Innovation and Internationalisation in Italy

Posted on 22nd June 2023

Carlo Russo is the CEO at Affariesteri.it, a consultancy aimed at helping Italian companies who want to develop their business activities abroad through international projects. As the recipient of Most Influential CEO 2023 – Tuscany (International Trade & Development), it seems like a good time to take a closer look.

The founder and CEO of Affariesteri.it, Carlo Russo, is passionate about innovation and internationalisation. He is involved in not-for-profit Consulting, Management Consulting, Marketing Consulting, and Business Consulting. He is the go-to person when it comes to starting business abroad, being a specialist in defining and implementing company plans and policies, defining business strategies, and assisting organisations with their action plans in terms of budgets, investments, partnerships, and markets.

Affariesteri.it can help develop trailblazing business plans fully capable of optimising business processes. It offers strategic consulting, acting as the right-hand man for its partner businesses, helping them to navigate fast turnarounds and manage difficulties. It supports Italian companies in development and transformation, intuiting advice based solely on their individual needs to offer a service that is tailor made. This creates value for companies through helping them to develop plans and create new opportunities in new geographic regions.

Affariesteri.it is itself based in Italy, with locations in Milan, Florence, and Rome, but it offers internationalisation for its customer companies in many different areas. Its operations cover Italy, the Commonwealth of Independent States area (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Krgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Georgia), the Balkan regions (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania), the Gulf area (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Iran, Itaq), France, Spain, Turkey, and Malta.

The team Carlos leads at Affariesteri.it, is made up from a pool of cosmopolitan experts and consultants, all operating at the highest level and with considerable experience in the field. These professionals, guided by Carlos, support projects and paths of international business for companies intending to develop or consolidate their activities abroad. Affariesteri.it acts as a partner and a problem solver, occupying the role of ‘Service Company’ alongside its customers. Constant attention is paid to changes in international economic scenarios, and all the requirements necessary to allow companies to flourish in the current global market.

“In a global market, having excellent managers is no longer enough to internationalize a company: it is necessary to open up to external specialists. How to build a successful foreign plan for an SME? Business ‘as usual’ is no longer an option in a world characterized by economic upheaval, geopolitical crisis and climate change. As a professional with experience in international markets, I have come to the conclusion that there are key elements missing…”

Carlos writes numerous social media posts about internationalisation, having lately covered topics such as female representation on boards of directors, and the current energy crisis. In a recent article he identified 3 false myths about internationalisation. The first one concerns companies thinking that to expand they need to be big. Although size helps, according to Carlos it is in no way a prerequisite for going abroad. Sometimes, it can even hinder progress as large companies can be more set in their ways, making adaptation difficult. Smaller companies can be more flexible and agile. The second false myth concerns people thinking that international markets are risky. Carlos clarifies that actually investments in a new market, which are often joint shared ventures, can be significantly lower risk than domestic ones. Sometimes, for example in emerging markets, companies can even market a product at double the normal price. The third myth Carlos has busted is that going international has to be done one market at a time. In fact, he says, it’s much more a matter of finding the right market for the business and going in prepared. In this way, many companies have successfully expanded into multiple geographies at once.

As an open, sharing, and collaborative company, Affariesteri.it is able to partner up with companies to help them achieve their exigencies. Its general purpose is to improve their competitiveness through encouraging them to operate in the international and national markets. It will promote companies abroad, guiding them every step of the way in the acquisition of new customers and new orders. Its professional services take into account awareness of areas that may be characterised by unique territorial, cultural, regulatory, economic and political issues. It determines different methods of development with particular attention paid to the risks derided from exercising business activities in such a market.

When looking at new business initiatives in foreign markets it is essential to pull together a complete business plan that defines the project and determines all the strategic, financial, and economic aspects. Affariesteri.it has all the appropriate skills and knowledge necessary for successfully achieving business objectives. It will evaluate all the technical and commercial aspects of the expansion program, supporting its partners through increasing their levels of territorial diversification. It enables business opportunities through international marketing strategies, and creation of sales networks abroad. The creation of this new international structure is destined to acquire new market shares in the chosen country. Affariesteri.it will also closely monitor all sources of information on the international procurement sector, and opportunities presented by the main multilateral development banks.

It will deal with the analysis of the decision to operate abroad, the definition of objectives, and the identification of target markets. Once that process has been cleared, it will move on to definition of the modalities of mapping entry into the target markets, economic and financial planning for internationalisation, and development models and entry strategies in foreign markets. Moving forward, it will look at foreign trade techniques including contractual, fiscal and customs aspects. Then it will search for financial and industrial partners, before finally reaching the closing stage, export of the product.

“In an increasingly complex and interconnected world, we are all continually called to confrontation and dialectic. Affariesteri.it participates, with companies, or for companies, in negotiations for the conclusion of commercial contracts and diplomatic or trade union agreements and for the resolution of company crises.”

When it comes to negotiation, it’s good to have Affarieteri.it working on your behalf. It will carefully prepare dialogues, analyse the various opportunities and problems, and prepare its business partners to face any challenges they might come across. It will also deal with public affairs and lobbying. Identifying knowledge gaps that need to be addressed regarding influential but perhaps poorly informed persons. Affariesteri.it will ensure the appropriate persons have information provided to them to make fully informed decisions. It sees building a path that brings awareness into the decision-making process as the optimal choice. It operates under the perception that in reality the relations entrepreneurs cultivate with institutions play a fundamental role in the definition of the business strategy. Therefore, they must be guided by a strategic programme. This is necessary when it comes to realising the objectives of both types of bodies, institutions and businesses. With Affariesteri.it working on your behalf, in an operational context, it is possible to maximise such basic relational techniques.

The tailor-made service Affariesteri.it offers is paying dividends when it comes to the international competitiveness of Italian companies. Helping to find new sale channels abroad, and developing the entrepreneurial initiatives in foreign territories is exactly the spirit of partnership it celebrates. With Carlo Russo at the helm, it is certainly a company more than capable of innovating business plans and optimising processes on the international playing field. In this capacity it is truly going from strength to strength.

For business enquiries, contact Carlo Russo from Affariesteri.it on their website – https;//affariesteri.it