Bringing a new technology successfully to market is all about finding the right people. FeONIC plc is a small company, which relies on a network of external sales teams, licensees and distributors to drive the business into new markets and new territories.
Well-written contracts help to manage the risk but, says FeONIC Chair Brenda Hopkins, ‘good business relationships are still built around truth and honesty’.
‘Running a business like ours is a bit like swimming with dolphins,’ she explains: ‘It’s an amazing ride but there are a lot of ups and downs.’
The fluctuations in FeONIC’s fortunes since its inception seven years ago have largely coincided with the successful, or not so successful, business partnerships and relationships made along the way.
The first of the successes came when Brenda met Brian Smith, now Managing Director of FeONIC, at a design trade show. Smith’s expertise in bringing new technologies and products to market gave the company its first boost and set FeONIC on the road to commercialisation.
Smith kick-started the product development process, identifying consumer markets for the FeONIC technology and developing innovative concepts for commercial applications. A sustainable business model emerged, where FeONIC would license the use of its technology to third parties and sell distribution rights for its products.
But this approach has had mixed results, as Hopkins explains: ‘Monthly license fees provide a regular income which offers us the stability to develop our next generation products, but we often feel frustrated when the licensee doesn’t sell as much as we know we could if we had the resources to run the sales process in-house.’
FeONIC has learned from experience to be careful in its choice of business partnerships. ‘We try to evaluate their capabilities as a distributor and these days we draw up firm contracts to ensure we retain control, but it’s always a gamble and we still rely heavily on the integrity and commitment of the individuals involved.’
One of FeONIC’s most successful partnerships is in Italy, where the company is about to announce the details of a five-year collaboration with one of the world’s largest ship builders.
‘Our Italian partners are very well connected, very active and have a good understanding of the technology and its potential,’ says Hopkins. ‘Italians are well known as early adopters of technology, and FeONIC Italia has been talking to industrialists who are quick to realise the benefits of what we can deliver.’
FeONIC is still a small company, staffed by a dedicated team, many of whom have invested their own money in the company as well as their time. ‘It’s difficult to find people outside the organisation that have such a vested interest in its success,’ says Hopkins. ‘It would be great to expand to the point where we could set up our own sales operation, but in the meantime, we look to partners such as FeONIC Italia to achieve the kind of large-scale successes we know the technology deserves.’
