4pManagement Ltd

Best laid plan’s….. my plan was to write this quarterly, but due to work commitments I’m only now getting round to summing up the last two quarters.

I’m grateful for the trust my two clients have shown in my business. It would be easy for both to not have the hassle of engaging a “pet food manufacturing consultant” but both have shown faith in my references and engaged my company on interesting projects.

Business evolves, adapting to market trends. In my original business plan the aim of my company was to offer productivity improvement projects to the food industry, either through capital investments in automation or taking existing lines and applying improvement routines to help line management maximise what they have.

But all my work so far has been in capital investments in the pet food industry, using my 30 years of experience in line design, equipment selection, planning, investment management and implementation to help them reduce the risk and maximise the return on investment.

So far so good. The work is enjoyable due to the diverse range of people I’m dealing with; stakeholders, suppliers, and site staff. All different and all requiring attention to ensure I meet the terms of engagement.

In the last blog I envisaged spending more time marketing 4pm Ltd, whilst I have continued to reach out to old colleagues working for new pet food companies, making sure they know what my company can offer it’s been via my network, something in Nestle I didn’t spend much time cultivating, but I’m now finding it important, and LinkedIn is a great tool for this.

My business plan had income by quarter and I’m pleased to say I am ahead of where I expected to be due to working more days then I originally planned. It’s great to be busy and when you look at the exponential growth in the cat and dog population, it’s no surprise that pet food companies are expanding their manufacturing capabilities. Which is good for 4pm Ltd.

Quarter 4 will be as busy. As one contract comes to an end, the other moves to the procurement phase of the project as we write the procurement specifications and finalise the purchase of the equipment for the new line we are working on.

I’m also hoping to win a contract for a line extension project, which if successful will require me to employ associates to help deliver the project, a step I didn’t envisage until year 3 of my business plan.

As a committed European, my work is Europe wide, looking back through my notes it’s taken me on video calls with contacts, suppliers and clients in Ukraine, Poland, Italy, Hungary, Siberia (Russia), France, Germany and Holland. I have also been involved in some provisional design information for a proposed plant in Asia.

Maybe I should have named my business 4p International!