In Part II of the Diary of an Exporter, we followed Dr. Harrison Ofiyai as he expanded Clinotech's operations into Greece and Bulgaria, as well as Jordan, Iran and other Middle Eastern markets. By now the company had hired its first employees to help handle the increasing volume of business and deal with its rapidly multiplying number of distributors. But that was just the beginning ?

By Dennis and Sandi Jones


Spring 2001
When the year started, I felt that our markets in Turkey and the Middle East were solid, especially since we'd picked up new distributors in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. So I decided it was time to work on the other two markets I'd been thinking about - Africa and Latin America.

When I looked at Africa, though, I realized that the region lacked effective communication networks, and that I'd be wise to put the African markets on hold until cell phone and Internet services improved. So I went after Latin America, and it's worked out well. I contacted friends and colleagues to find distributors and the network came through for me again - Clinotech is now operating in Guatemala, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile!

The only two places I didn't manage to crack were Mexico and Brazil. Mexican distributors are very close to their U.S. suppliers and aren't in a hurry to find new ones, so I decided to bypass that market. In Brazil, the problem was the time we'd need to get our products approved - it would take six to 12 months for a distributor to complete product evaluations and set up distribution, so I put Brazil on hold as well. But the other Latin American markets have more than made up for it.

Summer 2001
We're still expanding in Latin America, adding Peru, Colombia and Venezuela to the places where Clinotech does business. Venezuela was an especially quick breakthrough - we got two distributors there almost immediately.

Participating in medical trade shows every year has been key because it always leads to more contacts. But the main reason we're doing so well, I'm sure, is because of our loyal distributors and the quality of our product.

I think we're ready for the next big step: setting up our own factory so that we can buy our basic raw materials, like antigens and purified monoclonal antibodies, and manufacture our own diagnostic kits from scratch. We now have the sales volume to justify this, and at this point I don't think we can afford not to do it. Already we've had to turn down some tenders because our contract manufacturers couldn't promise to fill the orders in time - not that it's their fault - they have their own distributors and programs to take care of, and priorities sometimes conflict.

Before we even think of opening a factory, I have to talk to the bank about financing the start-up costs. If the bank agrees to support us, I'll have to find a suitable building to lease. Then we need to buy production equipment and make sure there are reliable sources for our raw materials. The devil is in the details, as they say.

Fall 2001
I've put the factory financing in place through Mr. Rakesh Vig, our Relationship Manager at the BMO Bank of Montreal's main office in Richmond, B.C. He's arranged a line of credit through the bank, along with a loan under the government's Canada Small Business Financing Program. The loan is for equipment only, while the line of credit will help us get our manufacturing operations underway.

Now that the financing's set up, I've been able to look for a building to lease. We've found a good prospect, about 1,800 square metres of high-tech space. It also has good humidity control in the production area, which is essential. The kind of business lease I'm after usually runs for five years, but I'm going to ask for two years. I want us to stay flexible, since we're aiming to move into our own facility, perhaps in two years if everything works out.

I'm also hiring staff. I need managers of business development, quality control, production and marketing. Senay, my wife and partner, is taking a training program so she can coordinate production, quality control, staff training and business development.

Winter 2002
We started production in our new factory this January. I've been travelling less since then, so I can concentrate on production, quality assurance and all the other details that come from being a manufacturer.

Having our own factory is definitely paying off. We've got a lot more operational flexibility, we're independent and can be more committed to customer service. Before, we sometimes had to refuse orders because we couldn't guarantee the delivery date. But now we can run extra shifts and longer hours whenever we need to. It's improving our business opportunities.

Spring 2002
The transition to operating our own factory is pretty well complete. The companies who were supplying Clinotech before we went into production for ourselves helped by giving me all kinds of support and encouragement during the past few months. This made the transition a lot smoother than it might have been.

In fact, this has turned into another opportunity for Clinotech. Some of these manufacturers don't produce some of the items their customers need; Clinotech can now do it for them.

Summer 2002
Our in-house operations have progressed quickly since the beginning of the year. Most of our business development - looking for new market opportunities, trade shows and potential customers - is being handled by our business development team. The marketing department is dealing with the distributors in our established markets, including invoicing and shipping arrangements as well as customer service. I've now reached the point where I'm mainly overseeing our operations, coordinating production, keeping on top of quality control and supervising business development and marketing. It's all going smoothly.

Fall 2002
It's a good thing I'm energetic and like to keep things moving. Visiting my target markets is one of the things I enjoy most - it's business travel, naturally, but it's also a great pleasure to see different parts of the world and meet all kinds of people. So, in spite of the long hours, the travelling is a bit like a holiday, too.

And it pays off. We're expanding into the North Pacific Rim by our usual tactics: making ourselves available at medical trade shows, talking to potential distributors, working through my medical colleagues and using the Internet. So far, we've found distributors or possible distributors in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.

December 2002
We've been receiving a lot of orders and production is going at full speed. One major event: I went to Germany in November for MEDICA, the world's largest medical trade show. Being there was especially gratifying for me, because it was the first time we'd participated in the show as a full-fledged manufacturer.

Now I have to follow up on all the new leads from the show. Some of the European and U.S. exhibitors at MEDICA have asked if we might be capable of doing contract work for them on some specific products we manufacture, which they don't have. That means lots of meetings to evaluate their capacities and to tell them about our technical specifications for those products, so I'm going to be very busy in that area as well.

When I look back, I can hardly believe what we've accomplished during the past two years. We have more than 30 distributors in 30 different countries, from the Middle East to Latin America. And we have our own factory. And there's lots more to come!

Stay tuned for Part 4 of Diary of an Exporter, coming in our Fall issue. To learn more about Clinotech, visit www.clinotech.com .

Photo: Martin Lipman