Trade Mission April 17 – April 25th 2023
I joined the Women’s Business Collective trade mission to London and Paris from April 17th – April 25th 2023, to broaden my horizon and give myself a little “shake”. I felt I needed to align my vision and goals to find my feet and learn how to become a global startup.
During this experience, introductions were made with Austrade in the UK, NSW Investment in Paris, Venture Capitalists across Europe and participation in the Women Changing the World Summit with guest speakers from across the globe, including Opera’s favourite guest – Dr Terari Trent from Terari Trent International.
** PLAN your meetings wayyyyyy ahead of time and do not outsource it.
Being that I only committed to the trip in March, it was full steam ahead to make that happen. I gave myself four weeks to organise several meetings while overseas. In hindsight, I wish I had started reaching out to people sooner to make more genuine and deep-rooted connections. This would have allowed the conversations to evolve faster when I met them face to face.
I sought help to make this happen and was a little too reliant on “warm introductions” or a lead generation campaign. However, now that I know better, in future, I will do this myself – as should you.
What was excellent was that I did get to meet a few different people along the way who were using CanTicket and see how they had it set up on their devices – see the snaps below!
** Shut up and LISTEN.
Listen with your eyes and your ears. Learn to read between the lines; when someone says no but you know they are a good fit in your heart and soul, it means you have not resonated with them. This, and taking into account when you are communicating to an international audience, some words can be less powerful or get lost in translation.
When talking casually about CanTicket, for example, during a tea break, I observed the conversation go cold. But when I stood in front of the room, I pressed on some very particular pain points. I also asked how many people didn’t like their current project management or task management solutions…. and things started to get very interesting. The numerous conversations that then followed were much more stimulating and impactful.
** Never stop NETWORKING
I did not shout from the rooftops about my successful experience of running SME and teams, and therefore did not build my credibility strongly as to why people should listen to what I say. I shied away because I really don’t want to come across as know-it-all, however, I missed the opportunity to connect as well as I could have with other business owners by showing them I could relate with my real life experience.
I met so many unique and talented people in so many different industries on this trip, but the one that stood out the most to me was an eccentric tech startup founder with whom I just happened to share a game of UNO on the Eurostar to Paris with.
He had some sage advice about my immediate and long-term goals for my Saas. He shared his perspective on how and when to identify if it’s time to pull the pin on a tech startup from his own experience of previous fails and wins. It is a hard conversation to have and not one that people are often open about or share. Most founders are so passionate about their startups and essentially “it will feel like pulling your heart off your chest and lighting it on fire”.
** HUSTLE, but with the right people.
Whether at a networking, breakfast or formal event – know who and why you want to make a connection with someone. We are not in business to pull others down, we are here to lift each other and inspire each other. But you have a limited window to connect with people, so hustle… make it work because really, you are there for business and business is not personal.
Think of it like speed dating, where people meet and have a series of short conversations with each other to see if there is mutual interest or benefit, usually with a set time limit for each conversation. If there is no connection, they do not make it to round two.
I don’t mean this cynically, just more matter-of-fact, but everyone is out to gain something. If you don’t ask, you will never receive it, and if someone cannot help you directly, they may have someone they can connect you with. So just ask.
