Leeds Trinity graduate offers export connections
Wednesday, 9th December 2009
Janan Thomson is on a mission to aid UK-based manufacturers find their feet in overseas markets. Mainly specialising in Western European and Middle Eastern countries, her company Export Connections offers a bespoke marketing service to firms that want to trade further afield but are unsure of how to go about this.
Janan speaks Arabic and some basic French but insists that language barriers are no longer an issue for international traders: “I think it is a great deal easier to trade globally than say 20 years ago, there are translators out there working in every language that you can think of and also in many countries people are skilled at communicating in English. The opportunities for working remotely using the internet and improved telephone communications has also made it easier to reach foreign markets. My company conducts extensive market research and finds contacts for clients to enable them to expand their business interests.”
Armed with a BA (Hons) degree in Marketing and Management from Leeds Trinity University College, Janan approached Phil Williams from the University’s business and start-up support centre. She says that the support she received there, together with funding through the Graduate Entrepreneurship Project was vitally important in the early days: “I really can’t stress how helpful Phil was, he really went out of his way to help me get started, not only by helping me to apply for proof of concept funding and sending me on the Graduate Entrepreneurship Project-funded Boot Camp, but also by sitting down with me and going through my business plans in enormous detail.”
Janan always had a desire to set up on her own, she says: “I always knew that I was going to set up in business, it was just a case of finding the niche in the market and satisfying it. I had around a hundred business ideas before I found the one that I was going to pursue. By going to speak to Phil at Leeds Trinity I had the opportunity to talk through my basic ideas and plan detailed strategies for Export Connections.”
On making the transition from student to business owner Janan says there can be difficulties along the way: “Being a student is very much about the theory, and things can be so different in reality. Although University life prepares you for work in some ways, real life experience is invaluable. Becoming a business owner is hard because you are responsible for the survival of the business and you can't just resit an exam or rewrite an essay if things go wrong. On the other hand if you are a business owner, you have the freedom to experiment and it’s great to learn new things - obviously the hard way!”
Janan has big plans for her company and wants to expand across the global marketplace as she picks up new clients. Thanks to the support she has received she has a clear vision of the future: “I hope that the work I conduct is going to make a big difference to the economy and help international companies and individuals to trade more easily. The overall aim is to turn manufacturers’ worries about exporting into opportunities for them to increase their sales.”
Her advice to other would-be start-ups is simple: “Be aware that your start-up costs may be much higher than you imagined. Make sure that you have a clearly defined plan and that you have enough capital to last you for the first year - which is the hardest part. Always remember that you don't fail in anything, you just learn. I would finally just say look at the most successful people, Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, the dragons. They all took risks, take them with every opportunity that you have. And good luck!”
Janan Thomson can be contacted by phone on 0845 2799 829 / 07961 716726 or by email at info@export-connections.co.uk. Her company website is at www.export-connections.co.uk.
