Small family-based manufacturers posses great production know-how but often fail in setting up a global business strategy that will guarantee company’s success on each day fiercer competitive global market. In an innovative model of intercompany collaboration we capacitate small businesses to be able to grow their business in a sustainable way. A case-study of a family-owned meat transformation company will be presented and the results achieved in 2 years work with the company.

1. INNOVATION
VS. TRADITION
IN FAMILY BUSINESSES
BRIGITA JURISIC
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPER @ BRIDGE PARTNER / TECMINHO

2. FAMILY BUSINESS STATS
60-90% of nongovernmental
GDP
Family
businesses are
70-95% of all
business entities
85% of all
business startups started with
family money
50-80%of all
private sector
jobs
Source: European Family Business – Family business statistics

3. THE UNIQUE QUALITIES OF
THE FAMILY BUSINESS
- Long-term thinking and a broader perspective.
- Quicker and more flexible decision-making.
- An entrepreneurial mind-set.
- A greater commitment to jobs and the community.
- A more personal approach to business based on trust.
- More profitable over the long term.
- Less likely to lay people off and more likely to hire.
- Use less debt and are therefore more stable. Particularly in economic
times such as the ones we are in now.

4. PORTUGAL TODAY AND
FAMILY-OWNED SMES
CHALLANGES
- Globalisation causing highly competitive economic environment.
- World economic crisis and consumption decline in Portugal and in
Europe in general.
- IMF in Portugal since 2011 – trust level in Portugal drops – credit
access difficulties.
Portuguese family-owned SMEs are obliged to rethink their strategies,
value propositions and target markets. Buzz words internationalisation
and innovation start to appear on a daily basis.

5. At the time present due to internal market contraction and globalization
turning internal market more competitive these companies have a need
to internationalize and innovate.
In order not to waste its scarce resources a need of defining a
company’s internationalization and innovation strategy and action plan
is crucial.

6. LIMITED RESOURCES
FOR INVESTMENT IN
INTERNATIONALIZATION
AND INNOVATION

8. RELATIONSHIPS AS RESOURCES
Creation of a new business relationship is seen as a form of
organizational change and innovation (Huang and Wilkinson, 2007)
bringing an important competitive advantage to the companies since
they do not compete only at the level of price, but also in speed of
delivery, quality and innovation (Humphrey and Schmitz, 1998).
Relationships offer unique access to external resources of their
partners’ and can be seen as valuable resources themselves. Companies
co-evolve in the relationships (Huang and Wilkinson, 2007).

9. FACILITATORS / CATALYSTS OF
INTERNATIONALIZATION
ACCELERATION AND BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT

10. TRUST AND RELATIONSHIPS
Trust is a key mechanism of inter-firm relationships enabling
interaction and reducing transaction costs. A recent work review
performed by Ekici (2013) demonstrates trust has been largely viewed
as a construct that increases commitment, satisfaction, cooperation,
performance, signals long-term orientation and propensity to stay in
the relationship.

11. TRUST AND RELATIONSHIPS
RISK
UNCERTAINTY
Starting a new business relationships family-owned SMEs need to
be aware of their key resources and capabilities in order to be able
to present their unique value proposition and generate fair
incomes.

12. RELATIONSHIPS AS A SOURCE
OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Myers and Cheung (2008): Companies learn one from another. Types of
relationship learning within the buyer–supplier relationship:
- information sharing,
- joint sense making, and
- knowledge integration.
All three contribute to a company’s unique sales proposition based on
competitive
advantage
achieved
relationships with its key partners.
through
its
involvement
in

13. CASE PRESENTATION:
QUINTA DOS FUMEIROS

14. October 2011

15. February 2012
October 2012
August 2012

16. DIAGNOSTICS
OR WHERE TO BEGIN

17. THE PLAN IS TO…
Co-work and co-evolve the company’s competences – resource fusion
7. Think things
through together
1. Verbalize the
core strategic
premises
2. Define the target
markets for
internationalization
6. Adjust the marketing
materials
5. Define the target
partners and influencers
4. Marketing
plan
3. Study the
target markets

18. …MARK THE DIFFERENCE

19. THE EXECUTION
-International food and beverage fair SISAB, February 2012
-Gourmet fair Peixe Lisboa, June 2012
-Portugal Gourmet, November 2012
-International food and beverage fair SISAB, February 2013
-Polagra food fair, Poland, September 2013
-Macau international fair, Macau, China, October 2013
-HORECA life, Belgium, October 2013

20. DEVELOPING BUSINESS
RESULTS IN…
Company gaining recognition of its innovation
capacity between its peers.
Qualification for The innovative product of the year
2012 at Masters of distribution.
More contacts and visits of potential clients at the
company.
Qualified leads:
October 2012 – Mozambique, Switzerland, Germany,
Russia, Brasil, China, France, Luxemburg, Romenia,
Spain, Angola, UK, Chech Rep., Macau
October 2013 – China, Angola, Germany, Poland,
France, Luxemburg, Belgium, Switzerland, Angola,
Mozambique

21. DEVELOPING
BUSINESS RESULTS
IN…
Actual sales
2013* (till October)
347.870€
88.311€
2012
401.827€
France, Luxemburg,
Belgium, Switzerland,
Angola, Mozambique
2011
431,382.42 €
36.300€
France, Luxemburg,
Romenia, Spain, Angola,
UK, Chech Rep., Macau

22. CHALLANGES
-Long and costly processes of obtaining the certificates to be able to
sell in Brazil and in Russia.
-Consolidating the markets we have already entered.
-Support the distributors to do a great job in brand consolidation.
-Make the right balance between market prospection costs and limited
resources available.
-Close up the 2014 international promotion plan.
-Continue optimizing internal processes in order to be able to serve the
international market and evolve the company.

23. Co-evolve by building relationships based on trust!
Brigita Jurisic
bj@bridge-partner.pt
www.bridge-partner.pt
brigita@tecminho.uminho.pt
www.tecminho.uminho.pt