“If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere!” Frank
Sinatra summed this great impenetrable city up in one immortal line. I can’t
say that I even began to question where I would start if I was to do business
in New York as the thought never occurred to me in the first place.
A group of highly spirited women arrived in Cork in July
from NewJersey and I was handed a golden ticket to visit
them on their own home ground thanks to a competition organised via CorkInnovates and the Cork Foundation. As the ever-resourceful Siobhan Finn and
I started to brainstorm about the trip, it made sense to add some time in the
heart of the Big Apple to the itinerary. Now, if you were to spend some time in
NYC seeking business contacts, where would you start? At the beginning of the
Summer I wouldn't have known. The answer is now overwhelmingly clear to me –
the Irish diaspora. Birds of a feather…
During the course of the 72 hours spent in New York, we met 8 people spanning a wide number of organisations including New York Digital Irish and the IIBN. While the meetings were all very
different, I spotted a common thread running through them. Each person was
immensely positive, with wide ranging offers to help and a willingness to
suggest ideas and introduce new contacts. My experience was filled with openness,
warmth and a sense of connection through Irishness.
So, have I sold 100,000 wristbands and opening an office in
Manhattan? If I’m to be honest, I thought this should be the result of my trip
across the Atlantic. However, reality was quick to set in as I realised that
the realistic objective and result of these meetings was the beginning of a valuable
relationship. I have a huge to-do list when I get home. I have to create a
spreadsheet of contacts, follow up individually, help them to help me, engage
with them and invest time and energy in that relationship and start planning my
next journey to the US. My experience in New York was exhausting, exhilarating
and exciting, but now the work starts to generate the highest ROI that I can
from the opportunity.
For any reader who thinks doing business in the US is only
for multinationals, I urge you to think differently. Start thinking now about whom
you know, what they can do to help you and what you can do for them. For any
reader planning their own trip to the States with a view to navigating their
way through the commercial landscape, factor in as much time afterwards to
follow up as that’s where the true value sits. For any reader who is dreaming
about a holiday to New York in the coming months, check out the sites of the
aforementioned organisations which may give an opportunity to start your own
star spangled little black book. The US really is the Land of Opportunity; now
is the time for me to find IDME’s place in the city that never sleeps.
