Diversify your Channel Partners to Grow Global!

If you want to grow your business, you don't only need to have ideas or create something that is different today. You need to connect to the right people in order to receive feedback, to learn, to accelerate market penetration, to beat the competition ... and yes, learn about what the future can look like through the lenses of world industry #influencers. 

I always find it interesting when companies indicate that what they do has never been done before or is truly unique to them ... sometimes! I think it might be best to say that one has developed solutions or services or products that can bring more efficiency to an organization than any other solution developed by competitors in the same space. But again, it could be that a visionair truly has created something new that will open new market spaces! Still, check out those that might have tried something similar and failed most likely if they are not to be considered competition.  

What is important for those outside looking  in, is your roadmap, your ideation process, your capabilities of deployment, the scalability of what you are designing and your willingness to look beyond your market. We should not forget that there might be others doing the same thing you are doing today. Of course the assumption is that it is not as good as your solutions, but it crucial to understand that they can catch up faster than one can imagine and beat you where it matters: less costly but as efficient or as beautiful if it is a product.

What are you working on for the next 2-3 years that will transform the industries you are targeting? 
PR work is always a great thing, articles to indicate that your company is influencing industries in the direction you want; a new article about company XY - Paid for - by the company whose name is headlined! You also have the winning of multiple prizes at events that won't necessarily guarantee that strategic partners take an interest in what you offer. Which has a bigger valuation; press articles or potential strategic partnerships?

What do your investing partners want from you? Are they looking at you as a potential unicorn company that will yield enormous returns? Have you secured the vision of your company? 

When the opportunity to accelerate partnerships is put before you, should you ponder whether this opportunity can have a positive return on investment? Entrepreneurs accept the hundreds of thousands even millions of dollars or euros invested in their future capability to deploy in large ecosystems and truly disrupt an industry they have targeted. But why does it then become difficult for some startups, SMBs or investors to  diversify their business development channels? 

"Big goals may seem crazy at first, but they are necessary, even in the early days, to encourage everyone to push beyond their limits." Hiroshi Mikitani CEO, Rakuten Inc.

I now understand that cultural barriers may hinder some as they do not wish to hear: "we are not interested", "you are not so different from the 4 or 5 companies from South Korea, the UK, India, Kenya, Brazil, ... we've talked to", "you are not ready for this market" ... These are opportunities for your business, ideas to improve. Use multiple channels to create business opportunities and grow your business.

When was the last time you engaged your business in conversations with a Fortune 1000 company in North-America or LatAm for example?
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Turning on the Lights Global - We link innovation-focused companies with potential partners in the Americas and allow rapid diffusion of ideas through a structured channel across geographic regions. Creating meaningful cross-cultural experiences & building internationalization processes for success.