COMING SOON… EXCLUSIEF BIJ L-SHOP Ceresstraat 1 | 4811 CA Breda | +31 76 790-1131 | info@l-shop-team.nl | www.l-shop-team.nl WIJ HEBBEN DE MERKEN, AAN U DE KEUZE 8 Xiaomi is the Fastest Kid in the Class 25 2024 - number 4 - promzvak.nl nically through opportunistic growth strategies. Money earned in one sector is invested in a completely different sector if the entrepreneur sees opportunities there. "For Western companies, efficiency is a holy grail, and they are therefore not quickly willing to do something completely new. In Chinese culture, opportunism is considered a virtue. Chinese companies are willing to spend a lot of money on a goal. Not that they throw money around - on the contrary, I would say. Chinese companies are very costconscious, precisely because they are used to competing on price. But if you want to achieve something important, it can cost something," says Spaanjaars. The Chinese economy has developed rapidly over four decades into the second-largest economy in the world. Chinese entrepreneurs have learned two lessons from this: don't wait, but strike. And adapt to ever-changing circumstances. "If the reward for success is great and the pace of change is high, you have to take risks. Not so much because taking risks is in the entrepreneurial DNA. But because the risks of standing still are greater since you will be overtaken. Chinese entrepreneurs embrace change more easily than we do in the West," says Spaanjaars. "You even see this flexibility in Confucius. He said: why hold on to existing conventions when reality is constantly changing?" In his book, he writes about the philosophy that made Xiaomi great. They don't see themselves as a hardware manufacturer but as an internet company that solves online problems for consumers, such as interconnectivity (smartphones, wearables, smart devices), which can also include transportation (EVs). That direct contact is not only used as a sales channel but also to collect input from consumers. Not only is a webcare team continuously busy collecting online feedback, but all employees are also expected to answer questions on social media and gather relevant consumer insights to pass on to the right colleagues. Xiaomi itself claims that it considers all 15,000 employees as customer service representatives. This interaction with users goes so far that Xiaomi has started using panels of loyal customers in the development of new products. "Xiaomi sees itself as part of a digital ecosystem where customers and makers are in symbiosis. This makes it possible to shorten the time to market a product without significantly increasing the risk of failure. Which is not to say that everything Chinese entrepreneurs touch turns to gold. But they see failure as part of a process of progress and are therefore not afraid of it." Spaanjaars illustrates this with a practical example. Xiaomi's innovation team came up with the idea for a home cinema system. The aim was to create a high-quality, innovative laser projector at an affordable price. But internally, there were doubts about the feasibility of the project and the need for such a product. So Xiaomi asked its customers. They showed enthusiasm; enough reason to proceed. After two years of development, Xiaomi launched the Mi Laser Projector in an edition of two thousand units, which sold out within a day. Based on this success, the projector was built in large quantities and remains one of the best-selling products in the Xiaomi range to this day. "You see a number of Chinese characteristics coming together here," says Spaanjaars. "On the one hand, a step-by-step approach, which characterizes many Chinese companies. Developing something by optimizing or applying existing technology differently and introducing it on a small scale before scaling up if successful. They don't wait until there is a perfect product but continue to develop it during the process. But at the same time, all this happens at a high pace because the competition in China is fierce." Spaanjaars doesn't want to criticize how Western companies operate. Because they have often become very successful and large. But he does want to convey that now they are more frequently competing with Chinese companies, it's time to take a good look at themselves. Results from the past do not guarantee future success. "China has developed into the factory of the world, and both they and we have benefited from that. But now that Chinese companies are capable of making higher-quality technological products, China is becoming a serious competitor. Even if you are not active in the Chinese market, you will encounter Chinese competitors. In the world market, but also in the Netherlands. Just think of Chinese online marketplaces where you can buy directly from the manufacturer," says Spaanjaars. This forces entrepreneurs to think: what am I doing, does my model still work, or do I need to change? "Many people still think that Chinese are not creative and cannot innovate themselves. That is a costly mistake. The rapid rise of Chinese brands worldwide proves that we can learn more from Chinese entrepreneurs than most people think." two are particularly applicable to Xiaomi, says Spaanjaars: "A wolf doesn't wander around aimlessly but is constantly looking for opportunities." So it’s not surprising that a mobile phone maker decides to build a car, Spaanjaars wants to say. A Western company seeks efficiency, looks for economies of scale, and finds them, for example, by concentrating on its core business. In Asia, on the other hand, you see many conglomerates that have grown organically through opportunistic growth strategies. Money earned in one sector is invested in a completely different sector if the entrepreneur sees opportunities there. "For Western companies, efficiency is a holy grail, and they are therefore not quickly willing to do something completely new. In Chinese culture, opportunism is considered a virtue. Chinese companies are willing to spend a lot of money on a goal. Not that they throw money around - on the contrary, I would say. Chinese companies are very costconscious, precisely because they are used to competing on price. But if you want to achieve something important, it can cost something," says Spaanjaars.
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