Positivity : How onwards and upwards is the only way
On Monday, I had a set-back. One could expect that from time to time this happens but this one was more personal.
It's the difficulty we face when at times we mix personal life with our professional life. Every person you touch whether they are a friend, colleague, acquaintance or client, has an opinion on you whether they like it or not.
I am incredibly fortunate to have many people around me that care about my future happiness. I share many of my stories on this blog and on another blog that will be launched on my birthday on 28th August, 2012 on www.mellissah.com.
As many avid readers of this blog will know, Marketing Eye is expanding into the US. We have been working on this for 7 months and are currently in a capital raise phase. While we don't need to raise capital to expand per se, we do need to do this if we want to build a more significant business, that is globally scalable and able to create a greater community of small businesses that all have a 'marketing eye'.
Our dream is to build a company that provides small businesses with a marketing manager, education, media and networking. It's a holistic approach to marketing and encourages clients to participate in sharing resources and collaborating in joint ventures, sharing of ideas and providing introductions to other businesses within the network.
We believe that small businesses need more than just a marketing manager backed by a team of creatives, online specialists, web developers and publicists. In today's very difficult market, most businesses have cut their marketing spend - but all businesses know that to survive and prosper, they need marketing. An investment of $500 per week for a subscription base model for small businesses with no added investment (all graphic design, web and pr is inclusive), is a way in which small businesses can continue to market their products and services in an affordable manner.
The US market isn't doing too well right now. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to work that one out. Australia is fairing much better. Our business is well known in Australia and there is still plenty of room for growth. We have a very strong management team and the best marketing managers that we have ever had in our 8 year history. They all believe in the brand wholeheartedly.
The US market on the other hand, is a very large market. 27 times larger than the Australian market. We have conducted research and believe that our model will work very well in the US market and already have clients lining up at the door.
The problem is, a mentor of mine and someone whose opinion I value immensely, doesn't believe that the US is the answer. In fact, they believe that our business should focus on growth in Australia because it won't cost us any more for setup of the business and infrastructure if we were to do this. To expand into the US, there are a lot of costs involved.
To fulfil our business plan, other than setup costs, the investment is very similar however.
In today's market, you cannot ignore the advice of one of the most successful business leaders in Australia - yet do you put aside your goal of expansion or put it on hold based on this advice? What do you think?
After thinking about it for 24 hours, I am still of the belief that due to the current economic climate and the receptance to a concept like Marketing Eye in the US - we should continue our plans for expansion but perhaps downsize the concept for stage one and to get 'proof of concept' underway. I am very interested in your thoughts and experiences.
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comments ( 4 )
David
06 Jul 2012If an opportunity arises, you should take it before someone else does. There is heaps of potential in the U.S and im sure many will support your decisions.
ReplySandra
07 Jun 2012I think if you want to do something then you should do it, even though it's hard to ignore advice from your mentor. The only way to know if Marketing Eye US will work is to follow through with the expansion, as you have already conducted research you also know what you're getting yourself into. Everything happens for a reason so if it's not meant to be it's not meant to be but then again I've heard if you want something bad enough, it's already yours...
ReplyMarise Cheney
06 Jun 2012Just a thought...Those facts in the USA may be accurate. Have you thought of India, or Singapore of Hong Kong OR Mexico.
ReplyLeo
06 Jun 2012I arrived in Australia, more specifically in Melbourne, 4 days ago and my knowledge about the country is very limited. However I knew the Aussie land was well known to be prosperous in terms of everything: economical, political, social and cultural matters. As soon as I landed to the country, the first foreign people I met told me they found a job during the first week. I never heard that in all countries where I travelled. I feel here a way better atmosphere than the one I can feel in Europe for example...
ReplyBased on my experiences, which are not extremely enormous, I've learned a company should take advantage of all the opportunities on the domestic market before entering into foreign markets. Nevertheless if a company knows how it is going on in the environment abroad and it already got contacts, I think this company should consider this opportunity seriously and positively. It would be recommended to determine everything and set up a financial plan such as the income forecasts in order to get the best clue about how it will be once Marketing Eye will be established there.