Alfred Griffioen. Doing business in Europe

Transcription

1 Alfred Griffioen Doing business in Europe

2 2 Alliance experts is a global network of business development specialists

3 We help companies to enter new markets profitably Choose your export country Start selling Optimise your profit Country data World Trade Analytics Market Quick Scan Market Research Orientation Visit Business partner search Online sales Own sales team Business case check Negotiations & agreements Country management 3

4 Contents One Europe, many countries Focus on France Prepare for the international market Selling to Europe Test your products in France 4

5 One Europe, many countries

6 6 One Europe, many countries

7 7 Germany: strong as ever

8 8 France: concentrated in Paris

9 9 UK: open economy, but for how long?

10 10 Italy: something went wrong...

11 11 Netherlands: tulip paradise as ever

12 Cultural differences (roughly) North/West Focus on the business Short lunches Direct communication Limited price negotiations Business and private separated South/East Focus on relationship Long lunches Indirect communication Price negotiations possible Business and private combined 12

13 13 Doing business in Germany

14 Longer term economic developments Population growth is limited, population is ageing Eastern Europe is still developing and will get closer to the level of Western Europe EU will remain dominant and will include more countries Economies are mostly stable: no new Greek situations Western Europe will remain strong in innovation and productivity enhancements Tourism to Europe will continue to grow 14

15 Brexit: short term gain, long term pain

16 Focus on France

17 Geography and Population Location: Western Europe Time zone: CET (= GMT+1 / +2 in summer time ) Capital: Paris Surface: 550,000 km² Population: 64 million Density: 116 /km² Language: French *Figures for metropolitan/mainland France 17 Significant Facts France has two coastlines: Atlantic and Mediterranean France has borders with 7 countries (clockwise): Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom France has a natural population growth and a very high life expectancy (over 82 years)

18 Main regions and major cities Phone # begins with 01 ILE DE FRANCE 02 NORTH WEST 03 NORTH EAST 04 SOUTH EAST 05 SOUTH WEST 10 major urban areas population 1. PARIS LYON MARSEILLE TOULOUSE LILLE BORDEAUX NICE NANTES STRASBOURG RENNES 0.7 and over 35,000 townships! 18

19 Economy and international trade GDP: $2,600 billion (#6) GDP per capita: 40,000 (#20) Currency: Euro ( ) Exports: $580 billion (#6) Imports: $640 billion (#6) Inflation rate: 0.5 % Agriculture: 1.7% Industry: 19.8% Services: 78.5% Significant Facts Government spending is high but it protects the purchasing power of the population in difficult times France is a net importing country located within the European Union and the Eurozone The transportation and communications networks are among the best in Europe. 19

20 Industries and companies 3,14 million companies 31 companies within FG500 (#4) FDI stock is over 1,000 billion USD Strong industries: food, cosmetics, aeronautics, automobile, health, banking, insurance, fashion, culture, tourism, distribution, internet and high-tech Significant Facts 22,000 foreign-owned companies (FOCs) operate in France FOCs employ 13% of the working population FOCs generate 1/3 of French exports FOCs undertake 20% of French R&D Every year, 80 million tourists come to France! 20

21 21 Major French global companies

22 How to do business in France? The language issue Be formal and professional Be eloquent and logical Watch your manners Be curious and share opinions Take your time and enjoy 22

23 Prepare for the international market

24 Rule #1: Make sure your product stands out Coming from abroad you will always have a disadvantage compared to local producers. So make sure that your offering either is: Unique (so you won t have any competitors) Better (or being perceived as better), and/or Cheaper 24

25 Estimated costs to enter a new market (before any substantial revenue comes in) Nr. Offering / Market Simple Average Complex 1 Simple product 20,000 USD 50,000 USD 80,000 USD 2 Service from abroad 30,000 USD 50,000 USD 80,000 USD 3 Product with service 70,000 USD 100,000 USD 150,000 USD 4 Customised product 70,000 USD 100,000 USD 150,000 USD 5 Customised service 100,000 USD 150,000 USD 250,000 USD Hours based on a all-inclusive cost-based rate of 100 USD/hour, travel on economy flights and 4* hotel 25

26 Importance of branding

27 Why branding $ 27

28 A well chosen Western brand name is necessary Milward Brown research: Only 23% of Western consumers could name a Chinese brand Only 32% said they had faith in product made in China Don t take the literal translation of your company name Choose a name that may resemble your name but has the right sounds and elements in it. 28

29 29 Iran brands are not well known in the rest of the world

30 Persia has higher brand value Associations with Persia are have to do with warm, romantic, ancient, mysterious Using this in your brand of product name gives a positive connotation 30

31 Important things about branding What, How, Why What s your story? Authenticity is key You have to develop key values first that fit your company 31

32 Spending money on branding For retail products, the right packaging can ensure up to 5 times higher prices Also for TV-commercials, development costs are 10-20% of the total costs Knowing your target group is where it all starts, so it starts with research 32

33 Do you want to export to a new country? Go there first for orientation Especially if you have never done business there before or if you are introducing a new product or service What we mostly do: Day 1: Business environment & trends Review of your product and marketing materials Visiting potential clients/retailers Competition analysis Day 2: Meeting with parties who can play a role in the distribution Discussing the best approach to enter the market Defining next steps After the visit you will have a better understanding how much you can sell and what your investments will be 33

34 Selling to Europe

35 First question: what product or service? West-European market is moving to more design more sustainable more individual choices Cheap mass-market products are still sold, but at low prices, so also low margin for the manufacturer Services are mostly local: but opportunities should be there with Software-as-a-Service 35

36 Selling to Europe: where to start? Germany UK France Italy Spain Netherlands...

37 Country selection: from general to more specific General country data: like spending power, country size and ease of doing business Market Quick Scan: an insider s view on the chances of your product or service in a country. World Trade Analytics: trading information for your specific product category, based on the HS-code Market Research: in-depth insights, numbers, distribution channels and competition analysis 37

38 Finding distributors for products Agent or distributor? Agent receives a commission but is no part of transaction Distributor buys your goods and resells them Distribution structures differ per country Germany: per state, or per major city UK: focus on London, then the smaller cities France: everything controlled out of Paris Italy: start in the north, work to the south 38

39 Example: Ecocam Kodak and Minion branded webcams, with cloud storage Product already sold in the US through Wallmart Focus in Europe on France and Italy, because they already had an agent for Germany Alliance experts did partner search and the first meetings with large retailers Their products can now be bought at FNAC, one of France s largest retailers 39

40 Example: Iprosport Sportsdrink, isotonic, no sugar Good reception in the UK deals with the army sports sponsoring advertising Have appointed an agent for the Middle East, who wanted to start in Turkey Turkish distributor should do all the marketing Still nothing sold in Turkey 40

41 Example: Bona Swedish family company Provides a complete range of maintenance products for wooden floors They train their distributors to become the local specialist in wooden floor maintenance Distributor gets extensive marketing materials and they co-fund advertising Alliance experts found them distributors in Thailand 41

42 How to stand out from the crowd? A Western brand name Website and product materials in English, and in Western style Good customer/distributor support Reaching out: trade shows or approaching distributors directly Brand positioning and brand marketing 42

43 If you go to trade shows, what are your targets? How many people will you speak? 40 people per day is the max. How many people will grab your materials? How many of these people are the right people? What are your targets? Do you want to reach customers? Do you want to find agents or distributors? Do you want to create brand awareness?

44 Trade shows versus direct approach Trade shows High fixed costs Booth easily 10,000 USD Flights + hotel 3,ooo USD Staff time & costs Results 40 chats per day only 10 interesting 2 or 3 potential (small) distributors Direct approach Partnering profile: what do you want and offer? Long-list of over 20 potential distributors The local Alliance experts partner approaches them This way we work towards a short list of 3 to 5 interested and suitable companies You can then come over and meet them in a few days 44

45 Example: Joysun vacuum pumps Joysun is located in Shanghai Joysun has assimilated advanced German vacuum pump technologies Alliance experts did partner search in India, Iran, Russia and Brazil Defining the partnering profile was an important step directly related to their export strategy 45

46 Test your products in France An all-inclusive e-commerce and fulfilment solution to test your products on the French market

47 What is E-Marketest France? E-Marketest France is an integrated allinclusive solution to test your products on the French market, which includes: Warehousing solutions E-marketing solutions E-commerce solutions Only 2 weeks* to set up! * from Europe Fulfilment solutions 47

48 What does Emarketest means for you? You send a batch or pallet of your goods to France We place them on a website with the right pictures and descriptions for the French consumers We arrange all sales processes, logistics and return You ll get clear feedback how you product is doing. We can experiment with pricing and descriptions. All costs our being covered out of our sales commission, you only have set-up costs of 2000 Euro.

49 49 Different products on the website

50 50 Product listings

51 51 Cross selling suggestions

52 Questions

53 We help companies enter new markets, profitably! Please contact us for any questions! Mahdi Hayatbakhsh Alfred Griffioen alfred.griffioen@allianceexperts.com Arnaud d Halluin arnaud.dhalluin@allianceexperts.com 58