Simi Belo, Director of Imiis wearing 'NewHair', which is an alternative to traditional weaves and wigs.

Since taking the decision to begin exporting her ‘NewHair’ product to Canada and America in 2004, Simi Belo has seen her turnover increase by 30 per cent.

She’s also won a stack of awards, the most recent being the UK Trade and Investment’s Passport to Export award for the Best Black and Minority Ethnic Business of the Year in May.

This success has made her hungry to expand further and following a recent trip to South Africa on a trade mission, her company will shortly be launching its product in 15 different African countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.

But Ms Belo puts the speed at which her business empire has grown down to the professional help she’s received from her advisor at the Passport to Export scheme.

“If I wasn’t on the scheme all I’ve done regarding exporting would probably have taken five times longer for me to do in the good old fashioned way of doing your research, and making all the contacts and weighing up your options,” she said.

Legal advice

When you’re running your own business you’ve got to get used to things like filling in forms, and applying for things which may not all convert into something, but when you weigh it up, for the amount of hours you put in, it’s worth it if you get on it. Simi Belo

For her the greatest benefit of a personal trade advisor is being able to tap into their expertise and extensive contacts.

The company is currently using Passport to Export’s legal advice facility to draw up a contract with its new African business partner.

Although last year she managed to successfully arrange all the licensing agreements needed to export to North America on her own, Ms Belo said that her advisor’s help would have been welcome.

“When I did this with America we did it all ourselves – we got a law firm to do the contract and help us with the negotiation, which was all great, it all went through, but the whole negotiation took nearly two months and the legal fees were just phenomenal.”

For Simi Belo the pace of progress shows no signs of slowing, with Canada, America and several African countries firmly in her sights, her attention will soon be turning to the Caribbean.

Her advice to anyone considering exporting is an enthusiastic encouragement to apply for the Passport to Export scheme.

“When you’re running your own business you’ve got to get used to things like filling in forms, and applying for things which may not all convert into something, but when you weigh it up, for the amount of hours you put in, it’s worth it if you get on it,” she said.

The Passport to Export scheme provides new and inexperienced exporters with all the help and advice they need to break into international markets.

Successful applicants can expect to receive an individually tailored package of training and ongoing support as well as a grant of up to £3,000 worth of match-funding.