Panamsec.com Inc.'s slogan summarizes their long-term objective ; "Distributing Security Products Around The World". To get there, the company is focusing on money and marketing in the short term.
"Not surprisingly," says Fergus Keyes, "for a small startup the biggest challenge is finding the operating capital needed to promote and expand the business." Thanks to increasing sales and profits, the company now has the financial documentation necessary to find financing. "With an updated business plan and two years of positive growth, we believe that we can now shop for money and look for the best terms possible".
Expanding Panamsec's marketing area is the company's other current goal. When Panamsec was in the startup phase, finding security product manufacturers that would allow the company to distribute their product line was the biggest challenge. "Many manufacturers require minimum inventory to be purchased by the distributor and Panamsec as a startup, without a track record and limited financial resources, had to concentrate on becoming a known distributor within the Canadian Security Industry to attract more and more manufacturers", says Fergus Keyes.
One way the company has done this is by attending industry trade shows. "In Canada the security products business is relatively small and because of the geography of Canada, a trade show is often the only chance to speak with a potential customer from other parts of the country."
Now, however, Panamsec.com is an established security products distributor, and plans to find customers in other parts of North and Central America and Europe. "Although Canada is certainly a market for security products," Fergus Keyes explains, "it is small and Canadians in general do not invest as much in security as say, our neighbours to the south. The amazing thing about technology, particularly the Internet, is that with proper effort, you can inexpensively market your product or service anywhere in the world."
Panamsec.com Inc. is now ideally positioned to "provide competitively priced security products quickly and efficiently, anywhere in the world", thanks to a combination of good planning and hard work.
I think Fergus Keyes' advice for starting a small business has a lot to say about why his own business is so successful:
"In more than 35 years of operating both large and small companies, I think that a car or truck has all the functions that one should incorporate into a business. For example, every vehicle has a reverse gear and every business should also have a reverse gear built into the operation and be able to back up and go around an obstacle or find another route when you realize that you're going the wrong way.
On the other hand, sometimes you have to push the gas, and speed up to reach a destination before a competitor. Or, on occasion, you may have to park an idea and wait for the road conditions (usually in business, the timing) to improve. And every business should have a built in maintenance program, so at designated times, you should look "under the hood" of the business and change the oil or any other component that is not functioning properly.
Or, you might want to just cruise for a little while and think about where to go next. However, most importantly, you generally do not get in your car and just drive. You use a map or previous experience to determine where you want to go, how long you think it will take, and the best and most efficient route to get there - exactly what you have to determine, on a regular basis, in any business."
