MITCHAM MEANS BUSINESS - CASE STUDY

M. Santos Ltd - Sandra Dos Santos

When Sandra Dos Santos approached other agencies for support with her idea for a new business, she was very disappointed with the response. Disillusioned with the lack of interest in her idea, she made one more approach, this time to Jean Ottey, the Business Adviser for Mitcham Means Business, and was delighted with the response. “I would recommend Mitcham Means Business and Jean to everyone,” said Sandra, “unlike other agencies, the people at Mitcham Means Business showed a real interest in me which gave me the confidence to get going.”

On a return visit from her native Brazil, Sandra realised that while South American wines were becoming very popular, you couldn’t get Brazilian wines anywhere. “Brazil has a very rich culture and history and promoting its wines is a way of promoting another part of its history and tradition.” said Sandra. Despite continuing to hold down a full time job in Management for the time being, Sandra utilised the business support services of Mitcham Means Business in May 2007 and began trading with her first order in September 2007, while also becoming a member of Merton Chamber of Commerce.

To start the ball rolling, she attended the Business Basics workshop and the Mitcham Enterprise Group’s Peer Networking event. To accommodate her limited availability due to her full time job, there followed 1 to 1 support by phone and email covering Business Planning, Marketing and Presentation Skills, Networking and Banking.

Sandra continues to work with Jean as her business advisor and the Mitcham Means Business team as she grows her business to find premises, secures larger orders and develops her supply chain processes and associated services such as wine clubs and tastings.

For more information on Mitcham Means Business, please contact Jean Ottey on 020 8274 5784 or email jean@mertonchamber.co.uk