workshop International Strategy for Start-Ups

1. WORKSHOP
International Strategy
for Start-Ups
November 28, 2012
Organised by João Sem Medo Center
in partnership with Startup Lisboa
Led by Dorit Ferreira, Gate International
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

2. Overview INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
1. Introduction
2. What do we mean by internationalisation?
3. Why is it important to look abroad?
4. Internationalisation for Start-Ups
5. The importance of a Go-to-Market Strategy
6. Funding
7. Discussion & Final Thoughts
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

3. Definition INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
What do we mean by internationalisation?
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

4. Definition INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
What do we mean by internationalisation?
• Internationalisation is the process of recognising the influence of
international activities on the future of the company. This process is then
followed by actions, i.e. by establishing partnerships and conducting
transactions with international organisations.
• Gerald Susman (2007)1 referred to it in more general terms as the
process of increasing involvement of enterprises in international markets.
• More specifically, internationalisation comprises the planning and
implementation of specific products and services that can easily be adapted
to foreign markets and cultures.
1 Susman, Gerald I. (2007)., Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and the Global Economy,
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR
Welch & Luostarinen, 1988.,Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 281

5. Reasons INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
Why is it important to look abroad?
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Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

6. Reasons INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
Why is it important to look abroad?
• Desire to grow
• Increase in performance and recognition
• Unsolicited foreign orders
• Domestic market saturation or limitations
The crisis presents challenges at home, but also opportunities abroad
• Potential to exploit a new technological advantage
• Different geographies have different needs and complement each
other in presenting a wide range of gaps
à opportunities to build market presences
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

7. Experience INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
International Experiences
Can you share with us some of your International Experiences?
... think of obstacles, cultural
differences, political, social
and economic barriers ...
How to do business in other
countries...
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

8. Start-­‐Ups INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
Internationalisation for Start-Ups
Why should a Start-Up consider internationalising when it is only just
beginning and getting established in the home country?
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

9. Start-­‐Ups INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
Internationalisation for Start-Ups
Why should a Start-Up consider internationalising when it is only just
beginning and getting established in the home country?
• We live in a global society with local differences.
• Start-Ups are agile – it is easier for them to try something new and to
adapt.
• It is easier for Start-Ups to focus and subsequently easier to choose
P&S mix.
• Start-Ups tend to be early adopters of social presence.
The crisis presents challenges at home, but also opportunities abroad.
• The marketing function of Start-Ups is developing which gives the
opportunity to embed materials for internationalisation early on and shape
the internal marketing collateral lifecycle.
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

10. Strategy INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
What makes an international strategy so important?
• The process of internationalisation brings about opportunities for small and
medium sized enterprises (SMEs), but also some risk.
• A clearly defined strategy will help focus on the aims, target business
segments, explore the unique selling points, achieve the best market
positioning, minimise risks and overcome difficulties while continuously
assessing success and investment levels.
• The Internationalisation Strategy must take into account the company’s
economic ability to incorporate strategic and operational change.
• Internationalisation is a strategic development whereby operational
planning leads to successful implementation of international activities.
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

11. Approach INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
1. Vision and Goals
2. Starting Point / Analyses 5. Internationalisation, First Step
3. Strategy Definition 6. Control
4. Strategy Implementation 7. Strategy Review
8. Internationalisation, Step Two
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

12. Implementation
example INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
The three phases we advise our clients.
Phase
One
Phase
Two
Phase
Three
• Go-­‐to-­‐market
strategy
• Conferences
• Customer
rela,onship
• Marke,ng
collateral
• Networking/associa,ons
management
• Web
presence
• Project
management
• Targeted
introduc,ons
• Media
and
PR
strategy
• Publica,ons
and
PR
• Risk
management
• Methodologies
and
• Demonstra,ons
• Case-­‐study
and
best
templates
prac,ce
harves,ng
• Proposals
and
contracts
• Business
Development
• References
• Opportunity
tracking
Ac,vity
Plan
• Follow-­‐up
business
Strategy
and
Planning
Lead
Genera3on
Engagement
Management
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

13. GTM
Strategy INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
Framework.
What
to Sell
Go-to-Market To Whom
Strategy to Sell
How to
Sell
• Defining the GTM Strategy or To Whom, How and What to Sell involves
reassessing the business. To do this, we are looking at (1) value
innovation, (2) market innovation, and (3) business model
innovation - the cornerstones of the GTM Strategy.
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

14. GTM
Strategy INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
Components.
1. Value Innovation - ‘What’
• Mission and Values
• Unique Selling Points (USPs)
• Products and Services (P&S)
2. Market Innovation – ‘To Whom’
• Geographies
• Verticals
3. Business Model Innovation – ‘How’
• Marketing
• Operations and Support
• Partnerships, Investment and Change Management
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

15. GTM
Strategy INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
SWOT Analysis
Internal
factors
External
factors
Positive Negative
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Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

16. Value
Innovation INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
Products and Services Mix (P&S)
• It is vital to get the right mix of Products and Services
• There are well-known methodologies that can be used to better plan the
Product & Services mix. One of the most used is the Marketing Mix, often
referred to as the 4 Ps of Marketing (first introduced McCarthy, 1960)
includes marketing strategies of product, price, placement and
promotion. .
• For a Start-Up, being able to “correct course” is much easier. This allows
for trial and error provided there isn’t a large amount of investment involved.
• Staying with an agile strategy is key to the ability to home in on the
right mix!!!
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

17. Market
Innovation INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
(example)
Verticals
• Tourism, Retail, Finance, Telecoms... different countries have very disparate
strengths and needs in different industry sectors – knowing where the sweet spots
are is KEY, as is to change with them!
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

18. Market
Innovation INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
Vertical Analysis (example)
Verticals - Tourism
• Large hotel chains will be good candidates in the tourism industry.
• Online is the vastly preferred channel for booking travel.
• In absolute terms Brazil, Germany and the UK have the largest number of
people online in tourism.
• Booking via new technologies is the most relevant trend for the next decade.
• Social media, mobile and new technologies offer the biggest opportunities
(pie chart below).
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

19. Business
Model
Innovation INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
Marketing
• The marketing function, communication, and materials have to take into
account international business and be enhanced accordingly.
• The choice of language and business focus of the content whilst
maintaining an emotional element are important.
• Participation in industry events is recommended.
• The website content will need to be bilingual in Portuguese and
English. Other languages may be added later.
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

20. Business
Model
Innovation INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
Operations and Support
• A model for sustainable operation and growth has to work in two
ways. It has to support opportunity creation and project delivery
outside of Portugal whilst minimising the impact on the smooth
running of the domestic operation.
• The project execution and support could follow different models:
• Near-shore
• ‘Commando-Infantry’
• ‘Anchor’
• Execution at the client site
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

21. Business
Model
Innovation INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
Partnerships, Investment and Change Management
• Partnerships – partnership models
• Investment – Budgets for foreign investment, capacity building, and
marketing should change over time in accordance with additionally
generated international business
• Government funding programmes for SMEs wanting to
internationalise could be explored
• Change Management – Internationalisation and growth will require
changes to the organisation. Managing this change is vital and can
only be achieved by carefully monitoring all aspects of the business.
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

22. Funding INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
• There is an increasing number of incentive programmes to help SMEs work
internationally
• The European Commission has been funding projects in several areas:
– Environment, Energy and Transport (e. g. Marco Polo II)
– Innovation and Research (e. g. Competitiveness & Innovation Framework
Programme)
– Culture and Media
• The European Union is also putting out programmes of funding to support:
– Promotion of necessary Management Skills
– Creation of Trans-National networks
– Initial steps (financially)
– Governments to locally create further incentives
• Funding is also available at National Level, and it varies from country to
country.
– For example, IAPMEI has a number of programmes:
• Programme 06/SI/2012 (finance consulting to help competitiveness)
• Programme 10/SI/2012 (increase international activity and readiness)
• A large number of SMEs don’t benefit from funding because they
don’t know about it!! (only 34% of German SMEs2 for example)
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR
2 Hauser, C., Barriers to SME Access to Promotion of Foreign Trade and Investment,
Institute for SME Research Bonn, Germany

23. Discussion INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR START-UPS
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR

24. Thank
you
for
your
time!
Please
find
below
our
contact
details
for
future
reference:
We are happy to accompany you all the way on your journey to internationalisation!
ü We can define international Go-To-Market, Marketing and Business Strategies
ü Review operational models and improve processes
ü Build or enhance your marketing function, communication and marketing collateral
ü Help with international PR and events
ü Assist with available funding, both at national and at European level
ü Find partnerships and networking opportunities
ü Provide representation services and help with setting up an office
Dorit
Tavares
Ferreira
Ilidio
Ferreira
Managing
Director
Director
t
+49.40.53.271.491
t
+49.40.53.279.462
m
+49.160.94.400.500
m
+49.157.7506.3530
e
d.ferreira@gateinterna,onal.eu
e
i.ferreira@gateinterna,onal.eu
Neukamp
16
w
22399
Hamburg
w
Germany
www.gateinterna,onal.eu
© 2012
Gate
Interna,onal
GbR