Blog And News
Market Entry and the Art of Staying Nimble
The famous hockey player Wayne Gretzky was once asked by a reporter: “What makes you better than other players on the ice?” “Other hockey players go where the puck is,” he answered. “I go where the puck is going.” Every CEO is trying to stay ahead of the game, to
Beating the Competition as a Scaling Firm
Understanding your competition and how to differentiate in a new market is critical for any scaling firm. Beating the competition, on the other hand, requires much more. As any swimmer will tell you, the key to winning a race is to keep your head down and focus on your strengths.
How to Maximize ROI in Market Research
We’ve all been the target of market research. Whether it’s a prompt requesting you to remain on the line for a brief survey, a feedback card you receive upon exiting an airplane, or that pop-up web survey you just can’t seem to minimize. How do companies decide on a market
Six KPIs for Measuring Success of a Scaling Business
While every company chooses to measure success differently depending on their scope of service and product features, certain KPIs unite all successful companies. For firms scaling to the U.S. on a tight budget and timeline, keeping close tabs on metrics of success can make a world of difference. What are
Meeting Customer Expectations: Lessons from Market Research
Understanding and successfully meeting customer expectations in your target market is the number one challenge for any business. Scaling to a foreign market acts as a multiplier for that challenge. That’s where investments in market research and rapid testing can make a big difference. On June 25th we spoke with
The Importance of Market Research for Scaling Firms
On June 25th we spoke with Michael Vigeant, CEO of Greatblue Research in a webinar we titled: What You Don’t Know Can Kill Your Business: Nailing Market Research for U.S. Market Entry. With over 20 years of experience in market research, we thought we’d begin by getting Michael’s perspective on
Keeping an Eye on Your Target Market
Knowing your target market is part and parcel to starting a successful business. In the absence of a remote sense of whom your product is aiming to serve, it is practically impossible to develop any sort of viable marketing and sales strategy. With 75+ years of experience in trade shows
Entering the U.S. Market? Resist Big Bets
Americans have a reputation for going big—big cars, big houses, big portions…the list goes on. But for firms entering the U.S. market, this inclination to “go big” can actually be counterproductive and destructive. In our recent webinar: SCALE NOW: Entering the U.S. Market through Trade Shows and In-Person Events, we
Solving the Six Most Common Challenges to Trade Show Success
We know—you’re thinking there can’t be one solution to solving the six most common challenges to trade show success. In fact, there are many different strategies one can use to improve ROI at trade shows and in-person events. But they all boil down to one mindset. Mastering this mindset
Are Trade Shows Still Relevant for Scaling Businesses?
In these times of rapidly evolving technology, we often get the question “Are trade shows, trade fairs, and in-person events still relevant in today’s marketplace?” With the growth of online marketing and global remote services companies, it’s a fair question. Here’s our answer. Particularly in the B2B and B2G (business
Scaling to the U.S. Market: the Importance of Early Traction
If scaling to the U.S. market is something you’ve considered, you’re probably aware of the potential risks and rewards. At MEET, our goal is to help companies entering the U.S. market employ techniques to optimize this process by minimizing the risks and leveraging all the unique rewards that this large
Nailing the Follow-up
Devising a follow-up plan before you leave for an event is the best way to maximize ROI, plain and simple. At MEET, we specialize in devising strategies to get the most out of every event for our clients. Here’s a peek at how we do it. Prioritizing contacts At high-value
Help Your Event Team Help You
Event teams may be the most under-utilized resource at important trade show events. For opportunities like the upcoming SelectUSA Summit, where and how your team members present themselves will be a major predictor of ROI. Train to divide and conquer It happens quite often that we see events teams huddled
Maximize your ROI at SelectUSA with an Opportunity One-Sheet
When heading to a high-value event like SelectUSA, it’s important that you are equipped with the right tools to make the best first impression. In our last post, we talked about the importance of fine-tuning your value proposition and self-introduction to ensure that every interaction is congruent with how you
Introducing yourself at SelectUSA
With 75 years of trade show and in-person event experience under our belts, we’re not exaggerating when we say that SelectUSA is 10x better than any trade event that we go to annually. With every U.S. state represented plus a full array of resources and organizations that support U.S. market
What’s your strategy for SelectUSA?
SelectUSA is an unrivaled opportunity for international firms looking to scale to the U.S. market. We believe the knowledge gained from Economic Development Organizations, investors, service providers, and network resources, coupled with the maturity of the companies in attendance, makes SelectUSA a hard event to beat. At MEET, we help
How to leverage every opportunity at SelectUSA
For many international companies looking to scale to the U.S. market, SelectUSA is a once in a lifetime opportunity. In our last post, we discussed how to goal-set your SelectUSA strategy plan and design an agenda that reflects your clearly defined priorities. In this post, we’d like to provide a
Creating Your SelectUSA Success Plan, Part 1
Last year, the team at MEET joined more than 3,000 international business investors, U.S. economic developers, CEOs, government officials and market-entry thought leaders at the 2018 SelectUSA Investment Summit. Unequivocally, SelectUSA 2018 was the best trade event we’ve ever attended and we’re thrilled to be returning this year. For companies
Maximize Your Trade Show ROI by Running Through the Finish Line
Trainers and experienced athletes will always say, “It’s not enough to complete the race—you need to run through the finish line.” After months of hard work and training, it might seem obvious that you’d do everything to maximize your results. The reality, particularly for less experienced runners, is quite the
Scaling to the U.S. Market? Time to Sweat the Small Stuff
It’s easy for international CEOs who are scaling to the U.S. market to get completely absorbed by tangible tasks like fundraising, customer validation, and team building. While these milestones are fundamental to any U.S. market entry endeavor, there remain less tangible, “softer” tasks that scaling CEOs must master in order
3 Steps to Fundraising Your International Scaling Venture
Few companies are able to fund an international scaling venture completely on their own. Effective fundraising requires striking the right balance between proving your ability to succeed and making a strong case for how funding will get you there. In essence, you need the chicken and the egg. To explore
MEET 2019 Webinar Schedule
January 24 Issues and Opportunities When Entering and Endeavoring to Scale in the U.S. Market with Blair Parks, U.S. and Canada Business Manager, Mayor’s International Business Programme at London & Partners February 25 The Top 5 Mistakes that Exhibitors Make at Trade Shows and What to do About It!
Building Your U.S. Market Entry Team
The task of building a U.S. market entry team is full of tough decisions. For example: Should we transplant key leadership from the home market or just hire locally? How do we maintain company culture and quality of service from so far away? What kind of investment is necessary to
The Answer to U.S. Market-Entry is Not in the Tea Leaves
Succeeding at U.S. market-entry is such an enormous task it’s no wonder people look for shortcuts. And yet, it is these shortcuts, these efforts to predict success without the investment to prove it, that are the greatest source of failure for scaling firms. To explore this topic of how to
Getting U.S. Market Entry Right the First Time Around
The phrases “fail fast,” fail often,” and “fail better” abound the literature on successful entrepreneurship. Yet regardless of one’s exposure to the idea of failure, it’s never easy, particularly for entrepreneurs who have already experienced the feeling of starting a successful company. One of the greatest challenges foreign-based firms face
Time to reality check your plans to scale in the U.S. market?
At MEET, we often refer to the dangers of viewing the U.S. market as a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Yet, we understand where this view comes from. With its vast market size, large pool of high-quality talent, and abundance of hungry investors, it’s a hard
U.S. Market Entry the Octopus Ventures Way: Part 1
Are you a CEO considering U.S. market entry? The decision to scale into the U.S. market, followed by the execution, is not for the faint of heart. That said, according to the World Bank’s Doing Business Project and statistics shared by SelectUSA, the United States ranks in the top ten
