The India Trade Mission
On the 4th October 2014 I headed out to India on a trade mission organised by Scottish Development International. The main focus for us on this mission was to identify potential distribution and manufacturing or licensing partners abroad who could work with us to set up a hub to access markets in Asia and Australia for our protective knee pad product. During the mission I spent time in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi, visiting a number of manufacturers and distributors and attending numerous networking events to grown our name and brand.
The first stop on the mission was Bangalore in the South of India. Arriving early on Sunday morning, we had a day to recover before a full on two days of meetings, briefings, and networking. An overview of the Indian market by KPMG kicked off the week before I headed out into Bangalore to meet with three potential manufacturers and a potential distributer of healthcare products. Battling the Bangalore traffic was definitely worth it to meet potential business partners and scope out the manufacturing facilities on offer! Following on from Bangalore, the mission then caught an early morning flight and moved onto Hyderabad, where I met with a further two manufacturers and attended another networking event to meet with numerous other businesses in the Hyderabad area.
After an early morning flight to Hyderabad, a briefing with the Deputy High Commissioner, more meetings, a late night networking event, another day of meetings…the tiredness was starting to catch up with me as we boarded the flight to Delhi! But the impressiveness of some of the sights in the Indian capital, especially at the welcome reception at the British High Commissioners Residence, spurred me on for my next meetings and attendance at the British Business Convention at the Taj Palace Hotel.
It was a full on 6 days, but was definitely worthwhile. For VH Innovation it was extremely important for us to visit potential manufacturing and distribution partners overseas due to the international brand we are trying to create.
Update 2017:
The India Trade Mission with SDI was our first glimpse into the world of manufacturing. It served as an educational journey to explore the international opportunities available to us. On return to the UK, and as the business developed and secured the funding required to set up manufacture, we made the decision to set up our first manufacturing site here in the UK and focus on developing the brand ourselves in the UK in the first instance. However, we continue to pursue our international plans, and as they say: 'who knows what the future holds'
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