Increasing Profits by Growing Roots


Rashid Khan
Founder & CEO
Ultimus Inc.

Finding New Profit Centers Across the Globe

The task of finding new profit centers for a particular company is very much dependent on the nature of the company and its products or services. Many companies will find that, like Ultimus, the main profit centers they have are geographical in nature.

At the highest level we have structured our company into three P&L centers: Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and APAC (Asia Pacific). Within these P&Ls, we have smaller P&Ls that typically represent a major country or region.

Therefore, for Ultimus, the main profit centers are countries or regions at a high level. Within the countries or regions are industry categories, and within the industry categories are application categories. The first focus of company like Ultimus has to be the geography, followed by the industry and then by the application category.

This strategy of focusing on geography works because from a very early stage, Ultimus has used the Internet to establish itself as a global player. Today we have offices in 12 countries and sell our software in 61 countries across the globe. Seventy percent of our employees are outside the United States spread over the globe in 12 different countries. The Internet is a great equalizer and levels the playing field, enabling even small companies to become truly global. Because of the Internet, we can do business in far corners of the world; something which ten years ago only multi-national corporations could do.

New profit centers result from the ability to enter and open new geographical markets. We find new regions by first finding a good partner to test the market for us. Then we either acquire the partner when the company proves itself, or barring that, set up our own operation. This way we get a head start in the new market. The most important success factors for establishing profit centers and becoming a truly global company are:

  1. Appearing local to each country or region by speaking their language, dealing in their currency, following their business norms and customs , and providing them support locally.

  2. Offering a global product or service that will be in demand regardless of the country or region.

  3. Leveraging resources from across the globe in a seamless manner to help solve local problems.

  4. Creating a realization amongst customers and prospects that they are not alone in using the product or services of the company. Many customers throughout the world are using the same. Strength and comfort lies in diversity and in numbers .

Like politics, all business has become local in this global economy.




Inside the Minds Stuff - Inside the Minds. Managing for Profit. Leading CEOs on Key Strategies for Increasing Profits Exponentially in Any Economy
Inside the Minds Stuff - Inside the Minds. Managing for Profit. Leading CEOs on Key Strategies for Increasing Profits Exponentially in Any Economy
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2004
Pages: 130

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net