7.00 am
If you deal with companies based in the Far East and you want to talk to them by telephone or receive a quick answer then it is important once or twice a week to start early (or stay up late) in order to catch them. I am an early riser so I often make a few calls and send a few emails before breakfast. When I launched Freeman Import Company I didn't have my own computer - but now I have a completely fitted out home office with all the lastest technology, which is fabulous. I use it together with a digital camera to send and receive photographs of products.

8.00 am
Breakfast with my family. Take the kids to school. Take the dog for a walk. Read the papers (I am always on the look out for new product ideas). Only go back to my study when my wife suggests I should fix the garage door. It is wonderful working at home - the one downside is everyone thinks you are available for doing chores. I know some Import/Export agents who like to go on buying expeditions overseas - but I hate travel and I hate hotels. My idea of bliss is staying at home all day.

10.00 am
Start work in earnest. I usually devote my mornings to marketing, my afternoons to administration. However, the post brings several cheques so I spend an hour doing my accounts, writing out some invoices, and filling in the bank book. Most of my commission is paid by direct transfer into either my US dollar or sterling account which saves me a lot of time.

11.00 am
A manufacturer I have never dealt with before has sent me a box of thirty clock radios. He wants me to act for him in the UK. I spend an hour testing his product and after deciding that it is of good quality and would work well in the market. I create a fact sheet describing its features and setting out the price and delivery details. I aim to make at least 15% on everything I sell. His product offers good value for money and I know it is going to be popular. I email him a copy of my standard terms and conditions asking him to sign a copy and fax it back within 48 hours. Five minutes later the fax comes through even though he is in a time zone nine hours ahead of the UK! Keen or what?

Midday
After a break for coffee I draw up an initial list of possible customers for the clock radios. Nowadays, I have my own list of customers but there are plenty of reference sources when you are starting out. I decide email my fact sheet to around 100 wholesalers - offering them a free sample on a first come, first served basis. This takes just a few moments. I don't deal much by telephone and I rarely make a sales visit - though I do take my best customers out to nice meals every few months.

  
1.30 pm
Stop for lunch. Walk the dog. End up mending the garage door. Kids come home from school so I stop to have a cup of tea with them.

4.00 pm
Back in the office. Process orders for other products I sell. Some orders come by post, some by fax, some by email. A few messages get left on my answering machine. I pool smaller orders together to make up whole containers. Although this may mean a slight delay for my customers they are happy to wait because it means they can order less but still benefit from a rock bottom price. I've set myself a weekly sales target of £10,000. Last week I did £4,000 - but this week I've already done £18,000 and it is only Wednesday. Last year, after all my expenses, I made a profit of £57,000 - nearly £5,000 a month. I am hoping to do considerably better this year.

5.00 pm
Send all my own orders off to the manufacturers I represent. Most now have email - but some have to be faxed. It takes me half an hour. Deal with a telephone call from a wholesaler looking for electric kettles. Promise to send him details and prices within 24 hours and immediately send off an email to a dozen possible suppliers in Taiwan and China. More and more of my products come from Chinese factories - their prices are impossible to beat and the quality is getting better and better.

6.00 pm
Call it quits for the day! I've done six hours actual work - and that's enough for me. A few inquiries have already come in for the new clock radio so before I turn off the computer I run out name and address labels. First thing tomorrow morning I'll post off samples.