INTRODUCTION Health products happen to be getting popular among the population of the world as it plays a major role in healthcare

market both in industrialized and developing nations.The market for herbal supplements varies by region based on factors such as consumer awareness, product availability , forms of delivery, product acceptance and regional regulations.In the United States and Europe , herbal health products are reported to be the major share of pharmaceutical markert and it is also included in medical practice. In some markets, herbal products are highly regulated and it seems difficult to enter as companies pass through rigorous tests before it can go for mass production. In Countries like France, Germany , United Kingdom and India , herbal health products can be sold in the drug stores.There are many forms of health products used as food supplements for those who are concerned for their health. The opportunity in this field has great potential to be used as a platform in the business world.

Our company was invited for an exhibition cum business talk in Canada by an established and famous herbal health supplement ,Life for Life. In December, 2010 I led a group of herbal health supplement experts and some marketing officers for this event. It was a wonderful experience to witness companies from all over the world which participated in the event.

The company, Life for Life has been in operation for the past 100 years and has successfully invested to do their own research for the purpose of uplifting the company in this particular field. The ir products have been in circulation all over the world and still progressing in terms of product introduction and new market expansions. The quality control systems and management were professionally managed by more than a hundred scientists from various countries. Their collective ideas have integrated modern and traditional ways of preparing the herbal health and food supplements according to the present need. The company s profile clearly stated their successes , business turnaround and branches of business connections and their networks.

Market Growth and its potential in this region

$500000

$350000

$150000

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2009

2010

2011

The market for herbal health and food supplement has grown over 6.5 billion annually . Herbal sales alone are growing 20% per year. This market is led by Life and Life consumers who are concerned with their mortality. Also there has been a paradigm shift of perception of nutritional supplement . Homoeopathic and naturopathic products are seen as normal. Additionally positive medical results from major studies have further legimized these products.

The nutritional supplement market is a semi mature market characterized by high growth rates, medium barriers to entry and a few large countries. Despite the competition in the market , many companies have reported annual growth rates of 30%. The primary channels of of distributers in this market are :-

1.

Mass market retailers

2. Direct sales organization 3. Health food stores, mail order catalogs and the internet.

I did do some research and found out that the potential of the products to be marketed not only in Malaysia but in the region is very great. Based on their sales forecast for the next three years in our region is around 111 million. They are also willing to invest the in region or looking for potential investors who solely would be given the right and authorization to manage themselves. We can easily make around 55million within this period of time. This would give us sustainable profit and make our business arms to expand. We should not also forget to promote our products too. It is very much based on our discussions and negotiation at later stages before finalizing the details and approved by our companys board of directors for further engagements.

My team and I were convinced that by bringing the products to Malaysia will benefit the company in terms of business expansion. It is hoped that we can be the sole agent and distributor in our country and the region.By doing so our company can make good profit as we have the basic experience and still involved in dealing with herbal health and food supplement related products. We have to come out with proper planning and implementation as the company was very strict and serious with the potential supplying companies to have their own setting according to their geopolitical settings. We need to consider a lot factors and through studies and discussion among us would be very useful to see the success of it. I would spearhead the team and prepare the necessary things to be carried out to impress the share holders and the board of directors .Initially we had some problems in knowing the products as there were too many companies from all over the world and it was just an overview and general explanation but I managed to talk to the superiors for a personal slot and managed to succeed . We managed to get the real picture of their inventions and their international operations and also to what extend their products have reached the international market. I personally asked a lot of questions to get better understanding and succeeded in it. We managed to understand the content used and their formation and production of them. All the products are produced using organic stuffs and zero chemical based products.

Purpose of the report The purpose of this report is to give clear explanation and understanding of the companys management regarding the business trip to Canada ., The companys ultimate aim is to expand its
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businesses by engaging business transactions with leading companies. This company has vast experience in nutrition research and product development by selling to wholesalers , distributors,
agents, marketing companies and retailers worldwide. They produce herbal health supplements in forms of softgels , capsules, tablets, pill and powder. There are so far 1000 regular products with more specification and formulas. Life and Life had continued to set new standards for quality and product innovation. The purpose of the report is to expand our company s goals of internalizing our company and our own produced products besides getting products from other well established and known companies from other parts of the world and Life and Life could be one of the choice we should make as they are a reputable company in the world of herbal health supplements and health related products.It is noted based on their profile and explanation, their main customers are from South Africa as the feeder country to the whole continent and their total annual sales volume is US2.5 million for the quarter end sales. A few companies have been appointed in the country as the potential to expand to other parts of Africa is very great as the demand has increased and still moving fast rapidly to other parts drastically At present they have more than 880 branches .Their export is ranging from 71% to 80 .Our company should take the lead role here not only in Malaysia but to South East Asia as there are no other companies at present to bring their products here. During our visit ,we happened to be the only country around from this region so we should make use of our presence there to grab the opportunity if not it would be a great lost to our company on the whole. Our report is also to give the management the prospects about their products and also to give an overview of the prospect of engaging in business with them besides improving the company s performance. By having good impression and report the board of directors could make a wise decision favouring the company s potential to be a global player in this field.

It is also one way or another to put our country in the world map as a potential partner. Once our country is internationally recognized as an effective partner and to internationalized our operation by promoting their products and ours too. This would be our chance to build up our own platform to establish ourselves.

SWOT ANALYSIS According to the analysis carried out the strength of the company lies in its name and products have been established one in the field of Health products. WHO has endorsed the company in their research development and contribution to the world body in terms assistance, donations ,consultations and also a few of their scientists are sitting in several bodies under WHO. I don t see any weaknesses in their products and management of their company. The bar charts demonstrated to us was very impressive and some international rating agencies have accredited them as one of the best companies by taking into consideration of their progress and contributions to the world s welfare. They might have some weaknesses that are not obviously s noticed or seen by us. They might have their own way of solving them. The opportunities are great and everybody is trying to be part of the company . We have to make use of this situation to establish ourselves with our commitments. They are opening opportunities for the best bidders with relevant experience in the field, we have the track record to show our involvement and in dealing business before and now. We have received a lot of awards locally and within the region. These are the best testimonials to support our established followed by our financial strength and the allocation allocated for the purposes of expanding our business would be an additional bonus for us

The threats are of course there, as everybody is trying to compete among themselves. It is very common in the world of business. At present they are trying their best to outbeat some of the giant company s like AMWAT and NUTRLITE. They need to work hard and I personally feel they could achieve their targets. We too can play our role here but we need to have further discussion regarding the matter in detail if we are sure of engaging ourselves with them.

Critical issues and keys to success The issues here is more towards managerial rather than the products. Their products of world standard and they have built up their reputation. In our country ,the issue is to convince the relevant government agencies to get the aprovals. It might take a long time and if everything goes well and fine,we can take the initiative to bring their company representative to conduct a demo to imprees our board of directors and the agencies involved to fasten our approval. Marketing strategy and the promotion of the products would be a problem at the initial stage but necessary steps could be taken as they too have their promotional experts to promote their products here..W e can prepare their logistics and also make use of our own mass media for the purposes .The halal tag should also be given serious attention as our potential customers come from various faiths who are very particular about the content of the products. There would be some problem and issues and we could take the necessary actions to overcome.

Recommendation
I strongly would like to recommend to you and the board of directors to give serious attention to our new business venture with the company in Canada. I propose here that we make another arrangement to further our interest by visiting their plant and do some negotiations regarding the whole process of engaging in the business. Appointing our own experts to carry out some research and testing for a duration of time would enable us to really look into the big picture of our future commitments and our own planning. I hope the board of directors and you yourself would propose our suggestions during the company s board meeting regarding about our proposals, if possible my team and I would like to come forward and give our detail explanation regarding about our business trip and present the necessary documents needed to support the potentiality of us engaging wit

Company s position and changes The present situation of our company is very crucial and we should make a lot of changes as there are many other companies coming out with a lot of products and if we do not follow suit with other companies move we would be far left behind and the reputation of the company, its business and profits would have great impact for future business engagements. Our changes now is for improvement

and competitiveness besides our own company s survival. Our new venture in this field which our company has been involved very much depend on our present prospective new commitments abroad.In this regard our visit was an opportunity reenergize and activate our company s involvement extensively. For the past few years our dependent on the same products with fixed clients and marketing would not benefit the company ;s progress and also the management and the staffs on the whole.Our company s rejuvenation will activate our capability to do new potential distributors and new clients . New and old clents join venture initiative would be very health partnership participation .Our company s performance can be upgraded with better sales .With the new potential products introduction ,it would captivate flow of product not only locally but also in our region. It is very much depend on our strategy and the values of our shares would go up and it would also lead to a better earning for all of us. Potential and Performance Changes are inevitable as most of the companies had assigned themselves for better participation and benefit so our changes must be a holistic one comprises our total marketing activities and these products can be used as a launching pad as their quality and performance based on proven track record and evidence displayed to us really convinced us. The potential of the products and its quality were exposed and explained to us by demonstration in front of the audience present really impressed us . Some participants also raised some questions related to the products and in detail explanation was given .It was really impressive to know the products and their multi advantages that they provide for the betterment of human health and their life.

Costs and benefits If , we bring the products to be delivered by our company, the costs and benefits would be favouring us , as for the first nine months the company would take full responsibility of the transportation charges.It would be very beneficial for us if we can use this period to establish our company s involvement and marketing.We can also train our old and recruit new staffs to be trained and stationed for a better delivery system by that time.Our company can also make good revenues within a short period of time and our continuous planning and activating the market after that would be more meaningful as all the staffs would understand the company s visision and goal to achieved their pre-planned target. The

logistics and transportation should be given the utmost important as products delivery would more effective and customers first orientated approach

Conclusions
A significant trend nowadays is that people are taking more pro active interest in their health. Healthcare industries tend to grow like mushrooms and this positive change can bring a new outlook and challenges for us to conquer in this profit making business.

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