Petr Salz answered us three questions about major challenges, international growth and new business innovation.

Which are the 3 major challenges for organizations?
1. The biggest challenge for companies is to identify the right market where they can be successful.
2. Transform quickly while current organizational structures only allow gradual change.
3. Recognize when they may be disrupted because the fundamental mechanisms of their business are becoming obsolete. This is particularly difficult for existing companies if they discover that they require new competencies and new technologies to succeed in innovation. There are no easy answers when you discover that the people in your company do not have the required skills and that your technologies may become outdated soon.

What has to be considered for international growth?
Interestingly we have found that there are many commonalities across different countries as far the customer needs are concerned. In fact, many companies overemphasize differences between countries and miss bigger opportunities that other segmentations present. One of the differences we did find across different countries was how potential customers collect information about potential suppliers. In some countries Internet is not as ubiquitous as you might think, in other countries the customers may have no opportunity to travel to trade shows or suppliers. Companies should consider these regional differences when defining their sales and marketing strategies.

What’s critical if you innovate a new business?
The key point is to define clearly for whom we want to create value and verify in advance(!) that the target customers really want the type of solution that we will create. Just ask your customers: Will my new solution really addressing important and unmet needs? If and only if the answer to both questions is yes, you may be on to a winner!