Wholesale Tools Supplier Roman. A. Talks About Candela
‘We Give You the Tools so You can Finish the Job’
Wholesale industrial tools supplier, Mustafa Traders (UK Tools), have a wholesale business at Brandeth road market, a market situated in the old city area and famous for all kinds of hardware and tools.
Mustafa Traders have a reputation of providing high quality branded tools, and speedy delivery of stock. We recently caught up with the owner, Roman Ahmed, to learn about his business, his motivation, his future plans, and his experience with Candela.
Read what he has to say:
The banner outside the store reads ‘UK Tools.’ Why the name? We ask Roman Ahmed.
“When we started expanding our business, UK was the only country from where we imported the tools, hence the name ‘UK Tools’ was selected. With passing years, more countries were added to the list but the name, however, has stuck with us because many people still know us by this name,” Roman Ahmed Explains.
Tell us about your company
Mustafa Traders, or UK Tools, is our family wholesale business and was started thirty years ago by my father. I have been managing it for the last twenty years. While my father is still actively involved and looks after our branch at GT road, I take care of all imports and sales related matters.
Two decades ago, when I joined our family business, there was no concept of importing tools. People used to get them in stocks from abroad. I introduced imported CNC tools in the market. We pioneered the concept of branded tools and started a new trend in the market. The trend caught on, and now there are fifty plus stores importing tools from abroad.
We deal in a number of brands from different countries like Switzerland, the USA, Taiwan, Germany, and the UK. We are also the sole distributors of some of the brands for 8-10 years.
How do you see the future of the wholesale tooling Industry?
It’s a big market and it is not static. There are constant new improvements and developments. New machines and tools are introduced regularly in the market. For example, if a new car is introduced in the market, the demand for new kinds of tools will be created, and new tools will be manufactured for it. As your industry grows and become modern, your tooling also grows with it. I believe, there is a lot of scope for expansion
For the last 8-10 years, the wholesale tools industry has been suffering because of the energy crisis but now things are looking up, now we are moving towards betterment, in the right direction. And as the industry grows, the tooling industry will also get a boost.
Have you ever thought about diversifying your wholesale business?
No. The tools wholesale market is in itself quite huge, and no matter how much we invest and expand our business there will always be room for improvement and development.
What else you like to do?
I enjoy traveling, and since I have to travel a lot due to the nature of my business I get ample opportunities to satisfy my wanderlust. All other interests have now taken the back seat as my time is now devoted to my business and family.
Do you enjoy your work? And did you get any special training for it?
Definitely. It is my passion as well as my business. And when your passion is your business you bring in more energy and ideas into it.
As for professional training, I have had none. I joined the family business at a young age and learned the ropes easily. I have been handling the business and learning the tricks of the trade along the way.
How and when did you first Hear about Candela?
When I became involved in our family business, we were managing all retail operations manually. I found it very difficult to keep track of sales and inventory. Order placement was a big hassle and was inaccurate because exact sales figures and trends were not available.
I realized that if we have to expand our business we need smart and efficient inventory management. This is when I started looking for various inventory software solutions in the market. I tried one but found it too difficult.
Then I found Candela! Once I was at Filter House and there I saw candela flashing on their computer screens, I asked them about it and contacted LumenSoft. Since then I have not looked back, and I am glad I made the decision to go for Candela. It’s been eight years, and now recently we have shifted to Candela Multi-user professional version.
Would you recommend Candela RMS to wholesalers like yourself?
For a wholesale business like ours, Candela is a perfect POS and inventory management solution. Its detailed reports give us insights about sales trends and help us plan our purchase orders and imports. Moreover, Candela is very easy to use and my entire team can easily operate it.