Suppliers Supply

Yippee!!! I am truly happy today. Things seem to be moving after a few weeks of just doing paper-based exercises. I had a really nice meeting last week with one of my many mentors. I am just beginning to realise that people are a lot nicer than I thought. And I always think people are nice. OK. Maybe it should read that there is a lot of help available out there if you ask. I am now an NES Scholar. "What is that?" I hear you ask. Well it is the New Entrepreneurship Scholarship programme which helps people in disadvantaged areas start businesses. It is funded by the Learning and Skills Council and it involves getting proper business training from business schools. So I am now a member of the University of Westminster. Never thought I would be going back to uni and sitting at a desk in a classroom. It was a little weird, I must admit. Another nice thing about this scholarship is that you get 12 hours of one-to-one mentoring with a business adviser. This is important for me because my mentor is an ace with accounts, something I am not very good at. He will also help me fine tune my business plan, which can be submitted to a panel who will let you have £1500 towards your start-up costs. It is not a lot of money but it will help towards travel costs.
Also last week, I had a life-changing meeting. The meeting led me to make big decisions as to which of my proposed products were more important, which ones I would launch with and where I will get them made. I decided to speak to some spice blenders and such in South Africa and Swaziland. I was a bit worried about using factories that far away but I can now see the benefits. Firstly, Britain (that's me) will be doing trade with Africa (that's them). Trade Not Aid - that's something I believe in. Then there is also the benefit of knowing that these people are already making similar products and they are already producing them to some British regulations and the packaging they use is top-class. So really I am killing two birds with one stone. In case you hadn't noticed, that is my new phrase. I have even been known to kill four birds with one stone. Fantastic or what! What hunter, bird-killer (actually what do you call people who kill birds for a living?) would say that they have killed four birds with one stone?
Back to business...I had a call from the first supplier in Swaziland. Lovely woman and they are doing a brilliant job, employing women (yeah!!!) in the local surrounds and their factory benefits the whole community (another yeah!!!). She will send me some samples of the recipes I am interested in, I will taste and test and then I will get back to her. But we have both decided to do all that we can so that we can work together. I am still waiting to hear from the guys in South Africa, but I am also hoping it is positive. Next thing will be to organise a trip to the Southern Hemisphere, back to Africa (the motherland or if you are German, the fatherland).
The excitement is already too much to bear. I'll be back soon.

Love, Amiexx