A guest blog from Tim Harrap from Lye Cross Farm. Tim will be speaking at UKTI's 'Doing Business in Asia: Meet the Experts', Haydock Park Racecourse, Merseyside on 17 October.
Before entering on the adventure of exporting I travelled widely in South East Asia and indeed worked for a year in Indonesia. From those times I felt I had a good grasp of relating to the experience of Asia that was until I started to export breakfast cereals to Japan.
My first visit to Japan, with the handholding support of a British Government Trade Mission, was a real eye opener. I challenge anyone to pay their initial visit to Japan and not to be blown away by the experience, so many similarities and yet so different. That first visit was back in 1997, and while I won’t say I am ready to join Mastermind with Japan as my specialist subject, I have learnt a great deal about the country and how to do business there and across Asia since then.
Rule number one: Use trivia to build your relationship
When dealing with well-educated Asian owners and managers across Asia it pays to have some knowledge about the economics, business and culture of the country. It also pays to know your own history because your contacts will surprise you with the depth of knowledge of European culture.
Knowing some trivia about the country may seem obvious but in my experience it is a simple thing that can, surprisingly, be easily overlooked when you are preparing to meet potential customers to pitch your product. In Japan (and across Asia) the informal dinner with your country host is vital to developing your business relationship and spending a little time preparing for this aspect of your visit will pay dividends.
Rule number two: Recognise that Europe is not necessarily the centre of the universe
If you come from Shanghai or Tokyo, geographically London and New York are quite peripheral to your mental and physical landscape.
More recently trips to China and Korea have highlighted the real dynamism that is taking off in these nations. And with clear differences in temperament between and within each nation I am already adapting what I know works in Japan to recognise that Korea is as different from Japan as Shanghai is from Guangzhou.
I will be sharing my thoughts on succeeding in Asia during a business panel at UKTI’s Doing Business in Asia: Meet the Experts event on Wednesday 17 October at Haydock Park Racecourse, Merseyside. Alternatively feel free to post any thoughts or questions to me on twitter, you can find me at @BritishCheese.
About Tim Harrap
Tim has worked in the food industry for 21 years; the last 17 years being wholly focused on exporting worldwide, including opening new markets in Japan, Israel and Canada amongst others. He is currently Head of Collaboration at Alvis Bros, Lye Cross Farm, combining commercial and collaborative initiatives from within the business to engaging with clients and partners worldwide.
Prior to the food industry he undertook MAFF sponsored post-graduate research into farm forestry in the UK and have a degree in Development Studies from the University of East Anglia.