“If you have a business idea that isn’t scalable, that can’t be expanded globally … that only serves your community, then you’re coming up short in today’s fully globalized world. Whether you like it or not, that’s the reality.”
With this powerful statement, Ferenz Feher, CEO of Feher & Feher, challenged the audience to truly think globally during his session at the 2017 ISTMO Forum. The session, titled “Think Globally, Act Locally…Was that it?” focused on the importance of business evolution and reinvention within the context of our globalized world.
According to Mr. Feher, it is crucially important to have a “glocal” perspective that takes into account both local and global considerations.
“It’s important to create businesses that can scale globally,” said Mr. Feher. “The issue starts at the very beginning, as we brainstorm business ideas that are only focused on our immediate community, environment, or borders…And yet most of these borders are simply mental barriers.”
According to Mr. Feher, reinvention should be in every company’s DNA, as there are always ways to improve. Companies should reinvent themselves every day to ensure that they are able to provide quality and build trust with their customers. When a company offers quality, consistency, and builds trust, its customers will become more than just customers, they will become fans. And those fans will become repeat customers that are willing to recommend the business to others. If your customers aren’t making repeat purchases or recommending your business, then there is something fundamentally wrong with the company’s business model.
Mr. Feher also focused on the idea of tropicalization, or the concept of bringing business ideas developed in other markets to developing markets such as Mexico, and the importance of maintaining authenticity in business.
“It’s not worth it to imitate others, but we really like to imitate others,” said. Mr. Feher. “We want to know what that CEO is doing. But make sure you ask, ‘Is it a good fit for me? For my business?”
In closing, Mr. Feher brought the focus back to Mexico, recognizing the challenges that are present in a market such as Mexico while also highlighting the opportunities that it provides.
“As leaders, we need to challenge ourselves to leave our comfort zones, to leave our homes, and see the world as something so much bigger than our immediate environments,” said Mr. Feher. “And as business leaders, we have the responsibility to back what we learn, to apply it here, and to give back to the country that has given us so much.”
