Salaso CEO Aoife ni Mhuiri

Salaso: Using market research to hone your growth strategy

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Salaso CEO Aoife ni Mhuiri

Market research is important at every stage of building a business, not just when you’re exploring new markets and verticals. For Aoife Ní Mhuirí and Salaso, market research was vital when their precision exercise digital platform was inundated with requests from new customers over the last 12 months – and this is where Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre proved so useful.

“The last year has been an absolute gamechanger in terms of digital health, we experienced a large increase in inbound customer queries because we had the digital platform to deliver to patients under COVID restrictions.” explains Salaso CEO Aoife Ní Mhuirí

“As a small company, we had to focus on the right opportunities and we found the Market Research Centre particularly useful in understanding these customers. More strategically it is has helped us hone our market expansion strategy in the US.”

 

The growth of digital health

In business for 10 years, Salaso is a well-established digital platform designed for health professionals to make precision exercise prescriptions easily accessible for patients. The idea was born out of Aoife’s experience as a working chartered physiotherapist and her interest in e-learning and digital technology.

“I did the Endeavour Programme back in 2011 at the Institute of Technology in Tralee (now Munster Technological University), and that was essentially the start of Salaso. The company’s aim was to use technology and multimedia to make exercise a core part of healthcare and this led to the development of the Salaso platform . Physiotherapists, occupational therapists, primary care therapists, nurses, physicians and so on can use the infrastructure to engage their patients in exercise and physical activity programmes in order to  improve outcomes both for the patient and the clinic, hospital or practice.”

The platform can be used in countless scenarios, as Aoife explains. “It’s really for every patient; one of our clients in the US said that our infrastructure will benefit every person coming through their doors – and that’s true. No matter who you are or what you do, there’s always an exercise programme that can benefit your health and wellbeing – whether you have breast cancer, you’re recovering from a stroke, you have a pain in your back, you want to play sport and need to recover from a hamstring strain, there’s always an exercise programme for you.”

“We like to think of ourselves as pioneers in precision exercise, delivering the smart infrastructure that allows practitioners select and guide the patient in choosing the right exercise, at the right time and in the amount of time the patient has to engage in exercise.”

 

US growth ambitions

Headquartered in Kerry with offices in the UK and the US, Salaso is going from strength to strength. “There are huge opportunities for our platform in the US due to the direction that healthcare is taking over there – it’s very much about keeping people out of hospitals and surgeries, and that’s what our platform feeds into. We have an office on the East Coast and also in Nevada, working to target the value-based care market on the West Coast.”

That opportunity has grown even more due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as Aoife explains. “The pandemic changed the delivery and the consumption of healthcare forever, which is a good thing for many people, as there’s easier access to the care that they need – because the technology is  available and the infrastructure is there in the hospitals. The behaviour has changed too, now that digital healthcare is accessible. Think of someone who’s had a stroke or suffers from Parkinson’s disease who needs to access care or follow-up physiotherapy – before they would have been reliant on someone driving them there, maybe a son or daughter who has to take time off work, now they can access the care they need from the comfort of their own home.”

This, coupled with the fact that patients are becoming more educated about the many different forms of healthcare, has resulted in Salaso becoming a much sought-after platform.

“More patients are also now more involved and informed about their options; if there’s an exercise programme that might help postpone a surgery or improve recovery, then they want to know about it.”

“All of the evidence shows that if you engage with prehabilitation before surgery, the outcomes post-surgery are better. Even if you look at an area like cancer, exercise not only improves quality of life but it can also have a positive effect on survivorship.”

As Salaso grew, so did its need for market research; as Enterprise Ireland clients, the company was able to avail of the Market Research Centre to help them recognise opportunities and understand new markets. “We used the Market Research Centre for accessing a lot of the reports for the overseas markets, the US in particular,” Aoife explains.

“The centre was very useful for segmenting the industry, as well as identifying the possible leads that we could go after. It also helped us in understanding the market in the US, how reimbursement worked, and what has changed in the last 12 months. ” says Aoife

“The centre was very useful for segmenting the industry, as well as identifying the possible leads that we could go after. It also helped us in understanding the market in the US, how reimbursement worked, and what has changed in the last 12 months. For instance, a year ago, tele-health wasn’t reimbursed, but during the pandemic, reimbursement for tele health was brought in temporarily, and now it appears to be here for the long-haul. Getting information on topics like this is so useful when navigating a complicated market like the US healthcare market.”

The pandemic has accelerated Salaso’s growth as a company but expanding too fast can have its pitfalls too – and again, the data provided by the Market Research Centre can be invaluable. “There’s great opportunity for us to expand right now but we’re still an SME with limited resources, so knowing the best use of those resources is critical for the future of the company. And that’s where market research really comes in for a company like us.”

Learn how Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre can support your company’s export ambitions.

Irish fintech sector poised for growth

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Fintech brings together two areas in which Ireland has traditional strengths – technology and financial services, Minister Michael D’Arcy told delegates at Towards 2025: Trends in Financial Services and Fintech.

Introducing the panel discussion, part of Enterprise Ireland’s International Markets Week in October, Minister Darcy said fintech is a natural evolution for Ireland, thanks to these strengths, as well as a deep talent pool, and unfettered access to European markets.

The strengths give Ireland a platform to build on, enabling it to be at the forefront of fintech development globally.

 

Driving Ireland’s thriving fintech sector

Several recent developments support the position, he said, including the establishment in April of the Central Bank of Ireland’s Innovation Hub and industry engagement programme, designed to ensure evolving fintech and the regulatory landscape keep apace.

In June, Enterprise Ireland launched a €750,000 Competitive Start Fund for fintech and deep tech. Earlier this year Enterprise Ireland, an active investor in fintech, began a fintech census to accurately map Ireland’s fintech sector.

In May 2019, Ireland will host a meeting of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), at which global standards pertaining to blockchain technology will be determined.

The Department of Finance has a working group dedicated to blockchain and virtual currencies and is commencing work on a successor to IFS 2020 – the national Strategy for Ireland’s International Financial Services sector.

Panel members at the event included Mo Harvey, fintech and financial services lead with Enterprise Ireland for Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong, and Mai Santamaria, member of the Department of Finance working group on blockchain and digital currencies.

Joining them in the discussion, facilitated by Eoin Fitzgerald, Enterprise Ireland Senior Development Advisor for fintech, was Denise Delaney of the Central Bank of Ireland, and Laura Clifford, industry partner manager at the Adapt Centre – the Science Foundation Ireland-funded centre for digital content technology at Trinity College Dublin.

 

Growing interest in blockchain

Growing interest in blockchain was a key theme. When Laura Clifford began talking to businesses just 18 months ago about the potential of their blockchain technology, initially none of the 13 she canvassed were initially interested in doing collaborative research. That rose to three, with two more now wanting to be involved. “Appetite is increasing for blockchain,” she said.

Mo Harvey’s experience in Asia backs this up. “When we’re in the market and we talk to major corporates, banks and insurers, invariably when we are bringing in our companies (blockchain) is one of the first questions asked about – the second is AI. When a company doesn’t answer in the positive, it’s a case of ‘Why not?’”

The Central Bank’s interest is in the application of technology, rather than the technology itself, said Denise Delaney.

“We are talking regularly to all the various kinds of firms that we regulate, so we know how the business models are changing and so we know what they are doing. For us, the difficulty is firms outside of the regulatory perimeter, because we’re not accessing them.”

It’s one of the reasons it has created its Innovation Hub, to provide a direct point of contact with the sector’s leading edge.

As well as being able to answer regulatory questions, the Hub allows the Central Bank to gain intelligence on where the market is going. “That’s really useful for us and for ourselves internally. We have to build up our own expertise. We have to be able to use that data, analyse it, to be able to assess authorisations, particularly when they start coming in different technologies,” she said.

 

Moving from fintech to techfin in Asia

The move from fintech to techfin is gathering pace, delegates heard. The activities of Chinese companies such as Alibaba, WeChat and TenCent is driving this, and in the process forcing regulators to play catch up.

With a recent survey showing two thirds of Amazon Prime customers would bank with Amazon, how do regulators view the fact that businesses that are not typically regulated, and which don’t even present themselves as financial services companies, are encroaching into the area? asked Eoin Fitzgerald.

“Once they come into that space, they will come into the regulatory space and then they will be like any other regulated entity and will go through the same processes,” said Denise Delaney of the Central Bank.

“The same principles of consumer protection and sustainable business models and resilience will apply to any firm that begins to fall into that, whether they are big tech or otherwise.”

While everybody is aware of the scale of companies such as AliPay and WeChat, some of Asia’s predominance is down to the fact that the market is bigger, “it’s easier to do the 1 billion transactions”, said Mai Santamaria.

Neither do such companies have to contend with legacy systems. “Sometimes that’s the elephant in the room,” she said.

Moreover, with China, “we’re not really talking about private sector banks. We’re probably talking about publically owned banks,” she said. That makes direct comparisons difficult.

The other side of that coin is that Irish companies benefit by not having to go out and compete with a giant like WeChat or AliPay, she pointed out.

In Asia, ecommerce giants are applying for virtual banking licences, “so they are bringing themselves under the regulatory area, very much so, in partnerships,” said Mo Harvey.

This presents significant opportunities for Irish companies in areas such as digital onboarding and risk monitoring, she said.

The fact that Ireland is a small country is to our advantage, said Santamaria. “What I have seen in the blockchain work in the last six months is that when we get our heads around it, and sit around a table, we get to do things and we do them fast enough. That is where there is opportunity for us.”

This is particularly so because of the increasingly rapid pace of technological change. However, the challenge for fintech is that it is hard for the decision makers, those with the purse strings, “to understand what you are selling,” she cautioned.

“You can’t ask someone to look at potentially what it could do for them, if they don’t understand it. We take for granted that the tech is moving fast and getting complex, so the challenge is simple: as a seller of fintech or regtech, you need to be better at making sense of that message.”

For the future, the opportunity is clear, said Mo Harvey. “We are known as a tech hub, we are also known as a financial services hub. The opportunity is there to build on that. The foundations have been laid, the blocks have been built. Let’s see where we can go with that. Let’s be ambitious from an Irish perspective, as to where we sit on a global stage. That’s the opportunity.”

 

Read more about the Irish companies growing exports in the fintech space.

XOCEAN marine vessel gathering data

XOCEAN fills ocean data deficit with unmanned robot fleet

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In his previous life, James Ives was a customer of ocean data – but not a particularly satisfied one. As head of a marine energy company for more than 10 years, Ives relied on high-quality, accurate ocean data but found the process of getting that information both time-consuming and expensive.

“There is huge growth in the marine sector and the foundation of that growth is data. As a customer,” he says, “I thought there had to be a better way.”

Ives, who comes from an engineering background, decided his hunch was worth following. Last year, with the help of Enterprise Ireland, he set up his own ocean data services company: XOCEAN.

Based in Carlingford, Co. Louth, the company offers a range of turnkey data collection services for industrial, environmental and other commercial interests including data harvesting, fish stock monitoring, hydrographic surveys, environmental analysis and met ocean data.

“The big difference between XOCEAN and most other ocean data service providers is that we use marine robots known as Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs),” says Ives. “This approach offers three major advantages. First, it’s safer, as no humans have to go offshore. Second, it’s more efficient as our USVs can operate and collect data non-stop, 24/7. And thirdly, it’s around one-third the cost of conventional methods.”

The company’s XO-450 model looks like a miniature catamaran. It’s about the same size as an average car (but around half the weight) with a solar hybrid power system that provides a range of around 1,500 nautical miles, operating continuously for up to 18 days at a time. The system includes a wave-piercing hull design to ensure stability for a payload of up to 100kg of sensors and other equipment necessary for commercial ocean data capture.

 

XOCEAN’s journey to commercialisation

XOCEAN began with a planning and innovation stage, followed by building and testing the prototypes. According to founder Ives, the company is now transitioning into phase three, which is commercialisation of the product.

“At the moment we’re focused on industrial users including companies in the oil and gas sector and government agencies responsible for monitoring fisheries and the environment,” he says. “Our sweet spot is the continental shelf region where most ocean-based economic activity takes place, for example offshore wind farm developments.”

“We’re in discussion with some very large companies and there is a lot of excitement in the market, so things look bright,” he says. “Clients have told us that we’re just what the market needs, which is great to hear.”

The XOCEAN story took off when the company was taken into the High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) portfolio at Enterprise Ireland.

 

How XOCEAN was supported by Enterprise Ireland

“The funding is the obvious one but where Enterprise Ireland really adds value is in the expertise and experience they offer,” says James Ives. “When you go to them first with your idea, they really ask questions and challenge your business plan – it’s such an important and valuable way of knowing if the plan is viable. After that, if the potential is there, you have access to their support and that can make a difference for start-ups.

“Our decision to base the company in Ireland was a conscious one, and it was facilitated in no small way by Enterprise Ireland’s support,” he adds. “They are also great at opening doors and providing introductions, which has been a massive help in gaining traction in markets like Canada and the UK.”

XOCEAN’s successful start, he adds, is down to his “fantastically talented” team – and an urgent need for more and better-quality ocean data.

“According to the OECD, the ocean economy has the potential to double in value to $3 trillion by 2030,” says Ives. “So, the potential is vast but it’s all underpinned by a need for sensible development and that is dependent on a supply of high-quality, accurate information. More data leads to better decisions and that is crucial to the development of the marine environment.”

As an example of how the company works, in summer 2018, XOCEAN partnered with Ireland’s Marine Institute to collect data as part of the management of Irish fish stock resources. “The USV travelled 100 nautical miles out into the Celtic Sea and performed an acoustic survey that generated 110 gigabytes of high-quality data,” says Ives. “That information is now being used to provide a better understanding of our fish stock levels.”

In October and November last year, XOCEAN successfully completed demonstrations of their USVs over the horizon bathymetric survey capability. Surveys were performed in Carlingford Lough and the Irish Sea, controlled over a satellite internet connection by a team of USV Pilots in XOCEAN’s Operations Centre. XOCEAN’s XO-450 was demonstrated to be a robust platform for multibeam echo sounder surveys.

With the company also exploring international markets, it’s interesting to note that all missions are managed from XOCEAN’s base in Carlingford. While the USVs are designed to be transported by road, they can also be packaged up with a bespoke trailer and shipped anywhere in the world.

“We’ve been well received everywhere we’ve gone,” Ives says. “I think the international market recognises that Ireland is a hub for technology and innovation. Irish companies have a great reputation for innovative thinking, for hard work, for being easy to work with.”

 

For more information, visit xocean.com.

 

 

Ambition Benelux: How we got up and running

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There’s an interesting Dutch saying for doing business that describes the appetite in the Netherlands for making something out of nothing: “Let’s make land together”.

It’s what the Dutch excel at and applies equally to trade and business. Where there is a market opportunity, chances are a firm from the Netherlands and Benelux region will be on it from the outset.

It should come as no surprise. The Benelux economies are some of the most open and easily accessible in the Eurozone, and also among the most lucrative.

 

Benelux as a gateway to the Eurozone

The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg often present themselves as the gateway to Europe, in both a physical sense in shipping and logistics, as well as in areas such as data and financial services. And they have good reason to, with 200 million consumers living within just 500 miles of Benelux cities.

With a very compact and centralised population of their own serviced with excellent infrastructure, the opportunity has not gone unnoticed by Irish companies keen to diversify and take operations into the Eurozone.

At Enterprise Ireland’s Ambition Benelux event, companies that have entered the region explained why – and how – they chose to launch to secure the growth their companies required.

Gone are the days when a company could simply open a virtual office. Now companies must decide whether a branch office of their Irish company is best to get boots on the ground, or whether they need to set up a company in the usual manner in the export country. Either way, Irish companies have prospered by making their foray through a distribution agent or local partner, which provide useful market introductions and a real face-to-face contact point for clients and customers.

 

Parkpnp’s journey into Benelux

In some cases, the move is strategic from the get-go. In just 14 months, Parkpnp, a marketplace for renting unused car parking spaces, has expanded from Ireland into both Belgium and Netherlands with ambitions to enter a further eight European markets in the next two years.

For Jason Popplewell, Parkpnp COO, it became clear that branching from the Irish market to the UK or US would see his fledgling firm bump into larger and more established competitors in the sharing economy, so Europe was a logical choice.

“About six months ago, we acquired a company in Belgium called Sharemypark but they were just doing residential car parking spaces. It was a great match for us to bolt onto our system and it’s going very well.”

With a presence in Belgium, the company then moved into franchising their model.

“We sold our franchise into the Netherlands, and that launched around four months ago, and that’s going very well.

“Ultimately nothing beats feet on the ground.”

 

Booming sectors in Benelux

The boom in data centre construction in the Netherlands in particular, and the wider cleanbuild, pharma and life sciences sector has seen Irish design and construction expertise in demand. The trend has seen firms like Dublin-based RKD Architects move into Belgium and in a client-led sector, having a local presence has been vital for winning and expanding their order book.

Director, Geert Douterlungne said: “At the end of the day, it’s just an extra 10 minutes in the plane from Dublin. Clients want to meet, and given the location, you can be there to resolve any issue quickly.”

But entering a new market may force a company to learn some hard lessons, said Jim Costello, founder of Forest Produce, a horticultural giftware company. Entering the floral and horticulture market in one of the most competitive markets of its kind in Europe saw Costello quickly realise that competing on price points would not be an option.

 Getting a foothold in the market required Forest Produce to bring a USP to the table.

“The Dutch are very competitive and will outsource to a cheaper alternative very quickly. But what we have found though is that Dutch customers appreciate innovation. If you have something novel that they like they will pay good money for it,” said Costello

“You have to have something cutting edge. If you have something that is unique, be it a service or solving a problem, that is what we have found is the way to get and keep your company relevant in the Dutch marketplace.”

Darren Fortune, managing director of Wicklow-based Ventac, a specialist acoustic solutions company in the automotive industry said they opened their first overseas office in 2011 near Eindhoven.

“The UK was our biggest market but we knew that the bigger volume was Europe itself, so we wanted to break out.

“We went to Enterprise Ireland and did a lot of market research. We felt that the Netherlands was a great start, as it was easy access and the language barrier was negligible. Enterprise Ireland introduced us to people in our sector and, because the Netherlands is big into sector clusters, we were able to get into the automotive sector very quickly.

“The legal stuff scared me a little bit but it was much easier than we anticipated. We rented an office for €8,000 a year in a business centre with around 30 other firms and we were up and running.”

It’s a much-trotted out axiom in the age of the multinational: think global, act local. But with Benelux, it is possible. Fortune added: “It’s an hour away and they want to do business. What more could you want?”

 

Learn how Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre can help you assess new market opportunities with bespoke business intelligence.

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.”

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.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Big Ideas in Irish medtech sector

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Enterprise Ireland’s annual Big Ideas event highlights Irish university research projects with high commercialisation potential but that require additional investment to become fully market ready.

More than half of the 12 projects showcased at Big Ideas 2018 involved new developments in the medtech sector. The figure isn’t so surprising when you remember that Ireland is the largest employer of medtech professionals in Europe per capita, with 450 medtech companies employing 38,000 people, and producing annual exports worth €12.6 billion to more than 100 countries worldwide.

Ireland has also worked to support connections between clinicians and the healthcare sector, with the Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) established to drive collaboration between the health service and enterprise. It offers companies the opportunity to carry out pilot and clinical validation studies, and offers the health service access to innovative products, services and devices that it may not otherwise be exposed to.

Tom Kelly, divisional manager for life sciences at Enterprise Ireland argues that Ireland’s compact geographic scale is to its advantage in becoming a medtech hub: “Because we are small there is huge interaction between the multinational and indigenous sectors of the industry. The highly connected nature of the industry allows relatively small Irish firms achieve global success quite quickly.”

Irish innovation in life sciences continues

SepTec, winner of the One to Watch Award at Big Ideas 2018, is among the newest wave of innovative applications to emerge from Irish universities.

The SepTec team, based at Dublin City University, developed a revolutionary diagnostic device for sepsis that can provide a diagnosis within minutes – a big improvement on the five hour minimum wait for a diagnosis using current sepsis testing technology. This is potentially life-saving, as for every hour that a patient has sepsis their life expectancy decreases by 8%. SepTec hope to have their device on the market in 2020.

The other medtech solutions presented at Big Ideas 2018 were: 

  • AtriAN Medical – developers of a new treatment for atrial fibrillation
  • Atturos – who have a proteomic-based test that can help prostate cancer patients and their doctors decide whether to operating or not
  • ChemoGel – a thermoresponsive drug-delivery platform for use in treating pancreatic cancer
  • Cortex Analytics – a predictive analytic solution to help more accurately gauge patient perception of value during drug trials
  • itremor – a hand-held concussion-detection device that can diagnose brain injury in seconds
  • Prolego Scientific – who have developed unique algorithms to make better genomic predictions about livestock and crop performance.

While it is not yet clear how many of these projects will pass through full commercialisation, many of Ireland’s universities and institutes of technology have developed spin-out companies that are either thriving or have been acquired by larger entities.

“Some people say that it is a pity if an Irish pharma or medtech spin-out doesn’t go on to become an international player in their own right,” says Dr Ciaran O’Beirne, UCD’s technology transfer manager.

“But in all cases when a spin-out was bought out by a larger partner, the Irish personnel didn’t migrate to the States.  American companies used these acquisitions to set up a presence in Ireland, to take advantage of R&D opportunities here. They have made further investments and created further employment opportunities. It has been a win-win.”

Ireland also boasts a strong services and contract research and manufacturing base; 50% of companies located here are in the business-to-business space. As pressures on healthcare systems have resulted in a greater focus on enhanced efficacy of treatments and cost reduction, there is no sense of complacency across the sector in Ireland, where industry and Government alike are constantly looking for new ways to enhance competitiveness, develop new capabilities and ultimately generate new sustainable growth.

 Learn more about how Enterprise Ireland supports innovation through its dedicated funds and supports.

CEO 4site

How 4site engineers innovate

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“We are design-led. It’s a unique selling point. We bring innovation to every project we do.”

Ian Duggan, CEO 4site

Key Takeouts:

  • 4site is a leader in the design, survey and installation of fibre networks.

  • The company has fostered a culture of innovation, learning and knowledge-transfer.

  • Success is driven by cost-efficiencies and speed made possible by innovative design.

  • Enterprise Ireland’s Grad Start funding supported the employment of graduate engineers to meet the challenges of a quickly changing sector.

Case Study: 4site

4site is a leader in the design and roll out of large-scale fibre network systems, the gold standard for digital connectivity. Founded in 2003, the company is based in Limerick, with offices in Dublin and the UK, and has approximately 80 employees. 

Starting out as an engineering firm, run by and employing engineers, 4site is committed to a culture of innovation with new, imaginative design solutions that give the company a competitive edge.

“If I were to offer advice to start-ups in the sector it would be to diversify – don’t be too dependent on a particular capability.” 

 

Innovation at 4site

This is reflected in the recruiting and training of graduate engineers, supported by Enterprise Ireland’s Graduate Business Growth (Grad Start) and Job Expansion Funds.

Enterprise Ireland’s support helped expand the number of employees and establish an in-house Fibre Planning Programme tailored to the skills 4site requires. Employees are mentored, attend weekly training sessions and are encouraged to contribute new ideas through an Innovation Forum. In 2018, Engineers Ireland acknowledged 4site’s excellence in CPD through its Accredited Employer Scheme.

 

“One of the most successful parts of our business is getting young, enthusiastic graduates who contribute a wealth of new ideas. They always have a faster, better way of doing things and within six months, they are really fantastic additions to the organisation.” 

 

The ‘4Survey’ app, introduced in 2017 and developed in partnership with Esri, the international supplier of geographic information software, was a product of the Innovation Forum. No more marking maps by hand, taking photos on a handheld device and filling in spreadsheets, which are then taken separately to a central office. The app does it all, transferring complex survey data straight to the design team via the internet. The survey process is now 50% faster, more accurate and more cost effective.

A further innovation is the use of the latest drone technology. Drones highlight solutions not readily available from ground level – for example, carrying out an asset inventory check on a 40m tower, gauging the safety of a rooftop before accessing it, or eliminating the need for permits and mobile platforms at the roadside. Cost and disruption are kept to a minimum, while health and safety risks are minimised by reducing the need for working at height.

This approach has garnered impressive results. A leading provider of fibre network in the UK is blue chip firm CityFibre. 4site recently won the contract to design CityFibre’s new networks in the UK cities of Huddersfield and Coventry. This contract is 4site’s biggest yet and is worth in excess of one million sterling. CityFibre has ambitious plans to provide fibre to five million homes across 12 UK cities.

In 2017, 4site provided survey and design services to develop a 5G-ready network for the Scottish city of Aberdeen. 4site also fitted a network of ‘small cell’ sites connected to existing fibre and power services. Small cells are unobtrusive and cost-effective installations, ensuring excellent wireless and mobile phone coverage particularly suited to the densely populated urban environment.

With over a decade’s experience of major network infrastructure projects, 4site has acquired a reputation for excellence. This year, they were only the second Irish company accepted to the FTTH Council of Europe. They have also achieved ISO certification in environmental management, quality management, and health and safety, as well as acquiring a list of major clients including Vodafone, Cignal, Huawei, Three, Nokia, Ericsson, O2, Eir and Siro.

Duggan recognises that quality and reliability are also important factors in their success, “I think it’s trust that builds strong relationships with our customers, and the fact that we can do things faster and cheaper than our competitors.”

 

How support from Enterprise Ireland helped 4site to succeed

Advice from Enterprise Ireland resulted in a greater emphasis on sales and marketing, and a restructuring of the management team, Duggan explains, “Enterprise Ireland encouraged us to rebrand and invest in full time sales and marketing managers.  We have built a strong leadership team in the organisation – that has been key.”

“Enterprise Ireland’s advice and support were transformative for the business.” 

4site also made use of Enterprise Ireland’s Business Accelerator Funding scheme to expand into the UK market with offices established in Reading in 2012.

 

The future for 4site

Europe is only just beginning to promote fibre networks with countries such as the UK, Ireland, Italy and Germany trailing behind. According to the 2017 FTTH Ultrafast Broadband Country Ranking the UK has approximately 3% coverage. The market potential therefore is vast.

 

Learn how Enterprise Ireland can support your Innovation project here.

Ambition Benelux

Ambition Benelux: Big data, big opportunity

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They say every cloud has a silver lining. And in Benelux, there is a very large cloud, and, for the right business, not only a silver lining but a golden opportunity: cloud computing and big data.

 

Already one of the physical gateways to Europe – through Amsterdam, one of the most advanced and busiest ports in the world – the Benelux region is positioning itself as one of Europe’s biggest virtual gateways – thanks to the breakneck rise of the global digital economy.

The figures are truly astonishing and show the transformative nature of the growth of big data. It is estimated that 90% of the world’s data was created in just the last two years alone.

By 2021, according to Stijn Grove, managing director of the Dutch Data Center Association, the digital economy will account for more than half of Holland’s GDP.

“Everything that happens online goes through a data centre,” said Grove. “We are fast approaching what some are calling ‘a data singularity’ with the advances in machine learning, AI, the Internet of Things and self-driving cars. The demand for low latency data centres to handle this is huge.”

“All of this is interconnected and delivers on the digital economy,” Grove told firms attending the Ambition Benelux event at Enterprise Ireland’s Dublin offices. “For example, if you want to hop in an Uber, it requires the traffic information, the weather, the locations of drivers and it is provided to Uber in a split second, so they can combine it and display the relevant information to the customer.

“And this is replicated in any online app or digital product or website. This happens in the background and has led to big hubs springing up in the world to accommodate it.”

 

Why Benelux has become a data centre hub

The Netherlands has been quick to adapt to the new digital landscape and is one of the top five data centre hubs in Europe. It is already home to some of the biggest data handlers in the world, housing data centres for the likes of Google and Microsoft, and has averaged 18% YoY growth in data centre provision for the past seven years.

Currently, the main data centre provision is in Amsterdam itself, accounting for 215,000 sq.m of the total 308,000 sq.m of data floor space. Others are regional centres around the country and two hyperscale centres. Together they account for 1,300 megawatts of power use.

The trend shows no sign of slowing. Currently 20% of all foreign direct investment in the Netherlands is in data centre-related sectors. That is forecast to rise to 25%, said Grove.

In 2017, Equinix built the €200 million AMS4 data centre in Amsterdam, housing almost €1 billion in IT equipment but the recent Ambition Benelux event at Enterprise Ireland’s Dublin headquarters was told it would be filled with data within the next two years.

 

Opportunities for Irish construction companies

 It should alert Irish firms in construction, IT and project management. There is now high demand in all of these areas, as demand outstrips supply in the local market. According to Grove, the shortage in expertise and skilled personnel is also experiencing a double-down effect as Dutch firms, employers and other bodies look to Brexit-proof their long-term infrastructure plans by sourcing alternatives to UK suppliers.

This should provide the ideal impetus for firms looking to diversify their export-side, said Richard Engelkes, Enterprise Ireland’s Senior Market Advisor in Construction Products and Services to the Benelux region.

“Currently, 35% of our exports go to the UK and 59% of this is in construction. What we have in the Benelux region is a fast-growing market and, in particular, with cleantech, pharma and data centre construction, there is a demand for the expertise of Irish firms. Irish expertise in these areas is highly respected and highly sought after. They have an international reputation in building and delivering difficult and complex structures,” says Engelkes.

In acting as a digital gateway to Europe, there are also challenges, not least in powering the data centres themselves. The energy footprint of the data centres sits at 1,300 MW. By comparison, Amsterdam the city needs 400 MW to function.

“There is no country in the world that built its power grid to foresee and meet these challenges,” says Grove. But these challenges also raise opportunities for Irish firms specialising in power and renewables solutions.

Grove added: “The market is good, demand is big. We have a need for good personnel and services and the companies here are looking for long-term contracts and partners to bring certainty to the growth. Companies here can see it is accelerating and they are looking for at least certainty in their supply chain. With Brexit, we are seeing firms preparing for non-UK suppliers and this puts Irish counterparts in a great position.”

Irish firms looking to take advantage of opportunities should think about Dutch partners, says Grove. As Dutch construction firms move into the data centre build sector, they need good services, contractors and expertise.

“It is already known that Irish firms have the expertise, the Irish advantage,” said Engelkes.

Thanks to that positive sentiment, Irish firms will find that the door to this market is already open.

 

Learn more on how Enterprise Ireland can support your business to export to new markets.