The Entrepreneurial Journey

1.

The Entrepreneurial
Journey
Global Supply
Chain and Delivery
Peter Goggins, MEng.

2.

Context
Peace is a natural
effect of Trade.
—Baron de Montesquieu

3.

Background
I’m from Connecticut, USA,
and grew up near the
shoreline.
I started working
professionally with
fish/fisheries in college.
Dedicated my work to
preserving the marine
environment.

4.

Background

5.

Pisces Atlantic
● Dedicated to the research and manufacture of
sustainable fish feeds.
● Our Mandate: Utilize emerging, innovating
protein products to create economical,
environmentally friendly feed formulations.
● Our mission: feed the 70 million tons of farmed
fish grown every year.

6.

Pisces Atlantic
Novel Protein
Sources
Algae, Yeasts,
Fungi, Insect,
and PFW meals.
“Conventionals”
Soya, Corn,
Wheat, and
Canola products
Sustainable,
cutting-edge food
for farmed fish.

7.

Pisces Atlantic

8.

From The Start
2018: Start of R&D work.
2020: Market testing begins.
2021: Application for patent.
2022: Decision to internationalize.
2023: First sales and shipments
abroad.

9.

Roadblocks
Scaling Problems:
Low margins/high volumes.
Intense competition in the domestic
market.
Poorly suited for partnership with large
farms.
Low revenues as a result.
Avg. American farm consumption - 3 tons/day

10.

Where to Go?
Brainstorming Exercise
• If you were in my situation, what
foreign market do you think would be
the best option?
• What characteristics would you look
for?

11.

First Foreign Market
Characteristics:
● Small volume/high margin
market.
● Competition: Expensive, lowquality feeds.
● Rapid trends towards growth.

12.

Secondary Markets
Hypothesis: Other developing
markets will share the same
characteristics as Jordan.
Confirmed: Iraq, Saudi Arabia,
Ecuador, Peru.

13.

Key Partners
Q: How do we
operate in new
countries?
A: By partnering
with a trusted
local contact.

14.

15.

Key Questions
Where’s the most cost-effective
place to manufacture?
● How do we move stuff to our
customers?
● How do we reduce
risk/complexity?

16.

Exercise 1
Brainstorming Exercise
• Pretend you are the new CEO of Pisces
Atlantic.
• Though your headquarters are now in Lviv,
you will be selling products in Jordan, Iraq,
Peru, and the United States.

17.

Exercise 1
Brainstorming Exercise
• With your table, discuss/write down the five
most important factors you would consider
when choosing where to set up your
manufacturing for export.

18.

Key Factors
Existing infrastructure
● Affordable transportation
● Existing value chain
● Ease of trade
● Ease of business
The factory buildings themselves are the least
important part of manufacturing.

19.

Existing Infrastructure
Put simply - can I work here?
● Are the proper facilities
and machinery present?
● Are there available
subcontractors?
● Is this an industry hub?

20.

Affordable Transportation
Barge > ship > rail
> truck > air.
● Tap into existing
shipping routes.
● Distance is a poor
indicator of
transport costs.

21.

Existing Value Chain
Is this area a hub? Are
people already doing
what I want to do here?
● Lowers barriers to your
market entry.
● Conveys the benefits of
scale.

22.

Ease of Trade
Consider import tariffs with
any given Certificate of
Origin (CO).
● Seasonal barriers to
exportation.
● Number, capacity, and age
of nearby ports.

23.

Ease of Business
Do I have partners on the
ground?
● Is the political climate
hostile towards new
ventures?
● Is my product/service
compatible with local
norms?

24.

Exercise 2
Brainstorming Exercise
• List the top 5 countries you’d consider
setting up manufacturing in for the
Middle Eastern market.

25.

Compare
Top Options:
● Saudi Arabia
● UAE
● Brazil
● Argentina
● USA
● Ukraine
● Mexico
● Ecuador

26.

Mitigating Risk
Manufacturing, trading,
and selling abroad is
complex.
● Resilience-building can
entice investors and
increase value.
● Neglecting resilience
strategies decreases
value.
We have insurance, right?

27.

Exercise 3
Brainstorming Exercise
• Things go wrong - frequently.
• As the CEO of Pisces Atlantic, think of five
things that could go wrong at any point of
your international business model.

28.

Exercise 3
1. Import issues
2. Subcontractor failures
3. Quality control
4. Cash flow/timing
5. Relationships

29.

Import Issues
Depending on the product, may
require approval before import.
● Customs paperwork can take
months.
● Dock closures, natural conditions,
labor strikes can all paralyze your
import process.

30.

Subcontractor Failures
If a subcontractor can
screw it up, they will.
● Contract partners
require relationship
building and constant
monitoring.
● Redundancy is key.

31.

Supply Chain
Things jam up easily.
Be prepared.
● Use local suppliers
whenever possible.
● Have redundant
sources, inventory on
hand.
● Reduce complexity.
1 mistake. Weeks of delays and billions in
losses.

32.

Cash Flow
Anticipate a prolonged
cash flow cycle
Lead times
Banking delays
Time for
shipping/customs and
distribution.
Lines of credit are
hugely valuable.

33.

Relationship Management
Treat partners like a
significant other:
Slash - our partner in Jordan - worth his
weight in gold.
Formalize expectations.
Alleviate concerns.
Maintain constant
communication.
Losing a key partner is
more expensive than
maintaining a relationship.

34.

Independent Work
Group Exercise
• Identify alternative international markets for
your companies.
or….
• Identify regions to explore producing
products or hiring workers.
or….
• Formulate a de-risking strategy.