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I talk with American entrepreneurs every day and I am always struck by how few consider international markets during their growth stage. Most of my discussions seem to involve education about how small the American market is compared with the rest of world markets combined. Here’s a condensed version of a recent conversation with a Vice President of Business Development for a niche healthcare software company. I will leave out all names to protect identities…
VP Business Development: “So your focus is on international marketing? I don’t think our company would need any of that for many years. The American market is just so huge for us.”
The International Entrepreneur: “Really? You may be surprised. Do you have much competition in the American market?”
VP: “Yes, we do. Why? Is there less competition overseas?”
TIE: “In some markets yes, but there are other markets for healthcare software where competition is much less entrenched and selection process may be less formal.”
VP: “One of the biggest issues we’re facing right now is changing regulations in our industry. Is it like that everywhere?”
TIE: “Some markets like several in East Asia and the Middle East are much less regulated than places like the US, Canada and the European Union. These are also markets were private healthcare providers are often willing to pay a premium for quality products and services. Then there’s medical tourism, which attracts patients able to pay for the highest quality of health care to hospitals and clinics in places like Thailand (over 2 million foreign patients annually), Costa Rica, and India.”
VP: “Wow, I had no idea that there would be potential markets for us that could be as lucrative as the US market. But what about protecting our intellectual property? I’ve heard of a lot of software companies that won’t go outside of the US because they worry about their software code being stolen. Should that keep us from going to these other markets?”
TIE: “There may be some software companies that need to worry about this more than others. Here’s why this should be a non-issue in healthcare software. Healthcare software is normally mission-critical to a provider’s operations. Software and system support is a critical part of the provider-client relationship. Even if a copycat version of your software became available on the market, who would support it? And would any healthcare organization risk their patient records or any other aspect of their operations just to save some money in the short run?”
VP: “Okay, now I’m interested in learning more. Maybe there’s more to these international markets than I realized. How do I get started?”
TIE: “A great place to start for any company is in their own industry’s international associations. In the case of healthcare software, the International Medical Informatics Association and its affiliates are a great place to start. Make contacts in the international community and start asking questions about various markets. You’ll need to start forming relationships and that will take time. It’s best to start soon if international markets are something you may want to pursue even two years from now.”
If you or your company have any questions about how to find and enter international markets, please feel free to contact me. Whether it would be me or another professional, I will help you to find the right resources.
For the original article, please visit http://www.the-international-entrepreneur.com/
( Vivian )11 Apr,2012| Product Model | Inside Diameter | Outside Diameter | Thickness |
| 2316K NACHI | 80 | 170 | 58 |
| 1316K NACHI | 80 | 170 | 39 |