I Had It

I had it. In my mind I had it all worked out; I'd played it out - I knew how it had to be done. I had the product, the marketplace and a hungry sales team and I just knew, given the right ingredients in the right combination, that my team would perform 110% and capture the customer base. What I didn't have was the overseas office, staff and, critically, credentials.

I needed to get to the UK to sort it all out.

I arrived at Heathrow after a very long overnight flight, turned a corner and walked into a line - at least 300 or 400 people - and I was at the back of the queue, rapidly losing the will to live. You can imagine I was a little tired. I hadn't got much sleep on the plane, with so much on my mind. I had to get this right and I only had 5 days to do it in. I had a game plan but no real structure to my approach. Get in, find some suitable premises in a good location, do the deal and secure the premises, then get out. That's the primary goal; all else can follow. I had a hotel reservation, a London underground map, a wallet full of Pounds Sterling, a laptop and a cell phone. And I was wearing my favourite lucky suit - the one I wear every time I'm unsure about what I'm getting into - somehow, wearing the suit, I always come out on top.

Five, ten, twenty minutes go by. I move forward a few paces, no more. Twenty more minutes pass, another few paces - but what can you do except be patient like everybody else. Getting through immigration is the least of my worries on my 'Mission:Impossible'. Eventually, I get the stamp in my passport, and I'm on my way.

You see, where I come from it's always been easier to do business within my own country. Moving product is easy and stress-free. No headache, no problem. Just take the order, pack it, pick-up and deliver. Overnight delivery, standard insurance, no problem. This is a little different, a little more complex. Now, because of increased competition inland we're forced to focus our attention overseas as well. But now we face international shipping procedures, so our documentation had changed. Now there's rules and regulations that have never applied before, import duty and vat too. Do we pay it or will it be paid by the receiving customer? How do we achieve that? How do we make sure we abide by all the regulations? And that's why I am here - to establish the operation, employ a manager who knows about this stuff, who will in turn hire the necessary staff.

I paid up for an early check-in and went straight to my room. First things first - shower and a room-service breakfast. As I waited, I surfed the internet looking for suitable premises in a prime location. I knew roughly how much warehouse space was required, but I needed an office on site too, ideally close to the airport, preferably between the airport and the city, with easy access to major roads, motorways and public transport.

Morning turned to midday, to afternoon, to evening, and as it got dark outside, I was still in my room gathering information and making calls. I tell you, this wasn't as straightforward as I had hoped it would be - this was no easy task. Exhausted, I must have drifted off to sleep and the next thing I know, I wake up and find I've been using my laptop as a pillow. I crashed - must be the jet lag.

The next morning, notes in hand and dressed for business, I headed for the streets via the breakfast lounge where I grabbed some coffee and toast. First thing, I had to open a bank account and meet up with the various real estate agents I'd spoken to the day before. I'd also found somebody that was interested in the position of UK operations and development manager. So far, so good.

As I left the bank, I realised I'd no idea which direction to turn, nor how to get to my next appointment. I wandered into a coffee bar to ask for directions but - and this seemed to be a habit here - I stepped straight into a queue. So I waited. But I must have looked very lost, clutching my map, as the guy in the queue in front of me asked me where I was trying to get to. He realised I wasn't from the UK and when I said I was here on business, he asked me what line I was in. I found myself explaining my trading dilemma to a complete stranger. But then, in the way these things can sometimes turn out (and maybe just a little because of my lucky suit), I found I was talking to somebody, who knew somebody, who could most definitely be a real help to me - a customs and importation specialist.

He gave me a name, phone number and address and wouldn't you know, their office wasn't more than 5 minutes away. I made a call, hailed a cab and within minutes I was sat down with the guy from CCL, and my cappuccino was even still warm!

These guys are in the ideal location for me, close to the airport, en route to the city. It turned out, the way I could work with them meant I didn't need a warehouse, or an office, or even a single employee in the UK. Amazingly, I didn't even need my new UK bank account, although I thought it might be useful to keep it going for the time being.

The CCL people make the import process so straightforward. They move my goods into their warehouse; they clear them through customs; they organise deliveries and they even collect the import duty and vat from my customers. Now all I need is for that ever-so hungry sales team to do the business.

I could hardly believe it was so easy to sort it all out - my lucky suit strikes again! I re-scheduled my return flight (no need to stay all week now) and awarded myself the remaining day and a half for a little sightseeing and shopping. Well, with my Mission:Impossible not proving quite so challenging as I'd thought, why not?!

17th Mar 2008

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I Had It

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