GatewayBaltic, established in 2004, offers export intelligence and market entry services in the Baltic states for businesses looking to expand internationally. With a team of ten consultants and partnerships with various international organizations, they facilitate partner identification and market research for successful export strategies. Their comprehensive approach includes preparation, market selection, partner attraction, and relationship maintenance to ensure long-term business success.

1. The road to a new export market Inese Andersone GatewayBaltic Elizabetes str. 51 , Riga, Latvia Phone: +371 671 658 94 www.gatewaybaltic.com

2. in short Established in 2004, we are a team of ten consultants across the Baltic States: 7 in Latvia, 2 in Estonia and 1 in Lithuania We add value with our local knowledge and cross-cultural understanding composed with a professional and personal approach Unique export experience and methodology Partners:

3. Partners Global Intelligence Alliance – global Market Intelligence and advisory group cooperates with GatewayBaltic on continuous basis on market monitoring in the Baltic States and Russia. Innovation Norway – Norwegian state export promotion organization has chosen GatewayBaltic as their associated consultant in Latvia. Canadean – global beverages Market Intelligence company works with GatewayBaltic for monitoring beverages market in Baltic states. EasyLink Business Service - Czech Republic based consulting company cooperates with GatewayBaltic for partner identification projects in the Baltic states.

4. Clients

5. Sample: Client : Belmast, SIA Defining the partners Such partners defined: - Civil Construction companies; Mashine building manufacturers in energy sector Similar producers Partner search Identified 20 potential partners in Norway. After communication with potential partners, five express interest to meet with Belmast to discuss potential cooperation possibilities. Result Organised two day trade mission in October 2009 to Norway to meet 5 companies with assistance of representative from GatewayBaltic . In march 2010 received firts order from Norwegian partner. Norway | Metalworking Task: Identify and communicate with potential partners in Norwegian market to develop export for fabricated steel structures.

6. We are a Gateway for businesses entering the Baltic states and an opening for Baltic companies to international markets. our way Export Intelligence Export Intelligence services for companies interested to enter international markets with partner screening, partner identification and export management . Market Intelligence Market Intelligence solutions for international companies and organizations interested in up-to-date market information and in need for hands-on contacts in the Baltic region.

7. Export I ntelligence - step by step to a new market penetration

8. Export process professionally wisely consistently Market research and selection Offer preparation Creation of export plan Market penetration: product promotion in the market Relation maintenance and communication Evaluation of exporting capacity Export strategy

9. Step No. 1 : Export start – preparation before the jump

10. Evaluate yourself from several perspectives

11. Preparation for export Offer Is my product suitable for export? What must be configured to make it suitable to the market? What is my price offer ? What is my capacity ? Cornerstones: - Sustainable quality - Competitive price - Volume

12. Domestic and export product

13. Preparation for export Marketing Attractive Export Brand Homepage in English Company presentation Brief company overview in electronic format Product catalogue Business cards Exhibition stand and other marketing materials

14. Preparation for export Sales resources and information about markets Sales skills – export manager Experience in export customer attraction and business Good knowledge of foreign languages Sales skills and obejctive oriented operations Interest about markets Export oriented company employees Information about markets – how much do I know about my target markets?

15. Preparation for export Export strategy Do we have clear export targets ? Have we planned market penetration strategy ? Have we defiened the strategic export markets ? Does the company possess financial resources for entering the markets ?

16. Step No. 2 : Startegic market choice

17. New market choice – intelligence decisions about the strategic market choice understand compare decide

18. Stra tegic markets Poten tially interesting markets New market choice Aim: to i dentify those markets which will be strategic in future Which market to enter?

19. Aspects to think about when deciding about potentially interested markets: Geographical distance – Accesibility to market and transportation links/ costs Market size – How large is the market? What is the consumption of the market ? Economic situation in the market – What is happening in the market? What is the industry situation? Business culture – Do I understand the target market business culture and language? Existing experience – Which m arkets ha ve showed interest earlier or where your competitors are exporting ? Which market to enter?

20. Market attractivenes Deep market dive to understand your strategic market: Client and partner analysis to understand the route to the market C ompetitor analysis to understand the offering Critical market information Pre- research: market choice Market deep dive

21. What is market intelligence? Market I ntelligence is the continuous and systematic process that produces knowledge, insights and forecasts on a company’s external operating environment. M arket I ntelligence combines and analyzes information on the industry, markets, customers and competitors from multiple sources to create a comprehensive basis from which effective strategic decisions can be made.

22. Market researches News monitoring Expert opinion Information database Unpublished information Systematic and regular approach Concentrating on relevant information Integrating the information into strategic decision making Information sources

23. Enterprise environment Clients Markets Competition Suppliers Industry Technology Creates understanding about company’s existing market place and future scenarios

24. Step No.3: Creation of export strategy and plan

25. Export strategy and export plan Export strategy export take up and development strategy which sets goals, defines offer and market penetration activities , as well as, plans resources needed to succeed. Export plan activities to enter a specific market or several markets, defining time span, activities, responsibilities and proposing a budget for plan execution. Export strategy gives a company the direction and route, while export plan defines the steps necessary to be made to arrive at destination. How much costs export market penetration? How much financial resources are we ready to invest?

26. EXPORT TARGETS Defined in short term and middle term: financial targets – what turnover I want to achieve in export? export market targets – in which markets I want to operate? partner attraction targets – how many and what kind of partners I want to attract? Example – to achieve export sales aggregating 30% of the total company turnover via active work in Eastern European markets

27. Step No. 4 : E xport partner attraction

28. Sales process organization Follow up activities

29. Potential partner definition According to industry and type: Retail companies Wholesale companies Importers of specific products Production companies – raw materials, similar type companies Service providers – construction companies Other According to size: small, medium, large According to geographical coverage Explore the profiles of the companies’ existing clients!

30. Partner selection Company selection is performed based on a pre-defined potential partner profile. How? Internet (it is helpful to use translated product name) ‏ Industry related association data bases - members Industry exhibition web pages - participants Company data bases, international data bases It is suggested to find a translated name for your product, service or industry in the local language. Ussually start with selection of 20 – 25 companies.

31. How to approach potential partners Telephone  Fax  E-mail  Post  Meeting 

32. The purpose of the first call – How to address the potential partners? The contents of the communication: Self introduction – Name, Surname Country and company – brief company description Products/Services – short introduction to products/services Interest – emphasize cooperation and interest in finding partners Some questions to the other party Mention that you will call back to get the response regarding the additional information sent by e-mail and whether they have an interest in having a meeting. It is advantageous to mention approcimate time when you will be in the country. Farewell and courtesy phrases

33. Exporters to attain the highest benefit should directly go to the target market - attending exhibitions, taking part in trade missions, organizing meetings with potential customers!

34. Step No.5: Communication with clients and relationship maintenance

35. Export business is based on the personal relationship between buyer and seller Trust and reliability Long-term vision Positive cooperation Mutual benefit

36. At the moment when the first export contracts are signed and it seems that all the most difficult work has been done it is worth remembering a saying: „ It takes years to create a market, and few days to lose it. ”

37. In a receipt of successful export the folowing ingredients must be balanced : Long-term vision Carefull planning of financial and human resources Excellent preparation : marketing materials; product adaptation; market research and monitoring; exploration of business culture Knowledge needed to enter the market: preparation of product offer; potential partner selection and quality service Regular meetings to the target market Profesional attitude in creating business relationship Pay attention to details and quality

38. Export project formula = = competitive offer x promotion in the market and sales x situation in target market x l a ck

40. With pleasure we will discuss your export opportunities while having a cup of coffee! GatewayBaltic Elizabetes 51 , Riga, Latvia Tel: +371 671 658 9 4 www.gatewaybaltic.com