South Africa, Brazil, China, UK, Poland and Czech Republic are among the countries visited on trade missions this year by Irish companies, along with Government Ministers and Enterprise Ireland. The key aim of these trade missions is to help Irish exporting companies to grow their networks and contracts in international markets, ultimately helping them to grow their business.
So why are trade missions important to businesses considering exporting, and what is the experience like? #allaboutjobs speaks to Garvan Quish of Device Smart about his experience and advice for other companies in a similar position.
DeviceSmart is software company that has developed an innovative platform that allows organisations connect to, monitor and control their infrastructure, buildings and systems. DeviceSmart works with all sectors and organisations that have geographically spread diverse equipment and buildings.
The company is considered a high-potential startup, which means that it has technology at its core and its main markets are overseas.
"Through the local Enterprise Ireland office we found potential partners over there and have now formed a very strong bond with them"
DeviceSmart had experience and initial contacts in the Polish market, and having met staff in the Enterprise Ireland office in Warsaw, took the opportunity to take part in a trade mission to Poland in June. “We spent some time dealing with the Warsaw Enterprise Ireland office and found them very helpful and through the office we found potential partners over there and have now formed a very strong bond with them,” says Garvan Quish, DeviceSmart’s commercial director.
Garvan Quick, Commercial Director and Eamonn Roarke,CEO of DeviceSmart pictured on trade mission in Poland
Speaking about his experience in Poland Garvan said, “The trade mission was extremely well run. We had a night in the Irish embassy in Warsaw and nice reception which was also a good networking event. Enterprise Ireland also organised a day of six one-to-one meetings with potential partners and customers. We got lots of good leads of it and developed ones we had already been working on.”
Garvan has had experience in working with Enterprise Ireland going back 16 years. His experience has been positive, and he says in the case of DeviceSmart, he found the overseas especially good. “They’re very helpful if you are looking to break into a market and make it easy setting up meeting with potential partners and customers.” Garvan is currently using the expertise of overseas office for information gathering on international markets like US, Canada, UK and parts of Asia.
"You can’t beat face to face meetings, no matter how good the technology”
Asked about the benefits of trade missions, Garvan summed it up well. “The beauty of a trade mission is you get to meet lots of potential partners and customers in the one go – it’s like hitting multiple birds with one stone. Lots of tech companies try to save money doing calls online and video conferencing to save on the cost of a flight. Small companies want to meet customers; it would have to be a really good meeting to be worth the travel. On a trade mission, you are able to get as many meetings put together in a short period of time. You can’t beat face to face meetings, no matter how good the technology.”
“This is the best way to dip your toe into international markets without huge financial commitment. Enterprise Ireland’s overseas offices have Irish staff as well as local staff and they are invaluable as they have contacts in the market. Looking at market, that should the first step, as it’s easy and cost efficient. It’s a great starting point.”
For more information
Check out DeviceSmart's website.
To find out more about exporting, see Enterprise Ireland's website.