Leading Estonian business news publisher Äripäev (part of the Bonnier Group) started their own radio broadcasts in September. The radio station broadcasts business news and talk shows on business days. Once a month there is a radio show about Export Companies called “Ekspordivedurid”, which introduces successful examples of Estonian companies. Uptime is the main sponsor of this radio show.
This one hour long radio show was first on aired on September 4th, when Uptime CEO Eero Tohver presented the software developer´s experiences of expanding abroad.
The radio broadcast is in Estonian, but you can a find brief summary below.
https://soundcloud.com/aripaev-eetris/uptime
The radio show’s first broadcast starred Uptime CEO Eero Tohver. He explained how Uptime selected target markets abroad, how to expand to the right export markets, and the experiences Uptime has had along the way.
The main task is forming a good local team, says Eero Tohver. It is important that the team are local people, who know the local market and can see where to find new clients. The local team must be trustworthy and the easy way is to hire people from your target country.
The Uptime CEO is very satisfied with their Norway office, but adds that it´s not always that positive if you expand abroad. The Norwegian team works successfully because they have the right people in the right positions.
Eero Tohver goes on to say that export companies must select the right markets to expand into. Good export markets are in countries that are not very different from the company’s homeland. Then it´s easier to find trust and understanding. For Estonian export companies, good markets to go to are Switzerland and Norway, but not so much France and Germany, which are comparatively big and with a different business culture.
Uptime was targeted only to the Estonian market a few years ago, but is now an international company with over 50% of turnover coming from Norway and Switzerland.
