ACCSPRING18_ONLINEVER

GOING PUBLIC
entrepreneur. During the initial stages the input of
the entrepreneur is idea generation and risk taking.
As the company matures the role of the entrepreneur
changes to that of a CEO, with more focus on setting
up an appropriate structure for the company. I do not
believe in starting big, but a company has to grow
steadily. However I believe that the right people need
to be involved with the adequate expertise starting
from the early stages of a company.
9. Finance for SMEs is challenging. How did you
overcome this and obtain investment for your
ventures?
One of the crucial points is establishing a good
relationship with your bankers and building
a relationship of trust. In depth research and
preparation is key to obtain other sources of finance.
This enabled us to identify potential investors and
meet with the prospective investors.
Other sources of finance included obtaining support
from EU funding. Although it involves time and resources
to apply for the requested funds. However this was vital
particularly in the early stages of the start-up.
10. Considering the fierce competition in today’s
business world, how do you highlight your
company’s competitive advantage?
What we do is analyse our competitor’s product,
study it and make ours better. In the case of our
first the product was unique. However this time
it is different nonetheless the product is also very
innovative and is protected via patent legislation.
11. How do you promote your business and
build a successful customer relation?
At the outset I start by getting an understanding the
operating environment within a specific country.
This is necessary to determine whether it is viable
to enter the market in that country and to identify
eligible distributors. We operate using a network
of distribution partners. Once the possible
distributing partners are identified, they are asked
whether they are interested in selling the product
and are thereafter requested to submit a three-year
marketing plan.
12. How do you define success and what is
the best way to achieve long term success?
It’s all a matter of culture and client loyalty. One
of our values is that whatever we do is targeted
towards the end user. If you actually build a company
based on the wellbeing of your end customer and
instil that culture in your employees, it will lead to
long-term success.
13. What do you feel is your greatest
entrepreneurial achievement?
In the case of the first company the first important
achievement was actually managing to get the
necessary certification considering all the challenges
we had to face and the lack of experience. The other is
when after a lot of hard work we managed to go public
on one of the largest stock exchange in the world.
14. What is your greatest support when facing
up hardships in business?
No doubt - family.
15. What is your greatest fear when it in running
an SME?
Relevance. Will my product be relevant to the user?
16. In your opinion, what do you think are the
5 key skills needed to manage an SMEs in the
best possible way and enable its growth and
expansion?
The primary skill is to set a clear vision. This needs to
be set before the inception of the SME.
Another is to be hands-on and not role specific.
Flexibility is crucial for the success of an SME
Determination and persistence are extremely important,
because it’s so easy to give up when all the obstacles start
crossing your path, you need to persevere to succeed.
You have to accept criticism and be willing to learn.
17. Do you believe there is a winning formula
for running an SME? And what is yours?
No I do not think so. Everyone has their own way
of doing it. The reason why you would succeed is
because in the end you did it your way. Although I
do believe that being passionate about what you do
is essential.
14 Spring 2018