In 2012 the company began by sourcing a special air purifier, Salin, from Romania. Salin is a simple home device that can revolutionise the health of patients who suffer from respiratory ailments by improving the salt content of the air while they sleep. VMS secured sole distribution rights to the product in the UK and Ireland and initially set about securing sales in the southern market.

VMS grew from just Brian to a small team of four and, as well as selling Salin, they also worked to develop the Nu-life Monitored Dosage System (Blister Packs). This is a web-based application that allows for improved communication channels between all relevant stakeholders when dispensing medicine i.e. pharmacists, patients, doctors, nursing homes, etc. It has the added benefit of improving compliance, due diligence, responsibility and accountability for all concerned, ultimately leading to a much higher standard of patient care.

The Company needed to look for new markets

VMS hit the ground running with both products and sales were going well in their home market; however they knew they would soon reach saturation and for the company to grow, they needed to look elsewhere and begin exporting. Brian recognised the potential of selling into Northern Ireland but didn’t know how best to break into the cross-border market. 

“We knew there was demand in Ireland but we wanted to test it in other markets and being our closest neighbour, it made sense to go to NI next. We knew if sales were strong here, it could be sold anywhere and our success wasn’t just a one-off,” he explained. 

 “We were growing organically but were advised that we would need capital investment to expand. However, being such a young company nobody was really providing any significant help. Businesses are offered grants for R&D but we were confident in that area and really needed practical help with sales and breaking into a new market, and that’s exactly where InterTradeIreland was able to help.” 

Support from InterTradeIreland

VMS was approved for the Acumen programme in 2014 and received funding to support the salary of a sales representative to help them break into the Northern Ireland market.
 “Once we met with the InterTradeIreland team, and learned more about Acumen, we knew this programme was right for us. We were really impressed with InterTradeIreland’s knowledge and how thorough the team was,” he explained. “As a process, it was very easy as there wasn’t a long paper trail like you might expect with something like this. However, they did ask us numerous questions and made sure we knew our products and our markets, but from that they were able to tailor their help and advice.”

NI Results

Through their dedicated sales representative, VMS was very successful in Northern Ireland very quickly with the Salin Salt Device. In fewer than two years, sales in Northern Ireland have gone from 0 to 60% of total sales for VMS. 

Brian explained: ““Acumen helped to open up a huge market for us,” he added. “This then gave us scope and the belief to export into other countries. Since then we have gone into Spain, Italy, US and Canada with the Salin Salt device which is amazing.”

After just four short years, VMS has now gone into profit which Brian sees as a huge achievement considering the initial significant expenditure required.

“I know we would not have achieved this level of success and growth without InterTradeIreland’s help through the Acumen programme – that is certain. We just didn’t have the funds to hire someone like Kenny to look at the NI market for us and no other support body was willing to help a small start-up to such an extent. InterTradeIreland definitely saw the potential where others didn’t in that regard and I believe they are much more forward-looking than other bodies.”

Advice

“For any company that is starting to stabilise in their home market and seeking to expand cross-border, I would advise them to set-up an appointment with InterTradeIreland straightway and listen to what they have to say. They will cross-examine you – your model and products/services - but you have to be in a position to answer those questions if you are going to be successful. Take everything on board. Until you’re in positive equity you are never going to get investment from a different source and ITI has helped us greatly along the way.”

Brexit

As Brian explains, VMS has already felt the repercussions of the EU referendum result with the currency fluctuations affecting prices. “We buy the products from Romania for Northern Ireland. So because of the immediate fall in the value of sterling following the referendum, our imports were more expensive. This forced us to increase our prices and going forward, if issues with the currency remain, it may add further challenges to our plans to break into the GB market. 

“With the uncertainty around Brexit, we have to be in a position to react once everyone knows more. At the minute it is definitely wait and see and we are just continuing on with our growth plans. But we have to be aware of how currency fluctuations can affect our business in the long-run. 

“Access to financial forecasting would be helpful once more is known about the Brexit deal. There are still no definitive answers and it would be brilliant to have an expert to help us further our knowledge and understanding of what the consequences will be with regards to exporting. 

“At the minute we have some deals with China and there are difficulties as they have a massive tariff on foreign products coming in and restrictions on money going out. If similar tariffs are brought in to Europe following Brexit, it will most certainly limit our opportunities and it will stagnate trading for the majority of small companies.”  

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