Georgia Exporter Spotlight: VOLANTIO
A Q&A interview with Azim Barodawala, CEO and Michael Gruet, VP of Finance & Operations
County: Fulton Industry: Software/Technology Volantio specializes in travel technology software that optimizes revenue and capacity for airlines post-booking while providing their customers with better predictability and control over their travel journey.
How long has your company been exporting and what motivated your company to start? For us, it was necessary to get involved internationally from the start simply due to the nature of our product. You have to look where the opportunities are and in the airline industry all the growth potential is concentrated internationally. Since our initial success in Australia we quickly expanded into areas of the Middle East, South East Asia, Europe and North America. We're continuously trying to stretch into new markets.
What is the biggest lesson your company has learned about exporting? If you want to be successful, you have to be willing to travel – picking up the phone is simply not enough. Last year, we put in nearly 750,000 air miles traveling to meet with clients and potential partners and we are on pace to do even more this year. It's about getting to know the person on the other side and making the commitment to be present. In truth, most of the major breakthroughs happen when you meet face to face, and it's usually not even what happens in the meetings – all the good stuff happens in the 15 minutes before and after! You must also learn to adapt and be sensitive to new cultures – not just in communications with customers but in the very design of your product. With a product essentially used as a communication mechanism between airlines and passengers, Volantio has to stay attuned to differences in communication styles that vary from culture to culture. It's important to work with local partners and be agile in adjusting a product to meet the needs of each market.
How have GDEcD's International Trade Team and its partners helped your company achieve success internationally? One of GDEcD's trade managers actually connected Volantio with the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC) last year and recommended we apply for the 2017 Metro Export Challenge. We ended up winning a $5000 grant that allowed us to attend an international tradeshow in London. The networking and connections we made at that show resulted in significant investment from a major international airline as well as additional opportunities to apply for funding from other sources. Those results would not have been possible had we not had traveled to that show. The importance of being able to attend conferences and have a presence at international events has been invaluable to our international success and the support from organizations like GDEcD and MAC helped make that success a reality.
What advice do you have for companies that are just starting to export? Have a sufficient travel budget – you won't be successful unless you really make the effort to immerse yourself and get to know your potential customers and partners face-to-face. It's the only way to truly understand the market you are trying to break into. What has been your biggest export achievement? India was a tough market for us to crack, but we eventually got there! In general, getting into growth markets is difficult and reaching our first deal with an Indian airline took a lot of work, but we did it. We were able to succeed by finding the right partner – for us it was IndiGo, the largest airline in India. We're also very proud to be the only startup that has been funded by airline venture capital groups in three distinct global regions: North America, Europe and Australia. The Volantio Team[/caption] To learn more about Volantio visit www.volantio.com.
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Are you a Georgia business looking for help growing your international sales? Find out how Georgia's International Trade Team can help at Georgia.org/Trade.