Common Challenges
Direct Entry by Hiring Locally
Direct Entry by Hiring Locally
Direct Entry by Hiring Locally
- Expensive to hire experienced talent
- Easier to higher with good English rather than good sales skills and experience
- Difficult to support remotely
- Lacks ability to build strategy across markets
- Opportunistic engagements
- High churn rate (staff, partners and customers)
- Overall, very low success rate
Sending from HQ
Direct Entry by Hiring Locally
Direct Entry by Hiring Locally
- More Expensive to Relocate
- Difficulty adjusting to culture and languages
- Little or no existing relationship to leverage
- Long time to gain local market insight
- Extremely long set-up time and path to profitability
Traditional Channels
Direct Entry by Hiring Locally
Traditional Channels
- Difficult to align interests with SaaS offerings.
- They are often focused on growing their services revenue
- Unable to drive your strategic or lighthouse wins
- Need you to create market awareness and demand
- Protective of their customers
Reasons of Failure
Heavy Competition
Lack of Market Knowledge
Cultural Differences
The APAC technology market is very competitive, with many established businesses already operating in the region.
Cultural Differences
Lack of Market Knowledge
Cultural Differences
APAC cultures can be very different from those in other parts of the world, and this can make it difficult for overseas businesses to adapt and succeed.
Lack of Market Knowledge
Lack of Market Knowledge
Lack of Market Knowledge
Overseas businesses often lack a good understanding of the APAC market, which can lead to poor decision-making and, ultimately failure
The Risks of Getting Asia Market Entry Wrong
Lose out on Asia Pacific & Japan market opportunity
You stand to lose out on potential growth and market expansion opportunities in the most populous and fastest-growing region and fall behind while your competitors take market share. Markets that are lost are often not possible to recover in near term.
False Starts
It can lead to costly mistakes, while you fail fast and learn slowly. Even large companies with deep pockets have had challenges in getting Asia Pacific market entry wrong. There have been instances of companies opening and closing offices within a few years or swapping out entire teams quickly. This incurs reputational damage, which can take years if ever, to recover from.
Misaligned Partnerships
It can lead to partnerships with unproven companies or misaligned partners that inhibit your long-term growth in the region and create negative reputations in the market.
Regulatory Challenges
Inexperienced company representatives in the region can lead to decisions made without fully comprehending statutory or regulatory issues, which can result in potential fines and penalties.
Compliance Issues
Most governments in the region have very aggressive stance on corruption. Unproven staff and partners may create a circumstance that can lead a company to be investigated. Representative staff or partners not sufficiently aware of the importance of adhering to ethical business practices can have significant exposure for your company in Asia and globally.