Scaling from Local to International

Speaker 0: the topic of scaling is huge for our audience. what do you recommend for founders trying to expand their revenue operations from local to international markets?

Speaker 1: yeah. i've seen this work, and i've seen it haven't worked as well too. i think it really depends where you are going local. so, you know, i think if you are i think that the easiest way to do that is through a local partner. right? and that someone who may be selling kind of adjacent, you know, software adjacent, to yours, as well too. but i think the challenge there is what's in it for them. right? what's in it for that local partner? is it actually a chance to be kind of, you know, that first partner for, you know, an up and coming up and coming product or service, and that's great. if you're just a generic software and there's already tons of competition and there's no real differentiation, there's probably not going to be a whole lot there. so definitely partnerships, but, again, you have to have and i think that the best partnerships that i've seen work where it's very, very clear, you know, where that partners that partners kinda scope is, right, versus versus your scope. and i think some of the best ones that i've been a part of are where, like, that partner could they could still provide a similar product or service to you. right? but, but it is not worth their while. right? so, again and then that's very, very clear, and you have that open conversation. there might be examples where they need to use their product or service, right, instead of recommending to you. and that's just fine. right? because, again, maybe that's not your niche. so i think you need to make it very, very clear, you know, what is in it for that partner and where you fit and where you don't fit and have that open conversation.

Speaker 0: absolutely. that is very important. i remember i won't name names here, but i was working with a large, consulting firm, and i was out to lunch with a hardware firm. and, you know, we got to talk and then say, hey. you know, why aren't we working together as we're the preferred service when people are buying your hardware for these services and where you're our preferred hardware when people are buying our services? and that quickly i'm talking about huge names that everyone would know. and that prick quickly became a, you know, a deal where you're like, that makes perfect sense. right? like, they don't wanna do the sap consulting. they don't wanna do the erp. we just wanna put the hardware in place and do all this stuff, but we need a partner that so together, we're delivering a whole solution. and so when you're reaching out to someone else, what's in it for them is very important thing that startups don't always realize. like, why won't they talk to me? whatever. like, what's in literally, what's in it for them? are you gonna give them more revenue because they get half of whatever they sell? are you gonna give them more implementation clients because people are buying from this? are you gonna give them extend the functionality? like, how does your thing help this purse this company, group, or whatever so they'll wanna go out and recommend, resell, partner with you?

Speaker 1: yeah. i think too it's important. like, how much influence does that partner have with their client base over, you know, the solution that you're providing. right? they may be very, very good in one specific area, but, again, maybe it's it's not really kind of their area of expertise. right? so, again, kinda getting back to that, like, you know, broken telephone. right? you know, can you clearly articulate the differentiator, because recognize that, yes, some of these partners may not be that strong in that certain area that you're trying to target even though they may have all the customers. doesn't mean it doesn't work, but i think it really, really helps if you're crystal clear, so that they can clearly communicate that to their client base.