A tiny Indian multi-national dreams global…
Several months ago, I wrote a post on how some of the best small companies and start-ups were going global from Day One of their operations.
Then, a few weeks ago, I wrote about a small Indian company, funded by Sequoia that, in a bold and ambitious move to go global, had opened a coffee shop in (of all the places) Vienna in the heart of Europe…
Last week, I read Part II of this story: “Cafe Coffee Day, India’s largest coffee cafe chain, has opened its second outlet in Vienna…” The company’s Director, Naresh Malhotra said, “We are planning to open more outlets in and around Vienna and, by establishing ourselves in Austria, we plan to enter the German coffee market.”
Its marketing head said, “…we are on a constant lookout for every potential opportunity“.
I suspect that this is just the beginning.
It is not just large, stolid European and US businesses that will face the brunt of competition from China and India…mom-and-pop coffee shops are vulnerable too.
What is neat is the way that these small companies are managing the challenge of cultural barriers…Café Coffee Day claims “…our differentiating factor is that we have employed for service a young team that has been hired locally.”
The article quoted Arvind Singhal of Technopak Advisors as saying that, “”The very reason why they (Coffee Day) are looking out of the country may be because they have realised that the market has reached saturation here.”
For a moment I thought I was reading the story of how Japanese companies became global leaders in their markets…
