Challenge #1: Marketing
As products are highly specialized, markets are frequently
small, and are characterized by long decision-making cycles.
Exporting, which is essential to business survival, is costly.
Potential solution
Create a structuring impact by encouraging Quebec businesses to
take up innovations by offering tax credits to SMEs that acquire
computer systems that help make them more competitive in their
markets. This would give Quebec a policy based on the whole
economy’s competitiveness. Quebec software firms would gain a
competitive edge over foreign competitors.
Challenge #2: Financing
Once the R&D phases have been completed, firms initiate the
marketing phase. At this stage, huge amounts of capital are
required. Experts estimate that it takes five times more capital
to market software than it takes to develop it. However, the
reality is nowhere near this. According to data collected,
software firms invest an average of 28% of sales in R&D; the
smaller they are, the fewer marketing specialists they have.
According to our data on the sector, in terms of financing
marketing, we estimate firms invest an average of less than 19%
in sales, which is nowhere near enough.
Potential solution
Offering financing to support post-R&D phases, so as to develop
and deploy a sustained marketing strategy. The government should
start a pilot project for ICT to allow them to assess the
economic spinoffs for a key sector that features almost 100,000
direct jobs.
Challenge #3: Build a solid management team to ensure growth
The founders and leaders of software firms are innovators who
have developed often tailor-made solutions to meet very specific
needs, for very specific sectors. These leaders are not really
prepared to act as managers who can build the solid teams needed
to ensure growth. For them, marketing technology solutions,
particularly abroad, is a sizeable challenge. The actions
associated with it are frequently a puzzle: financing package,
hiring qualified sales and marketing experts, accessing critical
market information, negotiating strategic alliances.
Potential solution
Through professional development activities on sales and
marketing and leading highly specialized technology firms, and
by access to peer mentoring so as to institute best business
practices.
