Branching Out
Opportunities for growth can be found in unfamiliar spaces, but unfamiliarity is often an obstacle to success. However, persisting in spite of these obstacles can transform a disappointing reception into a huge eventual payoff.
DigitalSafe is an exceptionally private and secure suite of communication tools which protect data through Swiss privacy laws and military grade security. The effectiveness of the software resulted in its immediate success in European and North American markets. However, the straightforward success of DigitalSafe in European and North American markets mysteriously failed to take root in Western Asia. DigitalSafe met with a disappointing reception there despite the overall volume of its market, even in India where many businesses sought privacy solutions and should theoretically have flocked to the product.
This mystery did not distract Troy Glick from finding a new approach to the opportunity presented by the Western Asia market. His first move was to establish a company in India with himself as the director; though this required permission from the Indian government, he persisted and managed to obtain a Director Identification Number (DIN). Troy then used his position as a director to evaluate the Indian market, and ultimately designed a program to recruit Chartered Accountants as channel partners to help promote DigitalSafe. Their support and access to both high-net-worth individuals and mid-sized firms created not only a direct sales channel for the product, but positioned DigitalSafe as part of a trusted environment.
The initial failure of the product in India was a mystery because of the unfamiliarity of the market itself. Troy’s solution was to reduce this unfamiliarity by establishing himself as a businessman and gaining local support. To capitalize on an opportunity first requires understanding, as even opportunities that offer similar rewards do not necessarily share conditions of success. Some rewards demand the persistence to reach farther, above and beyond obstacles.