Posts Tagged ‘International’

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July 13th, 2011

The importance of addressing your customers in their native tongue when doing business abroad

An article published last May in Les Affaires (in French only) as part of a special series on the language industry highlighted the importance of translation for exporters, citing as an example an SME in Chesterville (near Victoriaville) that saw sales to Eastern Europe hit $3 million after translating its Web site into Polish, German and Russian. The company, which had its sights seriously set on these markets, spared no expense, hiring local translators to translate its site and sales tools. This enabled many of its customers, many of whom did not speak English, to learn about the company and its products, and as a result, sales went through the roof.

This example shows the importance of addressing your customers in their native tongue. In Quebec, because of our linguistic context, business owners are sensitive to this need. However, many don’t invest in translating and adapting their marketing and customer support tools to foreign languages. (more…)

April 18th, 2011

Global Cities of the Future

The McKinsey Quartely offers, on its website, an amusing tool to visualize cities and emerging metropolitan areas that will go through the strongest growth and the most important demographic changes through the next generation. McKinsey points out notably that 600 cities will account for more than 60 percent of global GDP growth, while the emergence of little-known urban centers will force companies to adopt a much finer-grained approach to take advantage of those cities’ growth. Interesting statistics, McKinsey forecasts that in 2025, emerging countries will have more households with incomes of $20,000 or above than will developed countries.

Bruno Séguin

December 17th, 2009

A great example of economic development collaboration in Laval

One of the most important roles of an economic development agency is to further the emergence of investment projects on its territory. And sometimes, it takes the combined efforts of several partners to help a company see its project through to completion. Such was the case with CDVI Americas, a Laval SME that has been obtaining assistance since 2008 from a number of local organizations, including the International Business Centre, the CLD de Laval, the MDEIE, Investissement Québec, Canada Economic Development, and the NRC, through the IRAP program.

This subsidiary of the French company CDVI Group, a global leader in the access control and locking systems industry, is responsible for marketing, support and product development for North and South America. CDVI sales have been growing in Latin America and the company received a highly prestigious award in Brazil this fall, which we wrote about shortly after.

CDVI Americas handles all the product development for the Americas and the specific needs of these markets. Thanks to the funding obtained from its partners, the company was able to invest over $1 million in foreign market development and in a major R&D project. These investments are expected to create six jobs in Laval over the next few years, several in engineering. CDVI chief executive René Mallandain just recently told us, after our successful Brazil trade mission, that it would have greatly helped his company had he known about the services of the International Business Centre, the CLD de Laval and the other partners when it first opened its doors back in 2004.

As you can see, great things can happen when everyone works together and I therefore encourage all SME owners to build themselves a solid partner network.

Bruno Séguin

November 23rd, 2009

Business opportunities in Russia at Leroy Merlin

On October 15, Christophe Boudier, a buyer at Leroy Merlin, came to Québec to meet potential Québec suppliers during a seminar on opportunities offered by his company. Four Laval companies attended.

Leroy Merlin is part of the French Adeo Group, which employs 60,000 people in 12 countries. It ranks fourth in the world, (behind Home Depot and Lowe’s, which are well known in Canada) and second in Europe in the retail construction-renovation sector. The company was the first to offer Russian consumers a full range of products at low prices. It currently has 10 stores there and plans to have 25 by 2013. The company imports 70% of its products, which could represent a great business opportunity for some SMEs.

The company grows in lock step with the construction industry. According to Christophe Boudrier, the Russian residential market is booming and has not yet reached maturity. Since 1990, the sector has grown by leaps and bounds. In the past, housing was mostly government owned but now 74% of housing belongs to private interests. And apartments in Russia are delivered as concrete shells, so consumers have a lot to buy to make them liveable.

But not all SMEs are cut out to be a Leroy Merlin supplier. The company insists on very low prices and huge volume. For example, for Moscow alone, in 2008, 100,000 items were sold, representing about 700 pallets of goods a day.

If your SME is interested in becoming a Leroy Merlin supplier, you have 3 options:

  1. Become a bulk supplier: The SME provides, on an as-needed basis, large quantities of a given product at bargain basement prices;
  2. Become a product suppler: The SME supplies all stores on the Russian market by making one or more products permanently available.
  3. Become an Adeo brand manufacturer for Russia: the SME creates products under the Leroy Merlin brand. This gives you access to all Leroy Merlin stores in the world.

But you have to remember that the process between product selection and delivery is relatively long, i.e. between 6 months and one year.

Also, to succeed you have to take into account these key points: the company’s price strategy is very aggressive; all products must be GOST-certified; you’re responsible for documentation and customs marking; you have to be able to provide huge quantities and all the documentation must be written in Russian. So while Leroy Merlin can offer huge possibilities, not all SMEs are necessarily up to the task.

November 18th, 2009

SMEs can now also export to China and India

For the past few years, everybody’s been talking about the huge market potential in China, its 300 million middle class consumers and phenomenal growth. It’s the same for India. However, although sourcing in China is quite popular, only a handful of Laval and Quebec firms sell their wares there.

The fact is that China and India are distant chaotic markets fraught with entry, cultural and other barriers. It’s not easy for a small Quebec company to find its niche in the Pacific Rim without getting burned by having others copy its products or not finding the right business partner.

That said, I’m starting to hear more and more cases of Laval companies landing big contracts in Asia and we’re fielding a growing number of questions about the legal, financial and other aspects of exporting to China.  It’s very exciting to see small businesses leverage their niche expertise to stand out on the international stage. On October 19, the Globe and Mail published an article on Canadian exports in its Report on Business. Click here to read it.

SYNERGX and JMF Cranes & Hoists are two examples of Laval companies that succeed in these markets. M. Menghini, President of JMF, was telling me how the Indian market is full of opportunities for his company. He is also considering hiring a full-time representative to develop this market and evaluating the possibility to develop a partnership with a local firm.

There are many similarities between doing business in the U.S., Europe and Asia. For instance, you must make sure to know your partner well, have a clear, complete and detailed contract, and maintain a close relationship with your customer. Just because the customer is far way, speaks another language and is from a different culture doesn’t mean the rules are different. You can make the process easier by learning about the country’s business practices and surrounding yourself with the right partners.

Although they were published in 2006 and 2007, the following guides from Export Development Canada are still very relevant for our companies:

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