Flexible outlook is key to success

Oct 7 2008 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

HAVE you got what it takes? UKTI international trade director for the North-east David Coppock looks at how adaptable businesses need to be when entering new markets

IN THE latest in our series looking at the “Top traits of successful exporters” - vision, commitment, focus, research, planning, training, relationship building, quality, adaptation and energy - we now come to adaptation.

A few years ago an article was prepared for the US Army by Brigadier David A Fastabend and Robert H Simpson called: “Adapt or Die: The Imperative for a Culture of Innovation in the United States Army”.

In the introduction to the article, General Peter J Schoomaker, Chief of Staff, Army, wrote: “We are an Army at war, serving a nation at war. To win this war and to be prepared for any other task our nation may assign us, we must have a campaign-quality Army with a joint and expeditionary mindset. A fundamental underpinning of this mindset is a culture of innovation.”

It would not be too far beyond the bounds of possibility to rewrite this statement and adapt the war-like analogy for the modern business owner or manager: “We are a management team at war, serving a company at war. To win this war and to be prepared for any other task our company may assign us, we must have a campaign-quality organisation with a joint and expeditionary mindset. A fundamental underpinning of this mindset is a culture of innovation.”

It would seem the key phrase is the final one - “a fundamental underpinning of this mindset is a culture of innovation” - or having the ability to adapt to an ever-changing business landscape.

The ability to adapt in the business world is vital. The ability to have a flexible approach to business, a flexible workforce, a flexible means of production and product are all-important if your business is to be successful. And this “culture of innovation” is all the more important when it comes to exporting. But in the export arena flexibility is not enough on its own. Knowledge is power and this is particularly true when it comes to first breaking into and then sustaining a presence in export markets.

You are up against strong competition from companies from across the globe. Your home-based strategy may not be suitable when it comes to working abroad, so what should you do? “Adapt or die”! By being flexible in your approach to the market, by being able to adapt to circumstances as they come up, could give you that all-important edge and means it is your company an importer wants to work with and your product or service that breaks into a key new market place.

To find out more, call the North East International Trade Hotline on 0845 05 05 054 or email: enquiries@ukti.rito.co.uk