James Hardie, and Mat Targowski, set up Sanollo, an innovative advisory specializing in helping the latest medical technologies enter new markets, just five months ago.
And already sales are taking off, with three new customers and a burgeoning pipeline of prospective customers throughout Europe, India, Argentina, Malaysia, and the USA.
James, whose background is in exporting medical devices, said: “we provide insight reports, market strategy, trial and distributor management approaches which allow companies to build the international side of their revenue.
“Many UK businesses in the sector are focused on the huge annual demands for a product from the UK’s National Health Service and do not get involved in international markets.
“Sometimes they have dabbled in the overseas market, drawn a blank and then ignored it. Our role is to show them that by taking a structured, targeted approach they can open new overseas markets and boost their profitability.”
Mat, whose background is in technology business development, is equally bullish. “the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that we are currently operating without the usual international trade shows in Dusseldorf or Dubai, but there are still huge opportunities for UK businesses in the sector to extend their range.
Our collective skillset is enabling us to exploit a gap in the market and so far, aside from a scattering of older consultants in international trade, many of whom are retained by aspiring exporters, there is limited competition.”
“Our methodology is straightforward. We first set out the scope and reach of the project, then deliver an in-depth market report which identifies opportunities for our clients to pursue. We then agree on fixed fees on sales or commission arrangements for distributor contracts. We know that our approach is less risky, cheaper, and more effective than hiring a sales team in-house.
James and Mat are supported by two on-call support staff but have been aided significantly by Stuart Clark, another old friend, who now runs Russell & Russell, a Glasgow-based business advisory firm.
Said James, “having worked for large organizations, we had no real idea of how to go about setting up a business for ourselves, and Stuart’s contribution to the process has been first class.
“His work in helping us structure our approach to setting prices and guaranteeing service levels, as well as communicating these to prospective clients has been invaluable”.
James and Mat are experienced operators who not only identified a gap in the market for their services but also, crucially, are now strenuously exploiting the market in the gap.”
As to the future, Sanollo has already caused a stir in the market. In addition to taking UK manufacturers on a journey to global markets, it is attracting overseas manufacturers keen to approach the NHS, finding UK manufactured devices for overseas wholesalers, and speaking to a range of new, start-up UK manufacturers who want their products to reach beyond the UK.
“It’s an exciting time to be in this market”, said James, “and we anticipate substantial growth over the next couple of years.”
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