Now we had a business idea we needed to asses whether a market existed here in the UAE. Testing a physical product such as these screen doors and windows is a difficult proposition.

Our first approach was to look at the market in other countries particularly those with a similar climate. Australia was the natural choice as a start point and we quickly realised it was a very mature market. The product is well known and there is strong demand. Other countries such as South Africa and the US also showed a strong and growing market.

Next we discussed the idea with our friends and neighbours. We immediately got some very encouraging and positive feedback. The problem we faced was would those positive comments translate into real sales? We knew the products weren’t going to be cheap and talking about buying, and actually buying, are very different events.

So again we were confident in our idea but still not fully convinced about our initial market research. We decided to let the idea sit for a while as we contemplated our next move.

Then a funny thing happened.

Every time there was a story published about a villa break-in all our friends started contacting us asking about security screens. We got inundated with links to stories and tags in community social media groups.

The idea had taken hold. We were now convinced there was a market for a mesh security screen that could be fitted to doors and windows in the UAE.