About Us
We’re Elle & Lawrence – the brother & sister team behind The Small Business Toolbox. Here is a little bit about each of us and our personal journey.
I ‘m Lawrence!
I graduated the University of Exeter in 2018 with a with a masters in mechanical engineering and then started the near on impossible job of getting a job! From being a high achiever throughout the education system the rejection of countless job applications is something I struggled with. There was no correlation between job offer success and cv accolades.
What was all this studying for?
As I was thinking of giving up the job hunt and starting my own business, I received a job offer as a design engineer helping make some of the world’s most iconic cars. This was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me. It sounds like a cool job but I had little responsibility and was given mundane tasks. As a motivated graduate I was left feeling frustrated and unfulfilled, with a lack of responsibility and progress. I felt like I was being held back. To make it worse, I didn’t see eye to eye with my colleagues.
I started to live for my weekends and 21 days annual holiday. I was struggling to manage my free time with the limited time I had and my relationship at the time was talking a toll. It ended. I had gone from having all the time in the world at University to having no time (it was a huge comparison and one I wasn’t quite prepared for at all). I started to ask myself…
Surely this hamster wheel I was on couldn’t be the rest of my life?
I refused to accept that this would be the rest of my life. I wanted more freedom and to take control back of my life. I started exploring other ways I could make money and have more control over my time.
From my research, the way with the most guarantee to achieve this was to set up my own business. That’s what I started to do. I had always wanted to be my own boss and I had a few business ideas but I had one problem. I didn’t have any experience setting up a business, my parents weren’t business owners either and I didn’t know where to start. To make matters worse, the thought of starting and failing was daunting.
As daunting as starting a business and failing was, it wasn’t half as scary as spending the rest of my life stuck on a hamster wheel. My degree taught me how to research and learn. Using these transferable skills, I researched and taught myself how to set up a business (www.Doormarked.com) in a cost effective way and have continued to learn throughout my business journey.
This journey hasn’t been plane sailing and there have been many lessons Google couldn’t teach me; I’ve faced countless challenges and setbacks. However, I’ve learnt valuable lessons and through perseverance my business is growing. I’ve also more recently started another….
I’ve reignited my passion for cars and started restoring a very rusty Porsche 356 called Trouble. It turns out when you start a business you’re truly passionate about things are a lot easier & more rewarding. It’s still early days but it’s turning into a very exciting business venture with a significant social media following. You can read more about Trouble & her story on www.thestoryoftrouble.co.uk or via Instagram.
By sharing my story I’ve realised that there are lots of other people stuck in a 9-5 feeling equally as unfulfilled as I was and with a similar ambition to do their own thing. There are few resources available to help these aspiring business owners and the professional services I found were often unaffordable… this is what prompted me to set up The Small Business Toolbox; a platform where my sister & I share the knowledge we have gained and the tools we use in our businesses to help you start and run your business more efficiently!
You really can start your own business and you don’t need to pay excessive professional service fees to incorporate your business, brand your business, build a website or market your business. The list goes on! It is possible to do these things yourself or do them in a much more cost effective way, you just need the know-how!
Through The Small Business Toolbox we want to give you the know-how to help you follow your dreams and achieve your vision. With our resources, tools and support you can turn your business idea into a business and succeed with your personal business journey.
Let’s go!
Hello, I’m Gabrielle but all my friends call me Elle!
I’m a part-time A&E Doctor, business owner & coach! I love spending time doing anything active or outdoors & I have a really bad habit of drinking half cups of tea. I haven’t always considered myself to be these different things though…
My journey started in academia. I was a conscientious student, high achiever & a people pleaser. I had a love for science which resulted in me choosing to study medicine at University of Oxford. It was during my time in academia that my entrepreneurial journey arguably started, as I began tutoring students in the years below me. I started my working life as an NHS Doctor in 2018.
I had always had a little bit of doubt about the career path I had chosen but as I continued to work as a doctor this doubt grew…. as did my (& my brother’s) determination to start our own business. We decided to take the plunge just before the pandemic and we launched our business Doormarked, a proptech platform which helps people to buy UK property. Initially, I continued to work as a doctor full-time & juggled this with working on Doormarked with Lawrence. I came to a difficult decision after completing my Foundation Training (FY1/FY2 years).
Do I continue my journey as a Doctor or do I commit to growing my own business?
I decided I wanted to find a way to do both as I craved the freedom of time & fulfilment that working on my own business offered; I quit working as a Doctor full-time & began working as an A&E Locum Doctor on BANK. This allowed me to dedicate more time to working on my business whilst still working as a Doctor.
I’ve continued to do this….I spend my time divided between working as a Doctor, running my own businesses & pursuing my passions. These include my love for the beach (& sea), training in the gym & spending quality time (usually outdoors) with friends/family.
I’m a strong believer in continuous growth & I’ll be the first to admit that I am still learning as I continue my journey. However, that doesn’t take any value away from the lessons I’ve already learnt. I want to share these lessons to help others achieve their goals & (ultimately) create a life they love!
The lessons I have learn’t to date are largely centre around starting a business, navigating career doubts & trying to create a healthy work-life relationship without burnout. This is message I share on my social media as “The Portfolio Career Doctor” where I try to empower other healthcare professionals who have felt trapped in their career the same way I previously did…
The passion that Lawrence and I share for helping others with their own business ventures is what prompted us to formally start The Small Business Toolbox. We know how difficult we found the start of our business journey without knowing where to turn to for advice. As a result, we wasted a lot of time, we spent much more money than we needed to & we made our fair share of mistakes.
We’ve condensed all these learnings into our various resources to help others turn their business ideas into a reality. It really is possible and we are here to help every step of the way.
As I always, say…. there really will never be a right time but it is possible to find the right people to support you on your way.
P.S. You’ve found us!
I am 27.
I graduated the University of Exeter in 2018 with a with a masters in mechanical engineering and then started the near on impossible job of getting a job! From being a high achiever throughout the education system the rejection of countless job applications is something I struggled with. There was no correlation between job offer success and cv accolades.
What was all this studying for?
As I was thinking of giving up the job hunt and starting my own business, I received a job offer as a design engineer helping make some of the world’s most iconic cars. This was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me. It sounds like a cool job but I had little responsibility and was given mundane tasks. As a motivated graduate I was left feeling frustrated and unfulfilled, with a lack of responsibility and progress. I felt like I was being held back. To make it worse, I didn’t see eye to eye with my colleagues. They didn’t like my style; apparently you can’t be an engineer and surfer.
I was in a job I hated.
Living for my weekends and 21 days annual holiday. I was struggling to manage my free time with the limited time I had and my relationship at the time was talking a toll. It ended. Having just been at university with all the time in the world I went to having no time. Life wasn’t great. Surely this hamster wheel I was on couldn’t be the rest of my life?
I refused to accept that this would be the rest of my life. I wanted more freedom and to take control back over my life. I started exploring other ways I could make money and have more control over my time.
From my research the way (with the most guarantee) to achieve this was to set up my own business. So that’s what I started to do. I had always wanted to be my own boss and I had a few business ideas but I had one problem. I didn’t have any experience setting up a business, my parents weren’t business owners either and I didn’t know where to start. To make matters worse, the thought of starting and failing was daunting.
As daunting as starting a business and failing was, it wasn’t half as scary as spending the rest of my life stuck on a hamster wheel. My degree taught me how to research and learn. Using these transferable skills, I researched and taught myself how to set up a business in a cost effective way and have continued to learn throughout my business journey.
This journey hasn’t been plane sailing and there have been many lessons Google couldn’t teach me; I’ve faced countless challenges and setbacks. However, I’ve learnt valuable lessons and through perseverance my business is growing.
By sharing my story I’ve realised that there are lots of other people stuck in a 9-5 feeling equally as unfulfilled as I was and with a similar ambition to do their own thing. With few resources available to help these aspiring business owners and those professional services I found being unaffordable, I set up The Small Business Toolbox; a platform where I share the knowledge I have gained and the tools I use in my business to help you start and run your business more efficiently!
You can start your business and you don’t need to pay excessive professional service fees to incorporate your business, brand your business, build a website or market your business. The list goes on! It is possible to do these things yourself or do them in a much more cost effective way, you just need the know-how!
With The Small Business Toolbox I want to give you the know-how to help you follow your dreams and achieve your vision. With my resources, tools and support you can turn your business idea into a business and succeed with your personal business journey.
Let’s go!
