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Scooters & Mobility Tamworth has been serving the New England, North West and Upper Hunter regions of NSW for the past 23 years. What began in a small showroom has grown to join forces with a number of other individually-owned stores under Scooters & Mobility Buying Group. Here, Natalie shares what makes the business tick.
It all started back in 2000. I was working with my husband Dex at Epps Engineering – he does vehicle conversions for people with disabilities. One day, a customer asked why we didn’t sell other equipment. He was after a scooter and didn’t know the best way to track one down, so I told him I’d find him one.
We originally set up in a showroom at Epps, but we outgrew that fast. I actually popped out to run some errands one day and by the time I was back at the office Dex announced that he’d found me a shop. We outgrew that space pretty quickly too, so we found ourselves where we still are today, at 238 Marius Street in Tamworth, NSW.
Two years after setting up our original showroom at Epps, we had set out to join and help create a group of other individually-owned stores throughout Australia to help each other prosper and grow – that’s 22 years we’ve been supporting each other in the Scooters & Mobility Group with myself as chairperson of the board. In the last two years, we decided to franchise and currently have 10 individually-owned stores in what is now the Scooters & Mobility franchise. It’s been a great move, because while we’re all in business for ourselves, we work together as a buying group too – so support is never far away. We are currently in an expansion phase and are looking for other likeminded people to join our team, with vacancies in a variety of locations all over Australia.
The team and I work hard to be a one-stop shop for anyone facing challenges with their physical health – and that doesn’t only mean the elderly. We need to shift that perspective, because the products we have available serve a multitude of people facing a whole variety of health challenges or disabilities. If someone has trouble getting their socks on, we have a tool for that. If someone needs a walking stick, we’ve got them covered. Then of course we go right up to power chairs, wheelchairs, adjustable beds and scooters. If you can’t find something you need in store, I will always have a resource to help track it down. That’s how we help those in need in our community keep their independence.
That’s actually one of the things I love most about this industry, the fact you’re helping local people overcome challenges on a daily basis. We deal with people face-to-face to ensure the product genuinely suits their needs and is ultimately going to make their life easier. These aren’t the kind of items you can pop in the post and hope for the best, they need to be tried and tested and we often work with therapists to get the very best result for our customers, too. They’ll join us at in-service days, where we all come together to be trained in the equipment – particularly those items that need to be scripted by an occupational therapist. It means our knowledge is always up to date and we have the best tools on hand to support people in our region.
It’s a big footprint we cover too, extending up to Glen Innes and Inverell, out to Lightning Ridge and Moree, and down to Singleton. We’ll regularly travel throughout that area so we can be on hand to service our equipment in person. That’s really important to us, for people to know we don’t disappear once you’ve purchased a product, we’re always nearby should you need further advice and support.
Even after all this time, we’ve remained a very family-oriented business too. Our son joined the business just two years ago and our daughter works with Dex over at Epps Engineering. We feel so lucky to contribute to this community every day and plan to continue doing just that for many years to come.
Help is at hand
Do you need support with a physical challenge you’re facing? Chat to Natalie and the team at Scooters & Mobility Tamworth today.
238 Marius Street | Tamworth NSW 2340 | 1800 726 000 | Website
