During the panel discussion ‘From Poland out into the world’, which took place during the Economic Forum in Karpacz, participants considered why it is difficult for Polish companies to become major players. Perhaps the domestic market is too comfortable and deprives local businesses of their appetite for the global market?

Krzysztof Pawiński, head of Maspex, reported that within the first two years of operation, as many as 70 per cent of companies are liquidated. Those entities that succeed should consider expanding their scale. However, this requires a significant change in mindset.

‘To scale up a business, it is necessary to transition to managerial governance and share responsibility and work’, said Pawiński.

He admitted that there is often the temptation to govern from the back seat, but one should not give in to it. This approach requires one to accept that some of the decisions made by managers are going to be wrong. The owner of Maspex handed over the entire area of finance and cash flow management to others at a stage when the company had a turnover of PLN 700 million. Today, its revenue reaches PLN 16 billion.

Export challenges

Not all goods are equally suitable for global expansion.

'Perhaps it is easier with digital products, as there are no delivery costs and they can circle the globe in a matter of hours. However, when it comes to physical goods, with transport costs and limited shelf life, scaling up the business is only possible after achieving success on the Polish market. Without this, it is naive to dream of success in foreign markets. We have always expanded horizontally based on the success of a given category in Poland', said Pawiński.

However, Ryszard Florek, president of the window company Fakro, noted that sometimes the order is different.

‘When we started to grow rapidly, our competitor lowered prices in Poland by 30 per cent. We then decided to go abroad. In this way, we avoided dumping to other countries', said Florek. The company also hoped that this would increase the scale of its operations. The founder of Fakro emphasised the importance of effective antitrust law to the development of competition. Today, not everyone is obliged to comply with it to the same extent. When a global corporation commits a violation of the law, it goes unpunished. It is defended by its government and even the European Commission', emphasised Florek.

Wojciech Pawluś, VP Global Sales & Marketing at Comarch, spoke about the company's experiences. At the beginning, the company ‘built its brand’, observed other markets and developed local structures in places where its products were popular. What was the key to its success? Pawluś pointed to three aspects: a solid product, regional and product diversification, and committed and competent employees who knew the local markets and their characteristics.

From the beginning, Professor Janusz Filipiak had a clear vision of investing in a solid product. We allocated over 20 per cent of our revenue to research and development. That is why today we can be proud of large-scale implementations on the Polish market, such as e-Invoicing/ERP projects for the National e-Invoice System, or on the global market, where nearly 1.5 billion people use Comarch's loyalty solutions by using them in airlines, shops or petrol stations', he said.

He added that the opinion about Comarch has changed over the years. ‘We used to be identified as a cheaper labour force, but today we are identified with qualified IT, management and engineering staff. This is a huge change that opens up new opportunities for Polish companies', said Wojciech Pawluś.

The manager emphasised that Polish companies are not inferior to their foreign competitors. What they still need to learn is to accept failure and establish partnership with other entities. However, there is one area that requires thorough improvement – economic diplomacy. ‘I look with envy at companies from Belgium or the Netherlands, as their representatives fly on a plane with the prime minister of their country and work with them on business relations. This is something not found in Poland. It needs to be changed', emphasised the Comarch representative.

Solid foundations

The company Wilk Elektronik from Łaziska Górne conquered international markets with its Goodram brand. It started out as a distributor of memory cards from other brands, and in doing so gained 60 per cent of the market. Its president, Wiesław Wilk, ultimately came to the conclusion that it was necessary to expand abroad with its own brand. Two decades ago the decision was made to build a memory factory, which marked the beginning of the Goodram brand.

'We have managed to build a very stable position in Poland, with an average market share of 30 per cent. We sell more memory in the country than Samsung', said Wilk.

His company began selling abroad almost immediately after starting production. The export direction was chosen very carefully.

‘We conducted a market analysis. We looked for countries in which Poland was seen as a technology-oriented nation. We chose the east, and entered the Ukrainian and Russian markets, said Wilk. Today, Goodram has a 15–20 per cent share of the Ukrainian market. ‘It is necessary to choose markets wisely in terms of development and analyse areas with a chance of achieving success. Because initial success drives further success. I do not see any other path for Polish companies than export', emphasised Wilk.

The heads of leading Polish companies emphasised that you can only go abroad if you have a good position in Poland. First, you need to think about countries that are nearby, because distance makes management difficult.