1. Assystem UK Ltd
11, rue de Bitbourg, L-1273 Luxembourg
Tel +352 43 39 44 Fax +352 43 38 90
E – mail: info-lu@assystemuk.com
A member of Assystem SA.
Registered in England No. 1147167
Registered Office: Club Street, Bamber Bridge, Preston PR5 6FN United Kingdom VAT Identification: LU 1469 7839
New strategies for entrepreneurship, SME development and
international cooperation in knowledge intensive industries
Siemon Smid, Assystem Group, Operations Manager, Luxembourg
ssmid@assystemuk.com
Entrepreneurs and SMEs need new strategies
Our world will not be the same in 10 years time. The generation which learned that
technology was the key to success starts to retire. Hedge funds make it clear that
banks are not even save for take-overs. Chinese companies start to set-up their R&D
centres around the world. And well-established industry sectors face unexpected
competition. Entrepreneurs and SMEs have to follow new strategies to face these new
challenges.
New entrepreneurs create the new SMEs of tomorrow
Entrepreneurs in knowledge intensive industries have a better chance to build a
successful SME than their counterparts in me-too industries. They are able to resist
competition better by protecting their knowledge. They are able to build a better
margin for their products. And they are able to build a strong product portfolio. They
even have the opportunity to build new global companies.
Which new strategies emerge for entrepreneurs and SMEs?
Thanks to lower costs of communication (chatting, Skyping, low-cost airlines)
entrepreneurs can follow new strategies never reachable before. They can adopt these
strategies more flexible and innovative than Large Companies. The new emerging
world-wide strategies are:
• Keep it simple
• Learn from your peers
• Keep it lean
• Commercialize results
• Simulate your business model
Keep it simple
Apple, IKEA, SKYPE and also Philips show us that you can win large markets by
keeping products and services simple to understand. The easier to understand the
bigger the market share.
Learn from your peers
Schools of Management, Incubators and Research Institutes can be the breading
places for new entrepreneurs with which you would like to collaborate. Get into
contact with them to find your partners and collaborators.
Keep it lean
Margins in of 60-70% are normal in China and India. But they have the
disadvantage of lack of productivity and management skills. We can only compete
with them if we outperform them in our efficiency. Therefore our production
processes should be lean and mean.

2. Assystem UK Ltd
11, rue de Bitbourg, L-1273 Luxembourg
Tel +352 43 39 44 Fax +352 43 38 90
E – mail: info-lu@assystemuk.com
A member of Assystem SA.
Registered in England No. 1147167
Registered Office: Club Street, Bamber Bridge, Preston PR5 6FN United Kingdom VAT Identification: LU 1469 7839
Commercialize results
There are many more research results and patents than ever applied. Why set up
another R&D project if you never had a look at the fast amount of results already
available?
Simulate your business model
How many entrepreneurs and SMEs understand how they are going to make
money? Why business should follow the trial and error approach if we can do
better? The new strategy is to simulate your business model and to adapt to
changing circumstances while developing it.
How do the new strategies look like?
The new strategies create new companies never heard of before, like TomTom,
Nuctech and BlueMic.
Do we want to learn from them?