Last year, Mitesh Soma set up discount pharmaceutical company Chemistdirect.co.uk. Since then it has become an award-winning business with a turnover of £5 million

Last year, Mitesh Soma set up discount pharmaceutical company Chemistdirect.co.uk. Since then it has become an award-winning business with a turnover of £5 million

Where did you get the idea?
My wife was a pharmacist and I compared trade prices against the retail price and was shocked. Hayfever tablets cost about 30p and can sell for just under £10. I had the idea to use the internet to sell at discounted prices.

How did you get the funding?
I invested £100,000 of my own money and got an overdraft of £150,000. We managed to keep our costs low as our business is web-based.

Did you market aggressively?
We used the radio and newspapers to advertise, as well as online methods such as pay-per-click. Once we got established, word of mouth played a big part too.

How have the awards helped?
In terms of exposure, they have certainly put us in the eyes of the media. It’s also been great in terms of networking, and has enabled us to form alliances and partnerships with people.

What next?
I want to make the company a household name, so people think of us in the same way they do of Amazon for books. In many ways, now is the perfect time, as people are looking to save money.