You will hear a radio interview with a businessman called Brett Porter, who deve

Woman: . . . and today we’re talking to Brett Porter, whose company developed the hugely successful all-weather maps called ’Rainaway’. These are waterproof maps that can be used by people who ride motorbikes. Brett, welcome to the programme.
Man: Thanks.
Woman: You actually invented Rainaway - how did that come about?
Man: Well, anyone, like me, who rides a motorbike, understands the problem of ordinary maps falling to pieces when it’s raining or windy. There are three million bikers just in the UK, who I knew would be willing to pay for a solution to this problem. Nobody had ever produced something like Rainaway - I’d assumed it couldn’t be done . . . that the costs were too great. . . but I was disappointed that my needs as a consumer weren’t catered for, and people I knew kept encouraging me to develop and produce it as a business.
Woman: Was establishing the company difficult?
Man: In fact, I already had my own company - a motorcycle courier firm - but this was completely different and involved setting up a new business. What I’d learnt about pricing didn’t seem to apply - I’d never dealt with a ’product’ as such. But I knew I understood the market better than most. If I could make the product, I’d be meeting a demand. However, knowing where to sell and how to get it into the shops was another matter!
Woman: I see.
Man: But I was convinced the business would grow fast. I even entered the European Awards Scheme for ideas for business start-ups. It had a first prize of one hundred thousand euros’ worth of software from Croner Consulting. The awards were sponsored by Alliance Business Bank - and because I made the final shortlist, I was offered a two-per-cent interest loan from them if I needed it. They organised a dinner for everyone on the shortlist, and I happened to get chatting to their senior business consultant, who gave me some invaluable financial advice. It really helped get me started.
Woman: Did you do any trial production of the maps?
Man: Yes. I knew what they should look like - a strong cover and small enough to flick through quickly. But trials took six months. The difficulty was we had to use a really tough kind of plastic for the cover, and this had to be fed into the printer sheet by sheet - fine for a small output, but absolutely no good for large-scale production.
Woman: Did you have any trouble persuading a printing company to make Rainaway?
Man: I thought I would - it wasn’t really in a printer’s interest to make a long-lasting product. The real difficulty, though, was my lack of a track record. They thought I was just planning a one-off print run or a very small-scale operation, which wouldn’t be very profitable for them. Once I’d persuaded the boss of one firm that wasn’t the case, he seemed willing to take a chance.
Woman: Do you use someone else’s maps to make Rainaway from?
Man: Yes, we use Heme Publishing’s. Of course, given they know they’re a crucial supplier, there’s a danger in a few years they might want to buy us out. But in the meantime, I have a protected trademark, and the people at Heme Publishing realise it’s better for them to let me use my knowledge and contacts to establish the business. The alternative for them would involve spending money on producing a rival product, which I know they would be reluctant to do.
Woman: You must be pleased with Rainaway’s performance?
Man: Absolutely. We launched Rainaway in September two thousand one, and sold two hundred thousand maps in the first year alone. In the last couple of years, the company turned over in excess of seven hundred thousand pounds, our best result so far, which isn’t bad when you consider our maps retail at ten to twenty-four pounds each.
Woman: Very impressive! What’s next for Rainaway? Do you plan to extend your range?
Man: I already have plenty of other ideas for the longer term, but that’s all I can say for now. I’ve been devoting a lot of time recently to facilitating expansion by setting up a call centre to deal with mail-order sales. That’s just opened, with a staff of twenty-five. I now need to concentrate on our advertisements - they’ve been very popular so far, but it’s tough coming up with new ideas to continue to attract attention.
Woman: I wish you luck.