In part one; I talked about our second SLI meet up “From the Buyers Perspective” and in part two about our morning International Partnership event “International Success for Tech Companies”

Tuesday: The International Partnership – International Success for Tech Companies (Afternoon Session)

As already stated, the interest in this took us by surprise so we ended up holding a second session on Tuesday afternoon. The running order followed a similar pattern to the morning event, with both Donagh and Dave speaking again (see part two)

However this time first up was Paddy Holahan. Paddy is CEO of Newbay Software, a leader in digital lifestyle solutions for operators, enabling subscribers to create, store, view and share user content. Paddy brings huge experience in the Irish tech sector, having previously been Executive Vice President of Marketing & Product Management at Baltimore Technologies.

He spoke at length about his humble beginnings and how he managed to grow the various Irish software businesses that he has been involved with. Paddy is a straight talker, someone who is not afraid to call it as he sees it - but I think what impressed everyone most was his incredible focus.

He demonstrated an ability to back his own judgement, sometimes against the advice of others - but more often than not proving his was the right course to take. As a fellow Tipp man, I have to say - I liked his style.

Again, the quality of the people that attended was reflected in the intelligent dialogue and engagement that ensued all afternoon. As the risk of repeating myself, the Irish tech sector is in good hands. It’s the rest of us that need to make sure we adequately support our tech leaders - I for one, intend to make that happen.

Wednesday: Day of Rest? Yeah Right!

I travelled from Dublin to Tipp on Wednesday, happy in knowledge that the previous two days events had exceeded my expectations. I had intended to do a little work in the afternoon; I also knew I had a conference call with Jonathan Farrington and the Top Sales Experts International team that evening.

Irish Biz Blog Network

On the way down, I put a call into Fred and Facundo at Channelship. The guys and I have teamed up to launch Ireland’s first Biz Blogging Network.

Now I have always believed that best way to get stuff done is to simply trust the right people and then let them do their thing. I don’t want to give too much away just yet, but let’s just say it was another expectation exceeded. I would seriously encourage you to watch this space and Channelship because they are rightly becoming leaders in their field.

Here’s a recent Slideshare from Channelship.

TSE, the Greatest Show on Earth!

All that was left was the conference with TSE, and boy, did Jonathan have lots of exciting news. I am not sure that there is someone doing more for the profession of selling than Jonathan.

Again, I need to remain tight lipped for now but let’s just say there are a serious of BIG announcements planned over the coming months. If you haven’t checked TSE out yet, click on the banner – It is already an incredible sales resource and is on the way to becoming the one-stop shop for sales info on the planet.

Next up, was Thursday, which was the IT of Cork meet up and another very successful Irish entrepreneur – who may also double to be the most successful social networker in the land??

Btb Guest Author

Donagh Kiernan

With Ireland being such a small market, many start-up software companies start with internationalisation in their plans. Many make moves internationally too soon or with too little knowledge and experience of making their business a success in their initial markets. I’m not referring to any lack of business knowledge or experience of the management team, but to the fact that it takes time for businesses to learn what really works for the business.

Many successful international Irish CEOs would give some variations on this advice about going international:

1. Understand what it is to sell and deliver your offering in your initial market first before considering going international.

The challenges in doing business in a new market are sufficient enough without having to learn the basic lessons in how to communicate, sell, deliver and support your offerings as well. You need to be building on the strong track record of your initial market to be credible in your first internationally market. You should really know your Value Proposition for your target market.

2. The business should understand its key business processes.

I’m not talking about becoming over corporate or bureaucratic but simply that everyone in the business has the same understanding of how things are done. When it gets busy, does your business operate efficiently through a series of processes or does it over depend on too few people?

3. Do you really know your target international market?

Is the buyer’s ‘Customer Journey’ the same as in your initial market? Do buyers value the same things? Does the competitive landscape in this market negate your current Value Proposition? Do a ‘Value Map’ with the market’s buying criteria comparing you against your competitors for your specific target market. Validate your assessment with prospective clients in your new market, as market research.

4. Leverage of your existing customers successes.

Can some or one of your existing customers bring you into your target international market? Do they have a sister or associate company that they could refer you into? Gaining a reference customer in the market is great start.

5. Focus on getting your beach-head customer so limit the number of target customers to get started.

Don’t go chasing 20 prospective target customers to get started. It takes time to understand the needs of 20 companies and build relationships with the decision makers. It’s better to really focus on the ones that you know you can deliver real value to and make it easy for them to buy. Get a little business from them and then build on it. Meanwhile don’t lose focus on continuing to build success in your initial market.

6. A local presence in the market is not always necessary but helps.

It depends on your product or service on whether you need a local team to sell, deliver or support your offering. This could be achieved with local support partners who are also gaining business from the sale. There are many different types of partners that might suit; it depends on your business. The selection of the right type and best-fit partners is a key component of what Maidsfield offer in its services to Irish software companies.

7. Should you Sell Direct or through Partners?

Selling direct is faster, more expensive and of greater risk. Going through Partners is slower, mush less expensive and much more cautious, as long as you pick the right partners to suit your business objectives. A hybrid model would be you sell direct with the support of a local support partner, thereby you get the local knowledge and maybe delivery and after sales support from the partner but you bring the domain expertise to close the sale. Maidsfield provide services in identifying and opening doors with the best-fit partners for your business.

There are many variations within the points above depending on your particular business but the principle are basically the same.

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Donagh Kiernan is the founder of Maidsfield Associates, a business development consulting company providing services to established internationally focussed technology companies. He has 20 years experience in working in, owning, driving and delivering results with international focussed Irish technology companies. In 2007/2008 Donagh was selected by Enterprise Ireland as one of 32 Irish business leaders to participate in a year long “Leadership for Growth Programme” for globally focused business leaders delivered by the prestigious Stanford University in California. He is an active contributor to Irish Technology industry development organisations through it@cork, NSC Campus, Irish Software Association, CIT Alumni and on Enterprise Ireland initiatives.

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In the News

Who does Jonathan Farrington consider to have been the greatest leader of them all?

Find out over at AllBusiness.