Introduction
After my extensive market research for electrotechnical company Huisman Etech Experts from the Netherlands, several growth opportunities were identified. The goal of internationalisation in mind, two markets were identified with a healthy growth potential: Monaco and Hamburg, Germany.
Hamburg
Hamburg was considered a relatively close market for the inland shipping industry. An industry the company was already heavily involved in for 20+ years. In these years the entire focus was laid on the market in the Netherlands and all clients were taken care of from the headquarters. For the time being sufficient, yet not cost efficient for neither the client nor the company itself. Also the time to attend to urgent service needs was higher than desired.
In 2015 I founded the company in Hamburg, focused on servicing companies with electrotechnical service needs in the inland shipping business. A client base that craves for a fast solution time to minimize time in ports. Most preferably all servicing needs to be done while loading or unloading to prevent any costs of standstill.
Some of the USP of this company are:
- 24/7 service
- stock of most needed spare parts
- adapting to service needs of the client
- highly skilled labour force
Monaco
Huisman Etech Experts was already a strong player in the new-build market for super yachts (24+ meters). These yachts left to places all over the word as soon as they were delivered to their owners. Any warranty works, servicing or adjustments had to be done in the field around the globe.
One common denominator of almost 80% of all built yachts by Huisman was, at some point each year they visited the port of Monaco or a port close by. Therefore making it a perfect base for a company tailored to the needs of the market.
When I set up the company in Monaco in 2015 most works performed were for existing customers as well as any warranty work. Within a year the client base rose quickly to about 50% new clients.
Keeping close contact with existing as well as new clients and being present in the area several months a year were some of the key factors for success. Also being able to cater to any wishes of a generally very demanding clientele were the base for achieving a strong name closely linked to the high quality delivered.
