1.) Interconnectedness in today’s world
Today’s world is more interconnected than ever; due to the internet there is a seemingly endless stream of knowledge that can be taken advantage of. Starting a business across borders – in the case of GreyC2 between Switzerland and South Africa – there is a lot we can learn about a country that is different from the one we are used to live in. We gathered information about the overall state of development in South Africa, the business culture over there as well as women working in business and how they are being perceived, just to name a few examples. Furthermore we acquired knowledge about the textile industry on the African continent which made us in the end decide on South Africa as a country we want to cooperate with. Having the World Wide Web is an indescribable value added to the development of our business as it helps in the preparation and execution of our tasks and a source we are constantly using to get new insights and new perspective. It’s today’s world that provides us with this opportunity and that we take advantage of.
2.) Legalities
When talking about different cultures and settling in a new country, legalities are an essential sector to be knowledgeable in. This came to our attention especially through talks with people that already did business abroad, whether it’s in South Africa in particular or in any other country other than Switzerland. One of the key things we learned is that it’s not only important to know how to just start a business abroad, but as well to know what to consider when closing a business down again. These conversations are not easy ones in a stage when a business isn’t even established, however it definitely is relevant to consider every possible case of which turns a Start-Up might take. We were advised to get a mentor whom we trust and who can prepare us for the talks we are going to have with the authorities – a task that is currently in process. What we want is GreyC2 to be known and which requires a legal establishment of the business and having certain safety measures taken to be able to do business properly – in Switzerland and abroad. These measures are being taken now already to be on the safe side once the business grows bigger and once we deal on a larger scale with the public and private sector.
3.) Language as the base of effective communication
Communication in today’s business world is a question of understanding each other and at it’s base it’s understanding the language of each other. We chose English as the language we can provide our stakeholders all our information with, however it doesn’t stop there. It’s astonishing how easy it is to explain our business in English and how challenging it can get when talking to people about it in a different language - starting with friends and family that speak French, German or any dialect of Swiss German. So it’s not just about investing into the field of developing our English skills further for our website and other communication channels, but to take the time to adapt to any situation where we get the opportunity to talk to people about our Start-Up – in any language – to make it sound authentic and easy to understand.
4.) Network abroad
We thought that this part - establishing a network abroad - would be one of the biggest challenges we’d face as we we are currently working from Switzerland. It turns out that his is not so much the case if taking one thing into consideration: Knowing our stakeholders. This means that as long as we know which businesses or people we want to connect with, doing research about them and see if they are aligned with our own business, it’s a quite simple process to get in touch with the people in charge. The interconnectedness mentioned in the first point of this article is our big advantage because as long as we managed to keep a clear communication, we are at least getting responses from most of the people we’ve gotten in touch with. And then of course the personal network helps to expand the network abroad: Coaches and mentors, as well as friends and family, provided us with valuable contacts inside and especially outside of Switzerland we can consult with and that support us. There are endless networking opportunities, the important thing is just to filter them and see who would be of great benefit for both parties to establish a relevant relationship.
5.) From assumptions to experience
Taking the previously said, it’s seems to be relatively simple to gather information about working in an international Start-Up, put the information into context, draft out different scenarios of how a business could look like in the future and taking the needed action steps to make it reality, however, and here comes the biggest step so far: This is aquired knowledge, not on the spot experience from abroad. In our case it has been a wish of ours to go to South Africa since the beginning on and now it becomes more and more urgent to make this business trip happen. There is always more knowledge to gather, still, it’s essential now to put this knowledge into perspective through the experience we are about to have abroad. How do things look like in reality? We’re talking about a reality we haven’t experienced so far and that is a much needed step to take in order to evaluate if the information we gathered is relevant. And if so, to research more about it, and if not, what more information is needed to get a better picture of how things really are.
It’s a new step to take, a step into the unknown and a step that requires guts. We are eager to learn more, to get away from assumptions and eventually be able to speak from experience. And this is why we are onboarding on the journey to spend the rest of the year 2016 as the whole team in Cape Town, South Africa. We are ready to succeed and we are ready to fail, and most importantly we are ready to take the step and make the unknown known to us.
Today’s world is more interconnected than ever; due to the internet there is a seemingly endless stream of knowledge that can be taken advantage of. Starting a business across borders – in the case of GreyC2 between Switzerland and South Africa – there is a lot we can learn about a country that is different from the one we are used to live in. We gathered information about the overall state of development in South Africa, the business culture over there as well as women working in business and how they are being perceived, just to name a few examples. Furthermore we acquired knowledge about the textile industry on the African continent which made us in the end decide on South Africa as a country we want to cooperate with. Having the World Wide Web is an indescribable value added to the development of our business as it helps in the preparation and execution of our tasks and a source we are constantly using to get new insights and new perspective. It’s today’s world that provides us with this opportunity and that we take advantage of.
2.) Legalities
When talking about different cultures and settling in a new country, legalities are an essential sector to be knowledgeable in. This came to our attention especially through talks with people that already did business abroad, whether it’s in South Africa in particular or in any other country other than Switzerland. One of the key things we learned is that it’s not only important to know how to just start a business abroad, but as well to know what to consider when closing a business down again. These conversations are not easy ones in a stage when a business isn’t even established, however it definitely is relevant to consider every possible case of which turns a Start-Up might take. We were advised to get a mentor whom we trust and who can prepare us for the talks we are going to have with the authorities – a task that is currently in process. What we want is GreyC2 to be known and which requires a legal establishment of the business and having certain safety measures taken to be able to do business properly – in Switzerland and abroad. These measures are being taken now already to be on the safe side once the business grows bigger and once we deal on a larger scale with the public and private sector.
3.) Language as the base of effective communication
Communication in today’s business world is a question of understanding each other and at it’s base it’s understanding the language of each other. We chose English as the language we can provide our stakeholders all our information with, however it doesn’t stop there. It’s astonishing how easy it is to explain our business in English and how challenging it can get when talking to people about it in a different language - starting with friends and family that speak French, German or any dialect of Swiss German. So it’s not just about investing into the field of developing our English skills further for our website and other communication channels, but to take the time to adapt to any situation where we get the opportunity to talk to people about our Start-Up – in any language – to make it sound authentic and easy to understand.
4.) Network abroad
We thought that this part - establishing a network abroad - would be one of the biggest challenges we’d face as we we are currently working from Switzerland. It turns out that his is not so much the case if taking one thing into consideration: Knowing our stakeholders. This means that as long as we know which businesses or people we want to connect with, doing research about them and see if they are aligned with our own business, it’s a quite simple process to get in touch with the people in charge. The interconnectedness mentioned in the first point of this article is our big advantage because as long as we managed to keep a clear communication, we are at least getting responses from most of the people we’ve gotten in touch with. And then of course the personal network helps to expand the network abroad: Coaches and mentors, as well as friends and family, provided us with valuable contacts inside and especially outside of Switzerland we can consult with and that support us. There are endless networking opportunities, the important thing is just to filter them and see who would be of great benefit for both parties to establish a relevant relationship.
5.) From assumptions to experience
Taking the previously said, it’s seems to be relatively simple to gather information about working in an international Start-Up, put the information into context, draft out different scenarios of how a business could look like in the future and taking the needed action steps to make it reality, however, and here comes the biggest step so far: This is aquired knowledge, not on the spot experience from abroad. In our case it has been a wish of ours to go to South Africa since the beginning on and now it becomes more and more urgent to make this business trip happen. There is always more knowledge to gather, still, it’s essential now to put this knowledge into perspective through the experience we are about to have abroad. How do things look like in reality? We’re talking about a reality we haven’t experienced so far and that is a much needed step to take in order to evaluate if the information we gathered is relevant. And if so, to research more about it, and if not, what more information is needed to get a better picture of how things really are.
It’s a new step to take, a step into the unknown and a step that requires guts. We are eager to learn more, to get away from assumptions and eventually be able to speak from experience. And this is why we are onboarding on the journey to spend the rest of the year 2016 as the whole team in Cape Town, South Africa. We are ready to succeed and we are ready to fail, and most importantly we are ready to take the step and make the unknown known to us.