Malincho
1. Overall Assessment
Kalin Pentchev created an increasingly growing business out of confidence, determination and sheer luck. Building a company from scratch is complex and certainly takes some of these qualities to persevere, but must also take planning, analysis and strategy. While Kalin displayed confidence, which Professor Sarathy explained contributes to a company’s success, it was gained from his own determination not to fail, rather than from having an understanding of international marketing. Instead of using well-mapped out plans and strategy to guide his company, Kalin created a reactive business with decision-making occurring as issues and dilemmas arose. Unfortunately, as a result, he made several mistakes common to new exporters – failure to develop an international business plan prior to export; insufficient care in selecting distributors and partners; chasing orders instead of selective and orderly international marketing; and assuming that successful home market product and marketing techniques would work anywhere – which ultimately played a role in causing many of the issues he faced.
Failure to Develop an International Business Plan
A formalized plan in business, whether export, marketing or a standard business plan, summarizes what the manager has learned about the market place and how the company plans to reach its specific goals. Although Kalin researched information on the Bulgarian population in the U.S., he failed to gain his true potential by having a plan in place. For example, if he had analyzed all possible markets, he may have discovered a large and available market segment, like the ethnic communities, sooner. Furthermore, if he had not reached a sense of urgency and become desperate to sell his product, he may have missed that market altogether. Additionally, without a plan in place, he overlooked the competition, potential “what if” scenarios and marketing opportunities. Such analysis would have identified the
Kalin Pentchev created an increasingly growing business out of confidence, determination and sheer luck. Building a company from scratch is complex and certainly takes some of these qualities to persevere, but must also take planning, analysis and strategy. While Kalin displayed confidence, which Professor Sarathy explained contributes to a company’s success, it was gained from his own determination not to fail, rather than from having an understanding of international marketing. Instead of using well-mapped out plans and strategy to guide his company, Kalin created a reactive business with decision-making occurring as issues and dilemmas arose. Unfortunately, as a result, he made several mistakes common to new exporters – failure to develop an international business plan prior to export; insufficient care in selecting distributors and partners; chasing orders instead of selective and orderly international marketing; and assuming that successful home market product and marketing techniques would work anywhere – which ultimately played a role in causing many of the issues he faced.
Failure to Develop an International Business Plan
A formalized plan in business, whether export, marketing or a standard business plan, summarizes what the manager has learned about the market place and how the company plans to reach its specific goals. Although Kalin researched information on the Bulgarian population in the U.S., he failed to gain his true potential by having a plan in place. For example, if he had analyzed all possible markets, he may have discovered a large and available market segment, like the ethnic communities, sooner. Furthermore, if he had not reached a sense of urgency and become desperate to sell his product, he may have missed that market altogether. Additionally, without a plan in place, he overlooked the competition, potential “what if” scenarios and marketing opportunities. Such analysis would have identified the