As part of the Federal Government’s ‘ideas boom’, urging new and existing businesses to create new products, a critical path to Australia’s future success is exporting our ideas and products overseas.

Malcolm Turnbull unveiled a plan to establish at least five "landing pads" around the world providing Australian entrepreneurs with a space to find their feet when they first land in a foreign market. But, landing pads don’t guarantee an easy start.

Christelle Damiens, Managing Director of Exportia, a business consultancy that provides expertise for Australian technology companies launching in Europe, explains. “A landing pad is a hub that provides entrepreneurs with on-the-ground advice, office space and services to assist their businesses in scaling faster overseas, but it’s not as simple as just opening an office; many businesses fail with export even with a landing pad in place.

“Firstly, if it’s not clearly identified that the country holding the landing pad actually has a potential for your business then you could set-up shop and waste years before any outcome from your new venture. Having a landing pad in place is not reason enough to make the move to a country, without that being the correct country for you.”

Disconnection is another major hurdle businesses must overcome, says Ms Damiens: “If the whole company is not engaged in the process – sending someone to a landing pad without that person having the full support of their team, can rapidly make the them feel disconnected – overseas postings can often fail because of this.

“Many small businesses believe that because they are sending someone overseas, this person should target and sell direct to the local customer, but in some cases it may be much more worthwhile having partners in place. It can be faster, less risky, and easier to scale. Getting this person to build relationships and support local partners can be very powerful,” said Ms Damiens.

“Europe still holds great opportunities for first-time exporters and I could clearly see the value of a landing pad in Europe,” she adds. “There is a huge market for tech export with a safer and simpler path to success in comparison to other export locations. The other advantage is the number of large European multinationals having investment and programmes for start-ups; Australian start-ups can benefit from that. ”

In her new book launched this week, Christelle talks through the relatively straightforward steps Australian tech companies can take to unlock markets in Europe. “The first step in the process is understanding if a business is ready for the leap forward that export provides; is the business model a sound one and can the business take the financial burden that will inevitably be imposed on it?” say Ms Damiens.

Once a business understands its capacity to export, they must then understand the positioning they could have in their new market and make sure their value proposition is compelling. Any export is progress but the argument for a European landing pad over China or the US is compelling. “Europe is welcoming SMEs, especially in the tech space, ”Ms Damiens adds, “it has the capacity to buy technology at a premium; it has a number of existing programs from multinationals looking to partner with start-ups in the tech space; it has highly sophisticated systems already in place and welcomes high-tech businesses, and IP is well respected.

“Any Australian entrepreneurs looking to utilise one of the forthcoming landing pads should make sure they’re doing it for the correct reasons and that their business is ready for the jump.”

Christelle Damiens’ first book, Ready, Tech, Go: A definitive guide to exporting Australian Technology to Europe goes on shelves this week, and is supported by ANZ bank.

Christelle Damiens & Exportia

Founded in 2006 by Christelle Damiens, Exportia knows that Australian SMEs are looking to grow internationally, but they often lack the time and financial and human resources to take the step.  Over the years by working with dozens of Australian tech companies, Exportia has developed a framework and a set of tools that can be tailored to the needs each company to solve their challenges in unlocking their growth potential in Europe.

After many years in sales at IBM Paris Christelle Damiens decided to turn her back to a successful corporate career to go back to her passion for international business and to focus particularly on small businesses.  She found that her past sales experiences in Europe in a high-tech environment, her ability to communicate in five languages meant that she had a lot to offer Australian Small and Medium Enterprises through Exportia.

As a business influencer and export expert, Christelle is constantly travelling to European countries and making deals with multinationals on behalf of Australian companies. Christelle has had huge success in assisting Australian SMEs in clean technologies, advanced manufacturing, electronics, information and communication technologies (ICT) and health and medical devices, to name a few, in cracking European markets.