The document summarizes a presentation given by Patrick Nelissen at the 14th annual SME Development Conference in Singapore in November 2016. The presentation provided advice to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on accelerating business expansion abroad. Some key points included conducting market research and finding good sales/distribution partners in target markets. The presentation also emphasized the importance of having a solid marketing and sales plan as well as feedback mechanisms to learn from mistakes. It also suggested that SMEs consider collaborating through mini-consortiums or joint ventures to share costs and risks when expanding internationally.

1. How to accelerate
your business
expansion
14th Annual SME Conference Singapore 2016
November 2016

2. SME Conference Singapore
DRIVERS OF FUTURE VALUE
Shifting Gears Toward Client-Centricity
The 14th annual SME Development Conference continuously seeks to
supports Singapore SMEs’ development and growth needs by
addressing current key challenges businesses face, in the midst of rising
competition resulting in a loss of market share. It proposes initiatives
and strategies for SMEs to shift their focus and embracing the concept
of client-centricity by forgoing traditional product / business-driven
strategies while adopting a more client-driven strategy.
Client-centricity seeks to understand the clients’ current needs and
wants and ensure that businesses are equipped with the right strategies,
processes and marketing initiatives to satisfy them. Client engagement
and acquisition through branding efforts, customised services and
advertising & promotional activities are increasingly part of businesses
efforts in securing and retaining loyal clients, who are ultimately
responsible for a company’s success.
2Sherpa’s co-founder Patrick Nelissen was one of the expert panelists.
This presentation is a summary of his questions and answers regarding
business expansion abroad.
2November 2016© 2Sherpa 2016

3. SME Conference Singapore
3November 2016© 2Sherpa 2016
We’ve just published a Global Benchmark Report for SME Companies.
And when asking what they want to do, this is the top 3 according to
approx 200 participants:
• Market research
Understanding the market you want to enter is super important. What
are the demographics? What is the buying behaviour? Cultural
differences? Price levels and of course the competitors. Is my product
unique enough? Many information can be obtained by calling an
Embassy, Trade Organisation and or even use Google.
• Good investigation for a sales and distributor partner
Most companies don’t know what the new partner will bring to the
table and are relying on chances and opportunities instead of strategic
choices. Be clear what you re going to invest in this relation. And how
solid this is. You will not be the first one who spend a lot of time and
money travelling overseas and experiencing that they ran away with a
competitor who outbid you at the last moment.
• Good marketing and sales plan
This can be a one pager like the Canvas Business Model from
Alexander Osterwalder.
And the beauty of this is that this can be done quite easily. Google
search, visit the SME Portal of the Government, download toolkit and
use -free- assessment tools.

4. SME Conference Singapore
4November 2016© 2Sherpa 2016
My advice is to start a conversation with staff, stakeholders and
business partners. What did go wrong? What did go right? Many
companies don’t have a feedback loop in place and don’t learn from
mistakes. That’s something I noticed in The Netherlands, but also in
Singapore and other ASEAN countries.
And not only SME Companies don't use a feedback loop. Lets give an
example about trade missions. Do you know how many trade missions
fail? The fail rate is 95%.That’s because participants don’t look back. And
that’s because in general the KPI is quantity and not quality of the
participants.
And typically SME companies are blind-sighted by 2 things:
1) They are successful in their home country and think that this can be
copied to the new target country as well;
2) They see an opportunity and do. A typical SME business owner is a
doer and not a thinker. That’s his strength, but also his weakness. And
that’s why they are often successful in their home country.

5. SME Conference Singapore
5November 2016© 2Sherpa 2016
Let me give you an example about a private trade mission earlier this
year to Kuala Lumpur. 6 Companies from 3 countries joined forces and
went to KL. They offered comparable goods for the health care industry.
Before they went a dedicated business developer made appointments
and arranged meetings. All 6 came back home with a hot leads and/or
even a sale.
So:
If SME Companies start collaborating or even if they create a “mini-
consortium” like a joint venture, than they are much more successful.
They can share costs and revenues and sales power. Hence you can
also consider collaborating with MNCs.

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6November 2016© 2Sherpa 2016
According to international studies 88% of the exporting companies don’t
achieve their goals. The reason is often that management doesn’t have a
long term commitment to support the export initiative after a period of
18 months. And 50% of the companies don’t have an export plan and
strategy in place. And I can tell you that this is even more according to a
round table event we had recently. Even 75% didn’t have a strategy in
place.
So looking at the facts a solid strategy is crucial to be prepared and
successful abroad.
And yes, an international expert costs money, but if you know that on the
average an expansion abroad will cost a SME Company around S$
250,000; than S$ 10-20,000 is not that expensive if this expert can save
money, time and stress. And increase the success rate.
It seems that 18 months is a crucial tipping point when it comes being
successful or not. This is also depending on the capital position and
cash flow.

7. SME Conference Singapore
7November 2016© 2Sherpa 2016
Business culture plays a huge role. How many Western companies
underestimate the impact on doing business in Asia? Many of them.
We think that they are aware of the differences, but going abroad for a
holiday is completely different than doing business abroad. And again, a
business owner goes and is used to deal with differences along the way.
And if you aren’t sure how to tackle this, do a lot of research/interviews
and start with a license partner abroad. They know the tricks and can
start building up your network. And along the way you get used to the
differences and know how to handle.

8. SME Conference Singapore
8November 2016© 2Sherpa 2016
Companies are still depending on ROI, Solvency ratios and Liquidity. And
resellers, staff, suppliers don't respond that fast when it comes to
changing your organisation. So yes, traditional business rules still apply.
A SME Company needs to be more flexible, agile and mobile when it
comes to sales and marketing nowadays. This landscape is changing in
a very fast way:
• The impact of social media and the ratings and reviews, brand image,
etc. are huge compared to 3-5 years ago. Look at TripAdvisor and
booking.com.
• e-Commerce —> selling online combined to offline is growing in a fast
pace. In a couple of years there is no difference in offline and offline.
It's 24 hrs omni channel distribution.
• Online and instant payments & cyber security are more important than
ever.
• Block chain will disrupt the way we deal with ownership and
agreements.
• Usage of mobile will go much faster —> Indonesia skipped online and
most of the consumers are using their mobiles and services. You need
to have your website scaled and UX friendly.

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9November 2016© 2Sherpa 2016
Don’t be dependent on Government Grants and other Subsidies only. I
know that many Singaporean SME Companies are looking at the MRA
Grant and other grants before conducting a market research or
assessing their company. But if you cannot put S$ 50,000 - S$100,000
aside to start your business abroad, than you really should consider why
you want to expand your business abroad.
And I know that many SME Companies struggle with cash flow, so
looking at earlier collaboration possibilities I would like to urge
companies to investigate the possibilities to create a mini-consortium or
joint venture. You split the costs, reduce the risks and have designated
business developers selling your products and services abroad. And if
you can get the grant, perfect. That’s extra capital to expand faster.

10. SME Conference Singapore
10November 2016© 2Sherpa 2016
DRIVERS OF FUTURE VALUE
Shifting Gears Toward Client-Centricity
The Panel Members are experienced entrepreneurs and shared their
expertise, knowledge and thoughts with 400+ SME Business Owners
during the SME Conference 2016 in Singapore.
The questions and answers mentioned in this presentation are solely
Patrick’s answers. For more information about the other panelists,
please visit the conference’s website: http://www.dpevents.com.sg/
An other way to accelerate your business expansion abroad:
In 2016 2Sherpa published its first Global Benchmark SME Study.
Approx. 200 participants across the world took part.
You can get a free copy of the summary report by clicking on this link:
https://www.2sherpa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Summary-
Global-Benchmark-Report-10-Facts.pdf
Or you can drop us an email: contact@2sherpa.com if you would like to
have a 30 mins free call to explore your business opportunities abroad.