Speak the language of European customers

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Enterprise Ireland’s GradStart programme helps companies to break through the language barrier.

The single market has given Irish companies free and unfettered access to markets across Europe, and the euro has eliminated currency risk in the majority of them, but a significant trade barrier remains – language. When compared with other EU member states, particularly those in the west of the continent, Ireland lags behind when it comes to language proficiency.

This lack of skills can present real difficulties for Irish companies seeking to break into European markets. “You have to be proficient if you want to be taken seriously,” explains Helen McMahon, senior executive for Client Skills with Enterprise Ireland. “Cultural understanding is also very important when entering a new market, and the ability to speak to potential customers in their own language is vital in that respect.”

 

Overcome the language barrier with GradStart

Help is at hand for companies who wish to overcome the language barrier in the form of the Enterprise Ireland GradStart programme, a new initiative aimed at supporting Enterprise Ireland client companies with the recruitment of graduates to help develop and expand their businesses.

“The programme has been designed to support companies to attract talent and recruit graduates,” says McMahon. “It will help them create a talent pipeline to support and grow their business.”

GradStart provides financial support for the recruitment of up to three graduates in a company. Fifty per cent of the graduate’s yearly salary, subject to a maximum of €15,000 per annum in grant aid, is available for two years, depending on certain conditions.

“The graduate has to be allocated to a specific role and project in the business,” McMahon points out. “The company has to show that it will benefit from having additional expertise in that role and that it will contribute to the growth plan for the business. There also has to be potential for the graduates to learn and acquire new skills. We want the graduates to develop and gain from it as well.”

Very importantly, additional support is on offer for graduates with proficiency in a language relevant to this business; for this cohort, grants of up to 70% of salary subject to a maximum of €21,000 per annum for two years is available. Language proficiency is defined as the graduate being a native speaker; and/or holding a diploma in a required language from a recognised language institute; and/or has lived in a country for at least six months where the required language is the first language of that country; and/or holds a minimum level 6 qualification from a course wholly or partly dedicated to language studies.

“This will help address the lack of language skills in companies,” says McMahon “and help companies attract graduates with language ability. Although graduates cannot be assigned to direct sales and marketing roles, they will add enormous value to a company in areas crucial to successful market entry and growth such as market analysis, research on market needs and competitors, and marketplace profiling or roles in other key aspects of the business. Having a direct knowledge of the local language is essential for all of these things.” Over time, these graduates may have the opportunity to become permanent members of staff.

 

Importance of languages in the Eurozone

Looking to the Eurozone, she points out that language is vitally important regardless of the market concerned. “Even in the Netherlands, where English is so widely spoken, company websites and technical documentation will be in Dutch, and you need to fully understand these in order to compete successfully.”

IMS Labels hired graduate Marcella Mendes, who speaks Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and English, with the support of the GradStart programme. “The Enterprise Ireland GradStart Programme has not only enabled IMS Labels to rapidly develop our expertise through highly skilled graduates, it gave us an instant advantage in our international target markets through multilanguage capability,” says Commercial Director, Steven Burke.

Contract manufacturer Keltech has benefited through hiring a German-speaking graduate: “English is the universal business language,” says Business Development Manager, Seamus Lawlor. “However, we felt that certain opportunities were not being realised by not speaking our clients’ mother tongue. The introduction of our native German-speaking graduate in 2018 bridged this gap. Our clients are genuinely impressed that we have taken the time and effort to recruit a multilingual employee who can dive deeper into their requirements through their native language.”

Developing in-company capability for Eurozone languages is increasingly important, particularly in light of Brexit. “Even if there was no Brexit, there is a need to build Irish exports in the Eurozone,” McMahon notes. “And we must not let language be a barrier to that. The GradStart programme can help companies overcome that barrier while also bringing in new skills to help them meet their growth ambitions.”

The benefits aren’t limited to Eurozone markets of course. “Language proficiency can be even more important in Asia, where English is not so widely spoken, and cultural sensitivity can be crucial to success. GradStart can help companies recruit overseas graduates who were studying here and are now looking for an opportunity to stay on,” McMahon adds.

Companies wishing to avail of support under the GradStart programme should contact their Enterprise Ireland development advisor in the first instance. “They will guide the company through the process and assess if they are eligible for support to employ one, two or three graduates. We can help companies find the graduates, but we also encourage companies to source graduates directly. We recommend that companies build relationships with third-level institutions to support them to build talent pipelines for the future. We have set up the gradhub.ie website to help companies find the right graduates and they can also use the gradireland.ie website.”

winning contracts US

Negotiating the non-negotiables: Tips for winning contracts in the US

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In a David and Goliath business encounter, David stands a better chance of success if it is obvious that he is good at what he does, said Sally Hughes, CEO of the International Association for Contract & Commercial Management (IACCM), speaking at this year’s E3 Entrepreneurship Export Exchange conference, organised by Enterprise Ireland and Global Situation Room.

 

IACCM is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to raising the value and integrity of trading relationships worldwide, working side-by-side with both buyers and suppliers and with both mega-corporations and SMEs.

In her presentation, Hughes covered three lists:

  • the most common terms included in standard US contracts
  • the most important terms included in US contracts
  • strategies that SMEs need to adopt when dealing with major corporations.

She also described an example of an unnamed SME owner who negotiated a life-changing deal with retail giant Walmart and discussed how Irish firms could follow their example.

 

Show you’re an expert in your field

“In an environment where one side has significant buying power, as a supplier you have to demonstrate great quality and value,” she says. “More importantly, you need to present yourself as an expert in your field.

“The one area where there will inevitably be negotiation is price but it’s critical not to get dragged down in those discussions early on. In fact, in the first few meetings you don’t want to be negotiating price at all. The key to meaningful negotiation, and to the effective management of risk, is to get to know the buyer well.”

In Hughes’s Walmart example, the successful SME supplier spent 18 months getting to understand the retail giant’s needs. Notably, when the supplier was offered a contract with Walmart’s non-negotiable conditions, his lawyer warned him that the terms were ‘too risky’ and could cause the collapse of his business but the supplier continued to negotiate a deal.

 

Negotiating contracts in the US

According to Hughes, the terms most commonly negotiated in standard contracts in the US include:

  • Limitations of liability
  • Indemnification
  • Price, charges and price changes
  • Termination of contract
  • Scope and specification
  • Warranty
  • Performance guarantees and undertakings
  • Payment terms
  • Data protection, security and cyber-security
  • Liquidated damages.

Indeed, the IACCM chief said that, very often in contract negotiations, the areas that partners battle over the most are not always the most important. Hughes advised that the most important contract terms to focus on are those that will contribute most to your success, largely:

  • Scope and goals
  • Responsibilities
  • Prices, charges and price changes
  • Service levels
  • Performance, guarantees, undertakings
  • Limitation of liability
  • Payment terms
  • Warranty
  • Product specification

In the Walmart case, the SME owner believed he had to be better than the competition at accepting and managing risk. As part of his deal with the retailer, he requested access to sales data so that he could assume responsibility for ensuring that his products moved off the shelf.

“Success depends on the quality of the information flow from buyer to seller,” said Hughes. “Transparency is key and is in both parties’ best interest. This is about a partnership, no matter what your relative side.”

 

Winning business in the US

If you want to win business from bigger customers than you have ever had before in the United States, Hughes advised following these strategies:

  • Be better than your competition at accepting and managing risk
  • Demonstrate your expertise and educate your buyer – before discussing price
  • Get the buyer emotionally involved in your product or service
  • Demand quality information flows between you and your customer
  • You might not be able to negotiate ‘boilerplate’ – the standard terms and conditions listed at the end of most contracts – but you can ensure you implement good governance through communication protocols and problem-solving techniques
  • Even if it seems like a David and Goliath scenario, it is about a partnership. Big buying power doesn’t have to mean big negotiation power – that is down to you.

“Selling in the US market takes planning and it takes persistence,” added Hughes. “You need to understand who you are selling to, what rules and procedures they’ll be following, how will they measure value and what weightings they’ll apply to selection criteria.

“You’ll also need to have developed a negotiation strategy, how you will convince them that you are a reliable supplier committed to the market, that you are an expert in your field, that you are passionate about your product or service and that you understand fully the nature of your competition. You need to educate your buyer.”

 

Read more on doing business in the US market.

Spearline Irish telecoms monitoring global brands

Spearline: Irish telecoms monitoring company delivers peace of mind to global brands

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Monitoring millions of calls across the world

Somewhere in South Korea a Mastercard client is attempting to call customer service to talk about their account – but they can’t. The call drops. If this continues the customer will become frustrated and unhappy.

They’re going to make one more call attempt before lodging a complaint.

More than 10,000 km across the Pacific in Saint Louis, Missouri, the dropped call has not gone unnoticed. In real time, Mastercard’s command centre has been alerted and reroutes calls to its contact centre via another carrier route. The next time the South Korean customer dials they go straight through on a perfect line.

 

Addressing a problem using Irish innovation

The complaint never comes. Mastercard’s brand equity remains unimpacted and the firm’s Vice President of Global Contact Centre Infrastructure Management, Tom Hinds, knows millions of similar calls are being monitored thanks to Spearline, an Irish telecoms firm based in Skibbereen, County Cork.

Spearline’s phone number monitoring software was adopted by Mastercard just over a year ago. It is soon to be rolled out to almost all of the Mastercard network, a network that spans 65 customer contact centres in 128 different countries.

For Hinds, the Spearline product has solved a problem companies like Mastercard, Amazon and other global footprint firms have encountered: finding out exactly where phone line degradation occurs so they can fix it.

Hinds says, “The peace of mind it gives me is tremendous. I’m not waiting for a phone call from some country’s president telling me that the level of service is not good because I’m aware of the service ahead of time. I know when the service is degraded, and I know when to move it so I don’t get those calls anymore.

“It’s a big win. You can’t put a dollar amount on that but it’s a big win.”

It’s not only a big win for Hinds but for 15 years of product development and testing, iteration, and refining for Spearline. The firm’s automated phone number testing software has required not only innovation but investment. Spearline can respond to the needs of Fortune 500 companies because it has sited its monitoring servers in more than 60 countries around the world, enabling it to deliver precise geo-located results, as well as real-time loss in quality of service.

 

Eolving for rapid global growth

Co-founded by university friends Matt Lawlor and Kevin Buckley, Spearline began by selling localised open source software for the Irish business telephony market. But it was the market disruption of the recession that catalysed Spearline to evolve and develop the innovative product that drove its rapid global growth.

Liam Dunne Chief Commercial Officer explains, “We realised that large multinational organisations really had no visibility on the performance nor uptime of telephone numbers across the globe.

“Companies had telephone numbers all over the world but they had no sense that, if an end user picked up the phone in a particular country, that the number was going to work. With global call center operations costing into the hundreds of millions to setup and run; the performance of a single phone number has the ability to crash the whole infrastructure, investment and waste hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single instance. A phone number not operation effectively can have a detrimental effect on a company’s brand.

“It was a complete blind spot for them.

“The only way to find out that it wasn’t working was when customer complaints racked up and the business was negatively affected through missed calls and lost sales.

“It was more than a blind spot, it was a real risk factor.”

 

Holding service providers to account

In addition to helping Mastercard deliver on its customer experience, Spearline’s automated phone number testing dashboard allows it to hold service providers to account with precise data on outages and loss of QOS.

Hinds adds, “It also holds our carriers accountable to service agreements. There wasn’t a reliable way of measuring that before. With this tool we can draw down reports and tell carriers on exactly what circuit or time of day poor quality of service was recorded.”

Spearline’s approach is working. Turnover has risen 70% for the past two years and the company now has more than 60 employees based in its Skibbereen HQ with a global sales office in Mooncoin, Kilkenny, plus other office locations in India and Romania. Its servers are used as test lines in 66 countries.

Impressing an experienced telecoms VP like Mastercard’s Hinds isn’t easy. But he admits Spearline has something special.

“It is a unique offering. Carriers do have an offering but none of the ones I’ve seen can measure from in-country, where the call is originating, to the country of destination, across multiple carrier hops.”

Spearline refuses to stand still. It projects further growth and increased demand for its new product that solves the headache of being GDPR compliant for firms. Another simple but sophisticated software solution.

 

Read more about the Irish companies using innovative products and services to sell into international markets.

Irish ambition winning in France

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Sinead Lonergan, Enterprise Ireland’s country manager for France, looks at the opportunities allowing Irish companies like Smurfit Kappa and Grant Engineering to win in this big market.

 Opportunity comes to pass not pause and right now it’s in France. That was the message from Terry McGivern, Chief Operating Officer of Smurfit Kappa in France and keynote speaker at Ambition France.

 The event was the first in a series of Enterprise Ireland workshops for Eurozone markets and a step towards creating a peer group of Irish companies selling into France.

 Ambition France provided seminars, presentations and panel discussions based on learnings from Irish companies already succeeding in France. Attendees included a highly targeted group of businesses keen to emulate that success. 

 

Why France should be your next export focus

France is the sixth biggest market in the world, with a GDP of €2.5 trillion and a population of 66 million. Delegates at Ambition France left with a sense of the opportunity that exists in a growing market in which consumer confidence is increasingly buoyed.

Part of the reason Enterprise Ireland is building this peer group is because we know that having a network of people willing to share successful commercial tactics helps to accelerate business success. 

With France, however, there is also an additional reason. A key recurring theme at Ambition France focused on how hugely relationship-based the market is and how challenging it can be to develop these relationships. Securing a referral helps enormously, which is why I’m keen to bring first time entrants together with seasoned campaigners.

Recruitment can also be a challenge. Niall Fay of Grant Engineering told of his company’s recent success securing experienced French staff to help open up the market. It was a significant advantage in a country in which having team members with established relationships is so important.

To overcome these challenges, Irish businesses need to make their value proposition clear and really sell the company to prospective employees. It’s worth doing, when local staff with a strong network of contacts can be a huge advantage in accessing potential customers.

We at Enterprise Ireland help too – opening doors, fostering links, and ensuring French buyers are aware that Ireland is a dynamic country with which to do business. We prepare the ground so that the companies we support are not met by outdated, but sometimes lingering, perceptions that Ireland is primarily agricultural.

 

Understanding French business culture

The best way to assess the market is to get out there, advised Shane Lyons of Ei Electronics, “Meet the customer, find out how they buy, and what they are interested in. Then develop a solution that suits them. Use Enterprise Ireland, use their contacts, get to exhibitions, and get a sense of where the market is going.”

It is more important than ever to do this. Brexit presents a huge opportunity for Irish companies to position themselves as alternative English-speaking suppliers.

To capitalise on this opportunity, however, you must be fully au fait with French business culture – or rather cultures. It is a country of huge regional variations, so acquaint yourself with local nuances.

Invest in linguistic skills. Andrew Fleury, CEO of Transpoco, told how his staff takes French lessons via Skype. “It makes it easier to do business and clients are very appreciative of it,” he said.

That’s for sure. I have seen very many deals scuppered by ignoring basic business etiquette. For example, Irish people almost by default go into a meeting shaking hands and chatting about the weather and their trip over. But if you are dealing with a large French company, that’s a faux pas.

Meetings here are much more formal.  Focus on the business, plan your presentation to the nth degree and demonstrate – with evidence – why you are the best supplier with the best product. Keep the chat for later.

It’s the kind of thing a peer would tell you and you’ll be glad they did, because right now, in France, opportunity is here for the taking.

This article was originally published in the Sunday Independent.

For more information on doing business in France download our Going Global Guide to France

Title - market research the key to Roomex's international success

Market Research: The key to Roomex’s international success

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TItle; Market Resarch the key to ROmmex's international success. Photo of CEO Gary Moroney

Knowing your customer is the first rule of success in business, but when you’re entering a new market or exploring a new sector, often the important data that you need is hard or expensive to obtain. Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre helps to solve this problem for its clients, by providing access to a wide range of reports containing company, sector, market and country data – basically the information you need when exploring opportunities in international markets.

This type of information is vital for every business, but especially for a growing company like Roomex, which specialises in workforce travel across the world. “Market research is really important for us,” says Roomex CEO Garry Moroney. “We use it in three ways – to understand the travel industry, the competitors, potential partners etc; then we use it to analyse our target customer base, companies within the different verticals, the size of the companies within the sector in a country, who the top companies are; then the third area is customer needs analysis. We have found Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre very useful for the first two areas.”

“We have over a thousand customers and it’s paramount for our sales process to know those customers. We have a lot of big customers but we also have a long tail of smaller customers; getting that data and lists of potential customers is so important to us.

“The Market Research Centre was invaluable in getting us that data, and the fact that they have the data for so many countries is also great.” Garry Moroney, Roomex CEO.

 

Working through emergency situations

Roomex is described as a business travel company, but it is actually quite different to the traditional corporate travel business as it specialises in the workforce travel market. Garry explains further: “We work mainly with industries like construction, engineering, and manufacturing with our customers ranging from some of the largest construction companies in the world with revenues in the billions, right down to smaller SMEs. Our top market is the UK. We’ve had a sales team operating in the UK for a few years now; we also established a sales presence in Germany in 2019, another very important market for us. We also have partners across the world, including South Africa, and we have users in about 20 countries.”

Because of its concentration on workforce travel, Roomex also escaped the worst of the effects of Covid-19 on its business. “Our travellers could be described more as blue collar workers, perhaps in the construction industry, who may be travelling as part of a project and perhaps to more rural areas. Our workers travel to build, to install, to inspect, to maintain – all those jobs that can’t be done without travelling. A lot of our travel is also domestic, so wouldn’t be as affected by travel restrictions. So we are lucky to be coming out of the pandemic in a relatively strong position and are back to about 100% operation.”

 

Big ambitions

Garry joined Roomex as CEO in September 2019; prior to this, he was founder and CEO of two successful start-ups, Similarity Systems and Clavis Insight, both of which were acquired after much success. Garry’s goal with Roomex was to take an already successful company to the next level. Having avoided the worst of the business downturn during the pandemic, Roomex is now in a position where Garry can start putting his ambitious plans into action – with the help of Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre.

“When the first lockdown happened, we went into emergency mode, then we were in recovery mode. Now we’re out of that so we’re back to invest and expand stage. We’re hiring new people, and hoping to develop our product according to our product roadmap and looking to expand into more markets.

“We started expanding in Germany in 2019 and continued at a reduced level during the pandemic, but now we want to invest more time, resources and people in the German market.” confirms Moroney

Similarly we want to expand into the US market, as it’s a really important market for us. In both of my previous companies, our success has been heavily built on what we achieved in the US – it’s a great market for Irish companies. Our goal is to become a global leader in workforce travel management.”

Having the support of Enterprise Ireland has been hugely important for every one of Garry’s businesses, especially as they expand into new markets. “Enterprise Ireland supported both Similarity Systems and Clavis Insight, and Roomex as well over the years in areas such as employment and R&D, and we’ve also found their overseas offices really useful when exploring new markets. Having the support of these country experts and access to the Market Research Centre is invaluable when looking at such huge potential markets as the US.”

Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre is an important resource for its clients with ambitions to expand into international markets. Learn more here.

Innovating for Recovery: CW Applied Technology

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On the first episode in our new series Innovating for Recovery, we are joined by the Managing Director of electronics company CW Applied Technology, John O’Connell. In response to the Covid-19 crisis, CW Applied Technology designed and manufactured a portable Room UV-C Steriliser. 

The portable steriliser is designed for virtually any room that needs air and surface disinfection, including sterile areas, laboratories, unoccupied patient room. On the show, we discuss, the origins of the idea, and its variety of uses, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Talent Management

Global brands recruit Irish suppliers to win the war for talent

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David Corcoran, global talent management advisor based in Enterprise Ireland’s London office, explains how innovative Irish companies are helping global brands to win the war for talent.

In the war for talent, having an innovative Irish company on your side is a major advantage. It’s a fact some of the world’s top brands know firsthand.

Global names, such as Nestle, Microsoft, Pepsi, and Qatar Airways, have all turned to Irish talent management solutions for help in attracting, managing, and developing their biggest asset – their people.

The war for talent is about more than recruitment, and Ireland’s talent management sector is recognised globally as being unparalleled in its breadth. It encompasses solutions for talent acquisition, workforce management, professional learning, performance management, and workplace recognition.

 

Irish partners are proving a global ally in the war for talent

As Johnny Campbell, founder and CEO of Social Talent, put it at the World Employment Conference, held in Dublin recently, it’s not really so much a war for talent, as a war for skills.

Technology has an increasing role to play in building those skills, developing talent from within. And the world’s most progressive employers are arming themselves with Irish solutions.

There are several reasons why talent management is an area that Ireland excels in.

As the world of work undergoes seismic shifts in terms of skills shortages, diversity, millennial talent, and the gig economy, innovative Irish solution providers are at the forefront of partnering with progressive human resources and recruitment departments around the world to discover, retain, engage, and reward exceptional talent.

Ireland has succeeded in establishing itself as a strategic hub for leading multinational employers, working across sectors as diverse as technology, biopharma, and financial services with Staffing Industry Analysts, the industry’s highly regarded research group, ranking Ireland as the world’s most attractive staffing market in 2017.

The result is that we have earned our reputation by providing solutions to some of the world’s best employers and, in the process, established Ireland as an internationally recognised centre of excellence for talent management.

 

Competing internationally

While it is true that working with world leading multinational companies based in Ireland has helped the talent sector to hone its skills to the highest level, it would be wrong to think Irish companies have grown their exports and reputation solely as a result of those links.

Rather, Irish companies have gone out and won new international customers, often in highly competitive, supplier-rich markets, in which those organisations are not short of choices.

International organisations are increasingly choosing from a growing number of world-class, homegrown Irish success stories, such as TTM Healthcare, who is quickly becoming a healthcare recruitment leader, providing staffing solutions around the world. One in five nurses recruited to the NHS from overseas now arrives via TTM.

Leading organisations are choosing technology company Social Talent, enabling it to become the world’s largest provider of on-demand training and development for the recruitment industry, a niche it pioneered.

They are choosing Globoforce, helping it to become a world leader in employee recognition. Its innovative solutions successfully drive employee engagement and retention in multinational companies in more than 135 countries.

They are choosing software innovator Sonru, developer of the world’s first asynchronous video interviewing solution for candidate selection. Sonru’s product doesn’t just boost efficiencies for client companies, it enables them to tap into previously inaccessible talent pools, wherever they are in the world.

Enterprise Ireland supports 120 Irish providers in this sector to meet their global ambition by exporting to 100 countries. Although these companies are active in different parts of the talent management landscape, the common thread they share is that they work to develop disruptive technologies that provide the kind of innovative and flexible talent management solutions that organisations need, now more than ever.

Irish companies are taking advantage of the fact that there are no boundaries in technology. Good companies are going to the ends of the earth to find good people, and increasingly it is Irish talent management solutions that are helping them to get there.

And once they find that top talent, Irish companies are also helping international brands to retain, engage, and develop them.

This article was originally published in the Sunday Independent.

Irish exporters to Germany

How we got the German market to work for us

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As German businesses demand detailed certainty, not just now but long-term, after-sales, support and clear future planning are key to building more than just a foray into the market to deliver a sustained successful expansion for Irish firms.

While the German cultural and business identity centred on convention, conservatism and future-proofing may at first appear quite different from the Irish propensity for dynamism, innovation and can-do delivery, many Irish firms have made successful entries to this biggest market in Europe.

At the Ambition Germany event organised by Enterprise Ireland, Irish firms already active in the market shared why and how they chose Germany, and insights into their success.

 

Major opportunities and significant challenges in the German market

The opportunities are huge, given the size of the world’s fourth-largest economy but the challenges can also be substantial. It is a mature market with long-established supply chains and a preference for supplier loyalty.

Robert Byrne, director of Burnside Eurocyl, the Carlow-based hydraulic cylinder manufacturer, ventured into Germany in the early 1980s: “A combination of a weak pound and strong Deutsche Mark made our product very competitive so we set up a sales office in Germany. That was vital. You need constant feet on the ground. You simply have to have a presence in the market you intend to sell into.”

German deals must be taken seriously. Negotiations can take a long time and Germans dislike ambiguity.

“This is why, when we sell, we don’t send a sales rep but an engineer. The client can see the solution we are offering – and get the detail clearly explained. They very much appreciate that,” added Byrne.

Since taking advice from Enterprise Ireland on exploring a new market, Paul O’Sullivan, managing director of Irelands Eye Knitwear, said exports now comprise 55% of all sales with Germany being its biggest overseas market.

He told delegates: “We were encouraged to get into Germany by Enterprise Ireland but we found customers very loyal to their supply base. It’s hard to get a meeting but if you do, you’re halfway there. They will do a lot of research on you before agreeing to meet, so to get that point is a very good sign. But if you want to get to the next level you’re going to have have people on the ground, so we needed sales agents in Germany to get to there.”

Cold-calling is frowned upon in Germany and privacy is highly valued – and regulated – so do not squander a meeting or bombard with marketing material. Pat Ward, managing director of Western Automation, electrical safety specialists, said establishing the firm’s credibility and its reputation for long-term delivery was key.

“Establish your credibility to supply them with a solution for their needs. Your credibility is vested in you, not your product, and that comes from your ability to supply as promised, deliver on technical support. When dealing with German firms, be credible, be believable, and always do it in person.”

Initial successes for Burnside Eurocyl came from the firm’s dynamic approach. “We grew because we were fast and flexible and that’s what made us competitive in the German market. But we did make some mistakes. We went for sales before we had capacity and we lost customers because of that. If you give a lead-in time, stick to it.”

Expansion for Western Automation was boosted by attending one of many trade shows – Germany is one the world’s leading venues for trade shows.

Enterprise Ireland can advise on which trade shows are most beneficial for your company to attend. Recently, 34 Irish companies were supported to showcase their solutions at the world-renowned Medica and EuroTier trade fairs, leading events for medtech and agritech respectively. More than 250,000 people attended the events.

“We bit the bullet and did a trade fair in Hannover. It showed we were a company of substance. Before we went to Hannover, we had one German customer. After Hannover, we had 5.

“It’s not a cost, it’s an investment,” said Ward.

 

For more insights on doing business in Germany visit our German Market Insights pages.

 

 

 

 

 

Appetite for growth in Asia will serve food and drink exporters well

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Asia’s appetite is growing, and its 4.5 billion inhabitants are increasingly turning to imported food for satisfaction.

While far from an untapped market, Asia remains full of potential for Irish food and drink exporters, who can innovate and supply nutritionally healthy and sustainable produce for its growing market of increasingly affluent consumers.

A marked rise in the proportion of Irish food and drink exports going to international markets outside Europe has been a prominent trend in recent years.

 

Impressive export growth to Asia

Asia accounts for one third of Irish food and drink exports, compared to less than 20% just 10 years ago. Exports to China alone have trebled in the last five years, from just over €450 million to €1.4 billion. Population growth and an emerging middle class with increased spending power are driving this growth, especially through dairy and for formula-based products. 

 However, Mary Ledman, Global Dairy Strategist for Rabobank, explains: “The gap between dairy production and imports in Asia will rise to about 20 million tonnes by 2025, and somebody has got to fill that gap.

“Chinese cheese imports topped 100,000 tonnes for the first time in 2017. The Asian Five – the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam – also hit the 100,000 tonnes of cheese targets. Japan and Korea together account for 340,000 tonnes.

“Asian Five demand is increasing at about 10% annually, China’s by about 20%, and Japan and Korea being more mature markets are growing by 2%.

“China’s dairy imports from Ireland have grown 31% over the past five years – three times faster than China’s total dairy imports. Infant formula exports from Ireland to China have been key to this growth. Last year, Ireland’s market share in China for infant formula was 13%, compared to 5% in 2012. 

“The role of dairy since the abolition of quotas in 2015 has magnified the potential for Ireland going forward. There are ambitions to grow dairy sector exports to Asian markets by 30% to 2020, and Ireland is well positioned to do so.”

 

Ireland’s vibrant food and drink sector

Ireland’s food and drink industry is indeed vibrant. Eight years of consecutive growth have increased the value of global exports 60% to €12.6 billion. Bord Bia has identified 15 markets globally with the greatest potential for significant growth for Irish food and drink industry. Within dairy, seven of those 15 markets are in Asia. Within meat, eight of them are in Asia. Within seafood, seven are in Asia. No matter what way we look at it, Asia offers significant potential for the Irish food and drink industry.

Owen Brennan, chairman of Devenish Nutrition, which manufactures and exports innovative nutritional products and solutions for the feed industry, believes that the trend towards increased sustainability will continue to grow in importance.

 Brennan said: “Focusing on the future of food and agriculture, it’s pretty obvious to say that it must be sustainable if there is to be a future – and innovation is key to developing that sustainable position.

“Looking at the trends as they apply in Asia, there also has to be integrity. Products need to say precisely what they do. They need to do precisely what they say.

“There’s huge interest in the role good quality food plays in promoting good health in these markets, some of which are very sophisticated.”

 A strong focus on health, nutrition, innovation and sustainability are a recipe for success for Irish food and drink exporters looking to capitalise on growing opportunities in Asia.

 

Learn how Enterprise Ireland supports companies to enter the Asian market: China, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Malaysia.

Local knowledge business US

Local knowledge can help you to set up business in the US

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No matter what your sector is, if you are boosting the local economy and creating jobs, your success will be encouraged with state-based support available to those who set up business in the US.

Every state in the union has an Economic Development Office (EDO), agency or authority, charged with attracting business to the locality and making setting up as painless as possible.

The umbrella organisation for these state-based development agencies is SelectUSA, which has personnel working in most US embassies, including Dublin.

SelectUSA investment specialists can help you to find useful data and information on the overall American economy, industry sector overviews, and relevant federal resources. To find out what makes establishing in one state different from setting up in another, you will need to access each state’s economic development agency. You can find listings for them here.

At the recent E3 ‘Entrepreneurship Export Exchange’ conference, hosted in Dublin by Enterprise Ireland and Global Situation Room, representatives from the Iowa Economic Development Authority, the Mississippi Development Authority and Enterprise Florida outlined why their state makes a good US location for Irish-owned start-ups.

Siobhan Masterson, Head of Corporate Affairs at IBEC, explained that the state-based organisations are a bit like the IDA. She estimates that, in the last year or so, representatives from eleven US states have visited the country to pitch for Irish business.

While each agency can, of course, be expected to represent its state’s interests, compelling arguments were made at the conference for considering alternatives to headline locations, such as San Francisco, Miami, Boston, and New York.

 

Setting up business in Iowa

Kaitlyn McKay, a business development manager with the State of Iowa’s Europe Office in Frankfurt am Main, advised, “Take a look at real estate prices in San Francisco or Boston. Take a look at average rates of pay in these locations. They are really expensive.

“If you are a small tech company, you would probably be better off setting up elsewhere – somewhere where there is an industry cluster for your sector but where labour is more competitively priced, and where finding and retaining staff isn’t as much of an issue.”

In Iowa’s case, the state has a strong IT sector. It is also a hub for plant, animal and human biosciences. The state capital, Des Moines, is home to America’s second-highest concentration of financial service companies. There are currently 433 foreign-owned companies operating in Iowa, including Kerry Group and CRH. Among the incentive programs companies can avail of are: a high-quality jobs programme, which offers tax benefits and loans to businesses moving to the state or expanding their facilities, a tax credit if you increase Iowa employments by 10%, and funding for new jobs training.

 

Setting up business in Mississippi

Also speaking at the E3 conference, James Miller of the Mississippi Development Authority argued that the Magnolia State was an ideal business location for new businesses for a number of reasons. Mississippi enjoys America’s lowest cost of living and ranks in America’s top ten for the most tax friendly states for business, states with the most competitive labour costs, lowest utility charges, and fastest for authorising business permits. Mississippi is also a noted hub for advanced manufacturing and has a works fund that that supports training for new jobs.

 

Supports for setting up available at state, city and country level

Not only are business supports available at state level in the US, support agencies also operate at city and country level. In some locations, business support organisations operate across state boundaries, such as Select Greater Philadelphia, a public-private partnership promoting inward investment across 11 counties in three different states.

In addition to providing access to funding and tax credits, support organisations can provide facts and figures about local market conditions. Some keep a register of vacant commercial properties and brown-field sites, others can refer you to private business networks that will help you to source accommodation, business partners, and potential customers.

“These economic development organisations aren’t just interested in big firms who will bring hundreds of jobs to their localities,” says Seán Davis, Enterprise Ireland’s regional manager for North America. “They will want to have a conversation with you if you are an SME looking to open a sub-office with two or three employees. It’s well worth giving them a phone call and 20 minutes of your time to find out what they have to offer and how they might help you.”

Masterson adds that, as well as public bodies, it’s worth tapping into the knowledge of private networks in the US, such as Chambers of Commerce, trade associations, and professional bodies. “Private organisations will tell you things that public bodies can’t necessarily reveal.

“Before deciding on a location, look at the online editions of local newspapers – they will also give you a different picture than the one you might receive from state-run economic development organisations.”

Before choosing a location in America: Do your homework and find out where you can get help.

Learn more about the Enterprise Ireland global network and and accessing the US market on our dedicated US Market page.

How Modular Automation transformed into a substantial international exporter

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Over the past five years, Modular Automation, a 32 year-old Shannon-based company that delivers advanced technological solutions for the manufacturing industry, has grown its business significantly thanks to export success.

The company delivers automation solutions for advanced manufacturers, including custom solutions and build-to-print machines for clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Boston Scientific, Stryker and Medtronic.

Working with these companies’ manufacturing sites in Ireland provided Modular Automation with invaluable opportunities to sell into their sister sites overseas, attendees heard at Competing for the Future, a breakfast briefing organised by Enterprise Ireland as part of its International Markets Week programme.

 

International markets are now hugely important for Modular Automation

Leveraging multinational clients here and following them overseas enabled the company to grow revenues and double staff to 150 people, CEO Vivian Farrell noted.

International markets are now “hugely important in terms of reaching our ambitions for growth,” said Farrell.

Three years ago, the company opened a US office, in Florida. The idea was not just to service the sister sites of clients in Ireland but to also serve as a base from which to develop new customers.  “That is our strategy for growth and it is working for us, but it’s only achievable if we do a good job for the multinationals in Ireland, and critical to that is R&D and innovation,” she said.

“We’re investing heavily in R&D and innovation in Ireland and we see that as a catalyst for growth, in particular in the US.”

Much of Modular Automation’s research and development comes as a result of co-investment with customers here. “The machines that we develop for our customers haven’t existed before, so it’s primarily custom automation. It’s new and it’s risky, and it involves a lot of R&D. But when we crack it, very often there’s a market for that in their sister sites,” she said.

 

Winning business across the US

While Modular Automation already had a significant customer base in Florida when it chose to locate there, the company has succeeded in winning business right across the US, from New York to the West Coast.

“We opened the office in 2015 but started planning it in 2014. The background to it was that there was a lot of discussion around Made in America at the time. We felt it was a risk that was going to make it more difficult for our customers – and potential customers – in the US to do business with us, unless we had a base there. We felt we needed to commit investment to the US, get boots on the ground, and show we were there for the long haul and willing to invest in the US market.”

Setting up the new office was challenging. “We were naive at the start in thinking that after maybe 12 months we’d have secured our first new deal. In fact it took double that amount of time. That was one of the key learnings we made,” she said.

It was an expensive time. “You’ve got a lot of set up costs and hiring in the US is expensive as well. There were a lot of lessons in the first two years of set up but thankfully it is starting to pay off now. We’ve secured some nice deals and are hoping to grow that into the future.”

She advises anyone thinking of following suit to “put it down on paper. There’s nothing like getting your ambition down on paper and seeing it through.”

 

Make the most of Enterprise Ireland supports

Make the most of Enterprise Ireland’s supports. “There are 650 clients here at this event alone,” she said. “We find it a fantastic resource, being able to tap into businesses that have already made the move is hugely helpful, talking to people who have done something similar to what we were planning.”

The US is an easy place to do business but it can also be overwhelming because of its sheer size, she said. “Getting on the ground and engaging with the Enterprise Ireland representatives who are out there and who know the landscape is hugely helpful.” Staff from Modular Automation also attended Enterprise Ireland trade missions, which helped make initial introductions to new customers.

“Tap into that network, talk to other businesses, talk to the Enterprise Ireland staff, get on the ground,” she said. “Be brave and take the leap.”

 

For more information on entering the North American market visit our dedicated US Markets page.

Irish farmer

How Irish agritech is fostering a culture of innovation

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Progress in agriculture has always been driven by innovation. The old adage about necessity being the mother of invention is as evident in farming now as it ever was.

Ireland has a vibrant agritech ecosystem where individual companies, universities, institutes of technology and other stakeholders challenge and disrupt conventional farming methods by working together to devise new solutions and applications for better, more efficient farming.

Keenan Systems has pioneered innovation in feed efficiency technology for more than 35 years. More recently, the company has combined machinery with data through its InTouch support service, which provides real-time information to farmers on animal nutrition and health.

Michael Carbery, Engineering and Innovation Manager, believes that Keenan benefits from a positive environment in Irish agriculture. He says: “There is a strong culture of innovation in Ireland and it’s becoming stronger. There is a willingness among academia and business to get together and try to create a better product or solution for farmers.

“Many Irish companies export most of their products. We’re not trying to develop purely for the Irish market, so we have to take a global view of agriculture. I think that gives Irish companies like Keenan a strong advantage in the overall level of innovation.”

 

Relationship between industry and research at the heart of Irish agritech innovation

Relationships between industry and academia are often at the heart of innovation. By placing R&D at the heart of its operation, Dairymaster has won multiple awards and built a global reputation for innovative dairy equipment manufacturing across milking, feeding, manure scrapers, milk cooling tanks, and health and fertility monitoring systems.

Earlier this year, Dairymaster formed a €2 million research and development partnership with Institute of Technology Tralee and the Science Foundation Ireland research centre Lero on using artificial intelligence and autonomous systems to improve efficiency on dairy farms.

Dairymaster Research and Innovation Manager, Dr. John Daly explains: “Our equipment and technology is constantly changing and improving because of our commitment to innovation. Everything we do is driven by performance and how it saves farmers time and makes their business more efficient and profitable.”

 

Inspiring the next generation of innovators

Herdwatch CEO Fabien Peyaud believes the example of companies such as Dairymaster and Keenan provides inspiration for a new generation of disruptive Irish innovators.

Mr Peyaud says: “Ireland is very much one of the leading agritech countries in the world. We have beacons such as Dairymaster and Keenan Systems, who constantly innovate for farmers and that’s really where our inspiration came from.

“Herdwatch is now the number one farm software provider in Ireland and the UK and hopefully what we’re doing is inspiring the next generation of innovators out there to take it to the next level.”

“You also have Enterprise Ireland and other agencies nurturing this kind of constant innovation and entrepreneurship. I think these are all reasons why so many new, innovative companies are in Ireland.”

But is there a risk that farmers will become overburdened by technology?

Mr Peyaud says: “We believe that at some point there will be a need for convergence because farmers will demand it. We’re looking at tying together all the apps that farmers have to interact with on one platform so they can get the actionable information they need.

“Herdwatch wants to be that platform because we believe it will allow us to help combat some of the big issues facing farming – such as the fight against antimicrobial resistance or reducing carbon footprints.”

Moocall’s approach to innovation has been to effectively connect cows to their farmer through the use of wearable technology such as calving sensors and heat monitors.

Paul Kenny, International Sales Manager for Moocall, says: “We’re using sensor technology and the power of the mobile network to connect the animal to the farmer. So with the calving sensor, the cow is basically texting the farmer, and it is also emailing the farm office, and then there’s a Moo Moo app alert that anybody can download. So you’ve three forms of alert coming from the cow calving that are replacing labour units on the farm.”

 

How collaboration drives innovation

Abbey Machinery has been one of Ireland’s largest agricultural manufacturers for more than 70 years and acutely recognises that innovation is vital to remaining relevant in a global market.

Michael O’Grady, Business Development Manager at Abbey Machinery, says: “Innovation is the most important thing we do to improve our feeding, slurry and grassland management machines and make them affordable for the farmer.

“Some of our suppliers we’ve been partnering with on innovation for 30 or 40 years, and we’ve a new group of partners which we’re partnering with for new technologies.

“Enterprise Ireland is brilliant at bringing it all together, connecting research and development partners, encouraging collaboration, identifying markets and opportunities, nurturing and providing advice to help us make a difference for farmers.”

 

Learn more about Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation supports here.