Sometimes, you need to get on a plane
By CDMN on Nov 19, 2012
@awesense
The following guest post was submitted by Mischa Steiner-Jovic, CEO Awesense and participated in the CDMN Soft-Landing program and was originally published by Ontario MEDI blog and is published here with permission.
by Mischa Steiner-Jovic, CEO Awesense
This is a quick story about how we had an opportunity to showcase our products and solutions in the foreign market of Brazil. This has led to a great opportunity for Awesense, in having a market leader business partner in Brazil.
At the time of the proposed meeting, we were discussing a partnership. What we really needed to do was to get down to Brazil and truly see if our system was a fit for the market there, and to see if the partner we were discussing with was the right partner for us. We were introduced to the CDMA Soft-Landing program by friends at EDC. If it weren’t for the Soft-Landing program, we would have had a difficult time.
The application process was easy, and left me saying “That’s it? We’re approved?” It was the type of speed and forward thinking that you dream about from a funding organization. The application and approval process was so easy, I had to ask multiple times to confirm our approval. Without the funding from the Soft-Landing program, it would have been a difficult decision to go for us. I’m glad that we did.
Getting the funding to go was one thing. Making the most of the trip was another. Here are three things that you should know about traveling abroad for business meetings.
Travel Arrangements – Know where you’re going & how you’re getting there!
Travel to/from the airport, and where you are going to stay is a must. There is little worse then traveling to a foreign country under tight deadlines, with no known method of transportation to your meeting, and where you are staying after the meeting.
Yes, it is going to cost you to book a driver ahead of time, but it is well worth the peace of mind knowing that you have transportation when you arrive. Don’t be surprised if your driver does not speak English however.
I would suggest that you try to get there a day early. For me, due to delays on a connecting flight, I missed my flight to Brazil, and had to wait 24 hours for the next flight. Being a day late to a meeting is never a good thing.
Language Barriers – Don’t make your deal the Tower of Babel
Also before your departure, you should make sure you know how you are going to communicate with your business partner or customer. You will want to have a well defined schedule in place, that the partner or customer understands and agrees to before your departure.
Most people operating in business these days will speak some level of English. However, do not be surprised if your thoughts and messages have a difficult time crossing the language barrier. You should prepare to have a translator with you when speaking to the other party. This will help to cut out the layers of misunderstanding, and will show a level of preparedness that business partner or customer will greatly appreciate. Make sure you have communication channels in place.
Ongoing Communication – Keep the channels open
Once you get back home, the real work starts. If you’ve been lucky enough to convince your business partner or customer to move to the next stage with your company—whether that be a partnership agreement, purchase order, or other—you will want to make sure that you follow up immediately. Assume that at least 50% of what was discussed: training, product & services review, planning, etc. will be forgotten.
Both sides, especially in a business partnership, will have actionable items and deliverables that if you’re reading this post, like Awesense, you are probably the small fish in the equation. Therefore, it is your job and responsibility to stay on top of the action items, not only making sure that you and your team are meeting the objectives, but also making sure that your new partner is meeting their objectives. You should have weekly, or at the very least bi-weekly, meetings to ensure everyone is on track.
If the language gap was deep during your trip, expect that it will be many times more difficult with the distance between you. Time-zones play a role in this as well. It may require that you find someone to translate for you on an ongoing basis, or even hiring someone that speaks both languages. Luckily for all of us, Canada is very multicultural.
What we did might not work for everyone, or even be applicable for that matter. If you have a product or service that you see getting more traction in an international market, then sometimes, you just have to get on a plane. Book the ticket. Be brave. Go get it!
Awesense Wireless is a smart sensor platform that helps utility companies quickly and easily identify losses and inefficiencies in their distribution grid. It is located in Vancouver, BC and is one of Canada’s hottest startups–recently garnering awards such as Top 20 Innovator by BC Business Magazine. They have gone from 4 people to 15, and are continuing to hire and grow.
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