Nurturing Export Genius Means Focus

Media Release: 13 September 2004

Nurturing Export Genius Means Focus

Turning exporters into market savvy businesses whose approach to successful export is 'rifle rather than shotgun' is hotter than ever topic for business, according to ICEHOUSE CEO Andy Hamilton.

Successful businesses are re-evaluating and refocusing their export goals, says Andy Hamilton, who says findings from the ICEHOUSE 321 Go Global alumni suggests many businesses admit that their approach to exporting has been too widespread to be effective, is often ad hoc, or the result of pursuing export orders from anywhere and everywhere, often at huge cost to the organisation.

Hamilton says the success of the 321 Go Global programme from business accelerator, The ICEHOUSE, is aimed at helping companies go from being good to great in the export field, and has led to many of the participants pulling back on generic export marketing and refocusing on achievable goals.

"Businesses who have gone on the 321 Go Global programme, and the seminars we held last year, tell us it has helped refocus their thinking," he says. "The 321 Go Global Seminars are being offered again in October this year, in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch and we"

Andrew Parkin, of Genoese Foods, manufacturers and exporters of pestos, tapenades and flavours, says the 321 Go Global programme was a revelation.

"We were sitting there, listening to ex pat kiwi presenter Andy Lark, and he said 'if you don't want to be a $50m company then you might as well stay in NZ and be realistic'. I realised that while we don't necessarily aspire to $50m, it wasn't entirely out of the question."

The programme has helped him redefine strategic export goals, a vision shared by CRMS Consulting, a pharmaceutical sales and service analysis company. CRMS's Paul Millett, (winner of NZ Trade and Enterprises Services Exporter of the Year, 2004) says he is using a lot of the structured methodology he learned on the programme to measure and change the company's approach.

The philosophy that Kiwi businesses should be ultra-aggressive in seizing business growth and wealth creation opportunities has been pivotal in developing The ICEHOUSE business growth programmes. According to Andy Hamilton, research results showed distinct barriers to SME growth remain, and addressing these has been a driving force in the development of The ICEHOUSE suite of business growth programmes.

About the ICEHOUSE

The ICEHOUSE (The International Centre for Entrepreneurship) was established in 2001 by the University of Auckland Business School, alongside a number of industry partners. As a Business Accelerator, it focuses on creating greater numbers of successful international New Zealand companies through education, incubation, and research.

ENDS

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