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A chance reunion after 13 years, between Martin Lambert the founder of Expat Essentials and myself in 1999, led to the fruition of an idea Martin had been keeping secret for 6 months. Over dinner one evening, Martin revealed his idea to me, which extracted the response; “Wow” and “ Why did l not think of this!” The same reaction that many friends have since repeated. The idea was to supply British expatriates with a “Taste Of Home” with goods, that were hard to get locally and also much missed, such as Walkers Crisps, Colman’s mustard and Heinz Baked Beans. Having lived abroad for many years and through extensive travels to many remote places, which include most places in the Middle East, Martin had himself missed Cadburys Chocolate so much that he thought, “ Why not do something about it?” Fired by my enthusiastic response and a long drawn out discussion, Expat Essentials was created. The idea was so compelling that there was nothing left but to take a chance and start the ball rolling.  Martin, now settled in the UK, began the yearlong preparation for his business from his living room in West London. It took that long to establish a business model that would consider every aspect of implementing the idea into a viable business. From identifying potential customers needs, marketing, financial details and of course the best way to provide the service operationally. Parcelforce was chosen to be our carrier as it was vital that services would be affordable to customers in terms of delivery costs. Delivery costs will always remain an area of concern for a variety of reasons, as these are not widely understood by customers and more importantly, if delivery costs are higher than the price of the products, people naturally raise an eyebrow. In essence, transportation costs can either make or break a sale, it is as simple as that.

Packaging was kept simple in order not to incur high costs, which ultimately would have reflected in the price of the products. It was tempting to have all guns blazing boxes with our logo on it, but the expense of this would have made the price for services too high. Whatever you do, whether it’s fancy packaging, gift-wrapping or even adding a new facility to your web site, there is always a cost implication. Sometimes, this needs to be carefully explained as with one customer, who berated me greatly for not putting hand tied ribbons on a box. Having explained that this could be done at a price, the necessity of this request was not deemed so important after all. 

A friend (Jono), very kindly offered the use of his warehouse for free. It’s really amazing how helpful people can be when you are starting out. Also notable was my younger sister Shaz, an award winning advertising guru who gave up many hours to help with the marketing planning, all done for of a glass of wine or three! A web site was designed in-house to keep costs low during which time l helped during weekends and evenings. The first thing you give up when starting a business is your social life, complete focus is required otherwise things never would have got off the ground. We were never naive in that sense and always knew that the business would not be an instant success purely by being on the Internet. The company started entirely with personal funding as a mail order company, initially to test the water as well as to ensure that it had the right approach and that people would be interested. Weeks of promotion through mail shot’s to many British Organisations all over the world began to pay off and orders filtered through. With the web site ready and complete with photographs, the company launched on the Internet in November 2000. This was an exciting time as there was greater visibility of the service and it certainly provided a global medium easily accessible by millions of potential customers.

The greatest challenge was to get the company known, a difficult task when your marketing budget is tight yet your target audience is global and spread across every continent. Getting linked to web sites of interest to expatriates can be fairly low cost option but on-line marketing has to be coupled with more traditional methods such as promotional flyers and advertising. The key was to not overspend and instead be very selective in the publications in which to advertise. They had to be specific to the target market. Most effective was the premise on which the company started; “ Do what your customers want and get it right!” There is no substitute for good service as happy customers tell their friends about you.

With an incredible increase in orders over a period of a few months, Martin quit his “day” job and fully committed himself to the business. I did not hesitate to join the company when asked, as it was an opportunity to put into practice experience, which had been gained in previous jobs. A major attraction was also to be a part of a developing business. It transpired later that this was to be in directions, which with hindsight we had not even considered.  There was no defining moment as such, the progress was gradual but the greatest testament we had that we were indeed getting it right was when we started to witness a steady growth of repeat orders. Within a small time the company’s sales meant we were able to invest in a new web site, designed by Web Store, whom we still work with today.  They are incredibly supportive. They not only did the design but were selected to host the site and on many occasions have been at our beck and call 7 days a week. We wanted to make it better for customers to shop with us, as well as add more facilities that would create an online community. To this aim, a message forum was added to allow customers to exchange or request information. Customers like to participate, contribute and give their opinion. So often they simply are never asked. The original shopping cart using Actinic was okay, however resulting from feedback received from our web site; we took on board suggestions such as the facility to substitute goods, which might be out of stock.
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Many years in the fields of sales & marketing had taught me one thing, good sales result by listening to your customers and not talking them to death!  With technological advances such as the Internet there is no guarantee just because you are out there you will make it. If you are not a customer led company, another career should be considered, namely one, which does not involve people! We are open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day to cater to all international time zones. There is no point in closing the shop when customers in Australia are just waking up. The challenges have been many, including some very questionable tactics by one competitor. It is inevitable that the larger a company becomes, the more it gets noticed and more often than not, perceived as a threat. This has very strange effects on some people. Different issues arise when you outgrow your living room. We now have an office, a larger warehouse and 4 staff. All these need managing, taking up time and not to mention cost. We place great value on creating a happy environment in which to work. Jon, Sarah, Kevin and Sean are what continue to make this business work. Keeping a good team together is a responsibility the company is only too aware of. People have the right to go into work and expect to be treated well. This pays dividends in many different ways, not least loyalty. When you have created something, it is hard to let go a bit and entrust certain parts of the business to other people, however it is sheer folly not to, especially if you want to grow. We learnt when you trust people, treat them with respect and allow work to be fun; you are often not disappointed with the results.

An order we had last year had to be the most moving, yet saddening we have had, a U.S. customer sent a food parcel to her uncle in Siberia. We were advised that this uncle was very impoverished and rarely had treats, so could we please ensure the shipment was delivered intact. The shipment was delivered intact and 1 month later we received the most heart warming note from the gentleman in Siberia, bestowing us with all his blessings and good wishes. He wrote that’s all he had to offer as gratitude, (albeit it was his niece who had sent the order) and that he was very thankful to have received the parcel from us, which allowed him and his mother a few treats. It was very humbling. A treat to some is what we have in abundance, biscuits, chocolates and some decent tea!

Today, Expat Essentials handles some 800 orders per week. The most popular destinations tend to be Europe, the Far East, USA and Australasia. Right from the day the company started, the number one selling item has been Heinz Baked Beans, although Walkers Crisps and Cadbury’s Chocolates come close seconds.

In early 2002 we started working with the pioneers of delivering a taste from home. The Foreign Buyers' Club was started by Chuck & Kelly Grafft who were living in Japan and wanted to get things from home for themselves and their friends. The goal was "Cheap, Easy & Quick". The FBC has grown a lot since those early days although most of the basic foundations that the FBC was built on remain much the same. 15 years later, with four daughters, Kelly & Chuck have all the more reason to keep their favourite stuff from home handy and now have offices in Japan and LA. Chuck and his team are great to work with. Nothing is too much trouble and they have integrity, which is all too often lacking in business. “We are like minded in many ways.” says Martin Lambert. Following a recent trip (with a broken toe!) by Martin to visit Chuck and Mike, who runs the USA operation, we have just launched our American Store for U.S. expatriates. British expatriates miss their groceries from home and in that respect, American’s are no different. We like working with people as part of a long-term strategy to develop mutual business goals. It is vital to offer customers choice whilst still making certain that products remain affordable. When we select partners it is with great care. You have to work with people you can trust and who have ethics. The FBC represents both qualities and also have years of experience in offering expatriates food and fun from home. Whom ever we work with, the main consideration is always how to add value to our services and continue to offer the widest choice. To this aim we also have formed a close working relationship with Allied Pickfords, the world’s leading relocation company, to jointly market each other’s service.  Lyndsey Daykin, their UK Marketing Manager is very visionary and knows you can’t just offer core services anymore. Customers want more all the time, in terms of value added services, advice, information or support.

We show our care for the local community by contributing a percentage of our profits to The Prince’s Trust, a UK registered charity that assists young people from disadvantaged or dysfunctional backgrounds to set up in enterprise. We know how hard it is to start a business, even with all our previous management experience. It is rewarding to know that in some small way we can help other people fulfil their dreams and potential through a reputable organisation.

I have always cherished the words of one of my idols, Martin Luther King, which are famous; “I have a dream!” These words have always been a source of inspiration to me and in this case have been very powerful in terms of nurturing our dreams. I do not intend to in anyway negate from the far greater achievements or selfless courage of Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr King’s words were our mantra in the early years, and continue to inspire and remind me of how a dream can be transformed into a reality.

Upon asking Martin recently what lessons he had learnt over the last 2 years he simply summarised them with the following words.

“To be prepared to work very hard, treat your customers as you would wish to be treated yourself and keep a sense of humour at all times!”

One of the many and most pleasant unexpected events, which followed that chance reunion in 1999, was when Tania & Martin married on the 16th of June of this year. 
Now that’s something one could never have forecast!
 

Tania Salman is one of 3 board directors of Expat Essentials based near Heathrow Airport. Born in Chiswick, West London, she spent both her childhood and adult years living abroad, both in Europe and the Middle East. Tania worked for over 15 years in the international transportation industry primarily in the fields of Sales & Marketing. Tania is a member of the UK’s Institute of Transport and Logistics. To visit Expat Essentials web site visit www.expatessentials.co.uk

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