So now it began to feel like a real business! I had a distributor in the largest market in the world and was actually selling some product on a regular basis.

But as I crept forward, the barriers to business growth began to emerge. Looking back they might be summarised by;

1. I had only one product for sale. So if it wasn't what the prospective buyer was looking for then I had nothing else to offer them; so some of my marketing efforts were wasted.

2. Although my selling price seemed okay in the marketplace, my net profit was not great, especially as most of my product was going to America at a large price discount to my new distributor.

3. With only one product and not much income I was very reluctant to spend much (anything) on promotion.

4. In a niche market I needed to have distribution in a lot of countries BUT all the other factors above made it difficult to find more distributors.

FINALLY I REALISED ..............

I needed a business plan!