In this digital age, a new generation of professionals is increasingly relying on efficient yet impersonal technologies to establish business connections. Emails are fast, but faceless and voiceless—it’s not always easy to maintain personal relationships with clients. This is especially true during an era of increasing globalization, when business partners and customers may be scattered all around the globe.

But Michael Short isn’t getting caught up in the trend; he believes in the power of building up a solid relationship with each client. Short is the director of Kent-based supplier PMC Marketing Ltd., and his business model has served him well for over a decade. “PMC primarily supplies industrial chemical products for manufacturing industries,” Short explains. “In modern times, a lot of business is conducted via email. Although we do communicate that way every day, we also believe strongly in personal relationships. This does involve fairly extensive travelling, incurring costs and taking time, but this builds up trust.”

Short started PMC in 2000 when he and a business partner bought out the trading division of a suffering production company with a goal of “building it up on a bigger scale.” From the beginning, his vision was global. He seized on a wealth of opportunities in Latin America, having already formed some business relationships with manufacturers there. “We started out in Venezuela,” he recalls. Since then, they’ve branched out considerably within the region. Short notes a growing potential for business in Colombia and Peru, for instance, and PMC has built business in those countries as well as Chile, Brazil and others. In parallel, the company has already laid the groundwork for business in the Far East, with strong relationships particularly in Taiwan and China.

Drawing from previous experiences in the trading business—he was formerly in the international chemicals division of Shell Petroleum and was a tenacious student of international business at London College—Short has built his company on the principles of trustworthiness, perseverance and confidence. These ideas were integral to surviving the economic downturn, he said. “It helps to overcome in difficult economic times. An entrepreneur must be self-reliant and proactive, use critical thinking and be optimistic.”

His aptitude in international business, which stems from a genuine interest in bridging the gap between different cultures, notably between Asia and Latin America, has fostered the successful growth of his business overseas over the past 11 years—and that growth shows no signs of stopping.

www.pmcmarketing.co.uk