LocalPartner

=Manuel Andrade= toc media type="youtube" key="K8Sd2pGP8Co" height="507" width="624" align="center"

Once you look at those markets, then you need to go to the next step, which is the most important one. You know where you want to go and you have an idea of how much you’re going to spend, go after your local partner- that the key issue. I always joke with my customers that everybody has connections in Latin America- what I call the cousin connection. Sometimes he’s the right partner, but sometime he’s not the right partner and you should not jump on this informal network unless you do some background work that it’s really the profile and the relationship that we want. We say Latin America is driven by relationship but it’s no different from the rest of the world. It’s the same way in Asia, the same way in the United States, the same way in Europe but to a certain degree in Latin American countries it is a bit more important. Once you establish a local partner, getting out of your local partnership will be very hurtful. Like a marriage, you need to be really sure that you want to engage because to be successful you have to last for a long time. And you need to be practical.
 * Is it important to have a local partner in Brazil? **

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When I’m advising a customer, I have a matrix that I do that has stipulations to look at your partner. Some are not applicable, some are; but you need to force yourself to do this exercise just to be sure that you’re picking the right partner. Once you’ve taken a partner, you need to start a trust relationship and you need to trust your partner. Then you establish your priorities. You know when you have a good partner when your partner starts telling you way in advance what you should do in your development cycle to be sure that you’ll win in that market. That’s where great success is made. Sometimes you’ll have a short term win, and that won’t last. The long-term success is when you know enough of your market that your products are designed with the little things that make a difference to beat the competition, and that where a local partner can help you.
 * How does one go about finding the “right” partner? **

Portuguese Translation

=Lionel Nobre=

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** How do you find the right partner in Brazil? ** Another thing which is important is to focus on who your partner in Brazil is going to be. There are many good Brazilian companies. There are many good Brazilian professionals. However, there are some people out there who are not good professionals and are not good companies. So you must do due diligence on these people and find out who they are. My experience has shown that in the first five or six years of a company in Brazil, companies usually change accountants at least twice and they change lawyers at least twice because they are not comfortable with what they have and usually it’s a matter of expectations. But you must verify who your partner is, check his records, criminal records, check his civil records. Do some due diligence Its very simple and it will provide the peace of mind that you need when you go to Brazil. US businessmen tend to be very naïve when they go to foreign markets. In Brazil, you cannot be naïve. There are people out there who want to take advantage. The rule of thumb is that people do not want to take advantage, but you must always be very diligent in what you do.

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** Can you talk a little about interpersonal relationships and the importance of networking in Brazil? ** In Brazil it’s different than the US. It’s more important who you know than who you are. If you’re well connected, you know the right people, and you understand how business works in Brazil, It’s far more important than if you came from the best school, if you have an MBA from a US university and you go back to Brazil. It’s more important who your family is, and who you know, and not necessarily what you are. But once you’ve gotten through the door, and you’ve already introduced yourself and people have accepted you because of who you know, then you have to prove who you are. And this is in the business world, in the economic scenario. Then you must prove yourself and prove that you can definitely come forth and deliver what you promised.

Portuguese Translation