If you are an entrepreneur, and you see what you think is a growth opportunity, you may be tempted to take the advice that’s been offered many times: risk all you can and jump in head first.
But if you catch your breath, the proper decision at that time is not really what to do. Your analysis lies more with if you think the opportunity is one for growth.
With that in mind, Smart Business interviewed some of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs and the leadership at EY about growth opportunities. These business leaders come from the more than 60 countries at the recent EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year conference in Monte Carlo.
“We’re looking at China and other Asian countries. The key to that market is to have big internationals that are creating value for their communities where we can sell our products. These are the kind of countries, those that can generate big internationals, that we are looking at.”
Martin Migoya, CEO, Globant
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 Argentina
“I have been tracking where I see money going. Where is the most foreign direct investment happening? Africa is clearly one. In South America, Colombia has been coming much more into its own, as have Indonesia and parts of Southeast Asia. Those are some of the markets you’ll start to see. Mexico is another one you have to watch because it’s close to the U.S. and its leaders have had change in their political landscape to be more pro-business.”
Herb Engert, Americas Strategic Growth Markets Leader, EY
“One of the ways that we encourage innovation is we partner with a lot of technology startup companies. We look for alliances and what’s next in technology that can drive improvements and enhancements in our industry.
When we see a technology that’s promising we’ll start working with them and provide them with real-world market feedback. That gives us the data and confidence to help them get to commercial deployment.
Our people are always looking for innovative ways to do things with the discipline of knowing that at Chevron we have to represent our brand and stand behind everything that we do and our customers expect us to keep them on that proven level of technology.”
Jim Davis, President, Chevron Energy Solutions
“I am in one of the newest economic blocs to emerge from Latin America, the Pacific Alliance, which seeks to create a Latin American gateway to Asian markets. Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru are members. The bloc hopes to make the commercial, economic and political forces among the members work more closely together.
The entrepreneurs representing Colombia chose me to be in that alliance two years after it was founded. What it is going to do is to join the market of those five countries — it is one market for everyone.”
Mario Hernandez, founder and president, Marroquinera
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 Colombia
“There continue to be tremendous opportunities in Brazil; it’s a big country, a big market. It will be back on the world stage even more with the 2014 World Cup and ultimately the Summer Olympics in 2016.
But when you look at Spanish-speaking countries, certainly Mexico is attracting a lot of direct foreign investment. The new administration, the federal government there, has definitely got a strong commitment to entrepreneurship.
We are seeing that as being important to them, and we are working with them on a number of different initiatives as the U.S. State Department and others try to help foster more entrepreneurial startups and more entrepreneurial growth in Mexico, both big and small.”
Bryan Pearce, Americas Director, Entrepreneur Of The Year and Venture Capital Advisory Group, EY
“There are always things you can do to improve and grow your business. You should be rethinking and retooling it every chance you get. The key thing is making sure everybody in the organization understands the story, where you’re going, are you going to get there in the belief that you are doing the right thing. People want to know their purpose, so that’s for me the biggest area to keep the energy going — keep a sense of purpose very strong.”
Dr. Alan Ulsifer, CEO, president and chair, FYidoctors
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 Canada
“Always be seeking new opportunity. Always be looking for new technologies, innovation and creativity within your people. The best ideas within our business have come from the people inside our company. You have to give opportunity to your people. Tell them it’s OK to be wrong and make mistakes. That’s important so people will learn from those mistakes and come up with better ideas.”
Lorenzo Barrera Segovia, founder and CEO, Banco BASE
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 Mexico
“The growth driver in the world is coming from entrepreneurs. They are the ones driving economic growth and driving job growth. If you look at leading indices of companies, they churn much more rapidly than they ever did before.
“It used to take 20 years to have a half of a churn in some of these indices. Now it takes four or five years. It’s because the entrepreneurs are building businesses so quickly. We have to keep investing and keep recognizing their strengths.”
Jim Turley, retired global chairman and CEO, EY
“It’s important to understand where the trends are going. So communication and information is important. I fully support the free market system. It’s a great way to understand where the best new ideas are coming from and where the value lies. We keep an eye on our competitors on technology and on alternative learning aspects. So to the extent that the web provides a better way to educate more students more efficiently, we’ll be using that.”
J.C. Huizenga, founder, National Heritage Academies
“I built the company based on people, not with experience from before, but willing to learn and try anything. We had a bunch of people that had never done this before. None of us had run companies. None of us had worked in high levels of companies. None of us were from Fortune 500s.
“Whatever you look for in people to bring them into a company — none of us had it. Most of the people came in from an entry-level position and now they’re leading departments. Chobani not only became a business that grew, but Chobani was like a school to us, including myself.”
Hamdi Ulukaya, founder, president and CEO, Chobani Inc.
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 United States and 2013 World Entrepreneur Of The Year
“Companies attracted by the Latin American market have to decide where to establish the operations in Latin America. They have many opportunities: Sao Paulo; Buenos Aires; Santiago, Chile; or maybe in Peru. But in Uruguay, there is a very small market. You have to operate with a different concept, much like an offshore company, to operate in Latin America.”
Orlando Dovat, founder and CEO, Zonamerica
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 Uruguay
