In my previous blog, I spoke of three key skills to success, required to support your Strategic Planning:
- Patience
- Discipline
- Active listening
I spoke of how you must have the patience to plan the work, and accept that the business development cycle takes time. You must have the discipline to take a step every day towards your goal and you must perform active listening as sometimes the greatest opportunity isn’t the one you were expecting! Here is the example I promised.
Strategic Planning – Sometimes it all comes Together
During my recent trip to Brazil, I was visiting with an industrial developer. This meeting wasn’t my main reason for travel, but conducting business development internationally requires you to use your time and resources even more efficiently. It is expensive to get there, so once you are there you maximize the time spent networking – searching for opportunities. I had no specific presentation for him in mind because I’ve learned it’s better during the initial meeting to listen and understand the client’s problem, before trying to offer a solution.
This developer owned a large parcel of land in an area a couple hours outside of Rio and he was looking to develop the area with a mixed-use development. His plans included a hotel for business travelers, as this is not a tourist area, several multifamily units, retail and commercial.
As he was showing me a map where his parcel was located, I scanned the map and saw three things that caught my eye… they had an active freight rail in the area, they were building four deep sea ports and one of the state’s primary highways ran right through the area.
As we continued our discussions he indicated that this area was a developing area that will have a high manufacturing component with the mixed-use development geared toward the local population and business environment.
The Trifecta
This is where things got interesting as I saw a completely new opportunity that not only addressed his stated mixed-use needs, but also an opportunity to expand the area’s manufacturing capabilities, all because I was actively listening. Remember when I mentioned that this town had all of the transportation routes necessary for successful economic growth (rail, road and sea)? Well, it just happened that one of the companies that I represent is in the market for a manufacturing location for a new building system that would be marketed to Brazil for the Olympic games in Rio. This town’s close proximity to Rio, its unique network of transportation routes and its early development phase provide the perfect trifecta for locating a new manufacturing facility. The beauty is that this new manufacturing plant would in turn be able to produce the key building components needed to construct the mixed use project we initially began the discussion about.
I knew that he “got it” when he interrupted our conversation to call the mayor of the city to discuss what he had learned and to find out if he would be interested in talking with me. Suffice it to say, during my next trip I will meet the mayor and this time I will have a presentation specifically for him!
The lesson learned here is that active listening and flexibility can lead to uncovering opportunities not considered before. You have to be prepared, and act quickly!
International Partnership Brokering and Opportunities in Brazil
Our International Partnership Brokering Services are currently are focused in Brazil. Rio has a vast amount of projects to complete in preparation for the upcoming 2014 FIFA and 2016 Olympic games and beyond. Current opportunities include:
- Several regional and national airport master planning and development projects to be released before the end of the year
- Hospitality room needs and support facilities
- Hospitals (new and renovations)
- Correctional needs (new and renovations)
- Schools
- …and more
Brazil is looking for new systems and technology – if you have a unique building system or product that is cost effective, efficient and proven, call me – you’ll have a 20 month head start on your competition!
DAVNA Enterprises, LLC is a marketing solutions firm dedicated to the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry to improve the effectiveness of their marketing initiatives and keeping marketing professionals apprised of new and upcoming marketing tools and resources.
