly declined by nearly half of what our monthly targets were but amazingly LITH-TECH still managed to clear over £50k in sales in each month.

And now finally getting to the point and what’s actually relative to the title of this blog. The reason why LITH-TECH only hit a bump in the road during these incredibly hard times and didn’t experience a total free fall or a financial meltdown is because of these core reasons (And this is also why every current and future LITH-TECH customer will always be safe and in good hands and looked after, even through good or bad times)

  1. We have built a solid, ethical, dominant, incredibly trusted and well respected brand and business within the mobility industry, and all acheived in just 3 years. So whatever happens in this funny world we live in, LITH-TECH will always be the go to company for people needing electric folding wheelchairs in the UK.
  2. The fact that we have taken the time to learn to become specialists in our chosen market so not only do we know our products inside out but we also know and understand our customers disabilities and needs and therefore in turn what chairs to recommend to our customers wether its in person or over the phone.
  3. Our companies marketing and website is second to none out there. It’s clear and concise with pictures, descriptions, spec sheets, comparisons, videos, testimonials etc, all things that make our customers lives easier so they can make the right decision for them and also all this builds brand awareness and confidence for our customers..
  4. We have huge company bank reserves at all times meaning we will always have more than enough funds for any extra stock needed, or if we need to wether bad times. (Currently we have enough reserves to operate for the next two years with hardly a sale) We also keep spares of every single thing for every single chair from our range in our warehouse. Most importantly we also normally keep around 150 chairs in stock at all times (who else in the Uk can say they do that) most hold a demo model for you to try and then it takes two weeks for them to order you one. Instead LITH-TECH we are always fully stocked and can always offer free next day delivery, and when all our competitors are out of stock we thrive. (we have however sold out of the X during covid, but this is sadly literally unavoidable as its so popular and restocking is currently a nightmare)
  5. We offer in depths telephone consultations to all customers from all over the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Newcastle, Cornwall you name it, no matter how far. These customers get Taylor made phone consultations and then pointed in the direction of relevant videos of the chairs I’ve recommended. Our videos are so in-depth and personal that almost all calls end up resulting in a sale wether it be instant or over a couple of months.
  6. We are forever inovating or bringing new and better products out, I’m only 34 and refuse to get stuck in my ways or comfortable with just being good so will forever be making it my mission to make LITH-TECH bigger and better and the undisputed No.1 in the UK.

Moral of the story and journey is – If you create a company and a service for your customers that is so valuable that your customers actually freely come to you above any other companies out there means you’ve created something of value and something that will continue to grow and thrive in any market no matter how hard.

LITH-TECH will continue to grow as a company every day and also continue to dominate the UK’s folding electric wheelchair market.

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