|
Australia
has a unique opportunity to quickly develop into the world's leading
global small business nation, according to Dr Ian Lin, managing director
of the Quo Vadis Consulting Group* and a business and social strategist
and futurist.
"Australia's
future is totally dependent on our ability to develop export markets
for our small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)," Lin says. "Only
this sector of our economy can provide the broad-based employment
growth and job opportunities that are the foundation for the quality
of life we want for our society."
With
the lowering of tariff barriers, many SMEs will find that they will
suffer from international competition unless they become competitive
on a world scale.
"Because
of our small population, sustained growth for SMEs will not come from
domestic demand but from rapid increases in global demand for their
goods and services."
According
to Lin, we have previously considered disadvantages to developing
export markets as being: our geographical location, isolation and
small population. Instead, we should consider these advantages.
Australia
is the major western nation in the Asian region, a region that is
'westernising' very rapidly and has increasing demand for western
technology, education, goods and services. Our small business economy
has made our SMEs particularly good at innovative design, flexible
manufacturing, producing small quantities and high quality products.
"We
have failed to realise that the world is rapidly changing and we are
using obsolete big business export strategies that are totally unsuitable
for most SMEs."
SMEs
lack the resources of time, finance, management capacity and information
needed using the 'big business strategies'. According to Lin, we need
new strategies for Australian SME exporters that look at:
1.
New Commercial Pipelines
- By-pass
levels of distribution by selling directly to clients
- Using
international door-to-door delivery services
- International
customs clearance by electronic data interchange
- Using
international non-recourse factoring for financing exports and eliminating
bad debt risk
- Sharing
or outsourcing international marketing
2. New Micro-Niche Markets
- concentrating
on horizontal global SME markets rather than vertical industry markets
- Australian
SMEs selling direct to SMEs around the world
- concentrating
on high value-added products in small quantities
- offering
no minimum quantities for orders
- targeting
the 'Chuppie' (Chinese 'Yuppies - approximately 200 million people
increasing to 400 million by the year 2000) and similar markets
- targeting
up-market department store groups in Asian countries
- targeting
the rapidly expanding expatriot group in Asia
3. New Networks and Alliances
- outsourcing
to others in a cluster of small business groups
- using
Australia's multicultural diversity to establish global networks
and links into international markets
- developing
micro-niche mini trading houses to facilitate international marketing,
share resources and minimise risk
- establish
networking strategies using new technology software
4. New Methods of Implementation
- establish
strategic vision groups who want to develop their own futures
- conduct
workshops for groups to develop strategic options
- introduce
groups to established networks of bi-lateral business organisations
- form
export clusters for particular micro-niche markets
- develop
multicultural marketing and networking teams
Opportunities In Asia
According
to the World Trade Centre in Sydney, Asia is poised to register economic
growth in the second half of 1999. Long term prospects for the region
remain bright.
Exchange
rates in South Korea and Thailand have shown encouraging signs of
recovery. Taiwan has experienced record positive growth, which is
accredited to its lower foreign debt levels and strict controls on
capital accounts.
Korea
has opened up 18 more industrial sectors to 100% foreign investment.
These include golf courses, gas stations, city water services and
more, with avenues within these sectors for SME involvement.
SMEs
face particular problems with international trade, including: access
to appropriate finance, lack of information on possible export markets
and quality control requirements for particular markets.
A vast
proportion of business opportunities posted on the World Trade Centre's
Association Web Site (WTCA On-Line) are from Asia. There are over
55 World Trade Centres which have joined forces to promote business
to business matching and exchange information on proposed ventures.
|
