UKTI has helped Simon Palfreyman’s small family business, Mohdoh, to expand sales and showcase products globally. From an idea that began on a kitchen table with a few friends as customers, the business now makes 95 per cent of its sales overseas.

Mohdoh’s story begins eight years ago at a family home in Whetstone, Leicester. Simon Palfreyman, a personal trainer and single dad, was looking to help his two young sons without medication. Harry suffered from travel sickness while Jack was hyperactive.

Simon started to think back to when, as a hyperactive child himself, his mother created a homemade remedy by pouring lavender oil into clay and letting him play with it.

He began experimenting himself with aromatherapy oils and modelling clay.

Simon realised that this child friendly invention had the potential to appeal to parents everywhere, so he met up with Penny Price, one of the top aromatherapists in the UK, to create some oil for his dough. Next, he added colour based on principles of colour therapy, and the result was ‘Little Monsters’ Mohdoh’s first product. It was designed to help children with Attention.

Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as an alternative to the controversial medicine that was being used at the time.

Simon decided to seek some venture capital from a scary source. He auditioned for the hit TV show Dragons Den in front of the show’s producers but before he found out whether he had got through, the audition tape was seen by an investment company, who bought 40 per cent of the business.

Although Mohdoh was aimed at children, Simon found that the product was appealing more to the adult market, so it was rebranded. Simon introduced new products: Slim (a weight loss product) and Quit (to help stop smoking). These were showcased at the Natural Organics Show at London’s Olympia in 2010, generating strong interest from buyers and winning ‘Best New Non-Food Product of the Year’

Company name: Mohdoh

Sector: Healthcare and Medical

UKTI services used: Passport to Export, OMIS

Simon’s investors were getting a lot of interest from buyers and distributors from outside of the UK following the Natural Organics show. This is when they decided that UKTI’s knowledge of international markets would be key to their exporting success.

Find out how Simon found working with UKTI and the support given to Mohdoh, by reading the full case study.

Contacts

If you are interested in developing your business overseas please contact your local International Trade Advisor.