In 2018, Go Mobile digital agency opened an office in Jakarta. From that moment on, we managed to make mistakes, disprove all our hypotheses and launch a new office 2.0.
We tell people “We have an office in Indonesia” and always hear two questions:
- Why Indonesia?
- How’s it going there?
We decided to answer these questions by writing several articles. The first one was about life in Jakarta. Now let’s talk about the history of the branch: hypotheses, mistakes, crisis management, and what all this led to.
Why do we need new markets?
Firstly, it is not enough for us.
Why not increase the number of clients and reach new audiences if we feel like we are ready? The local market is just a small sandbox on the beach. We want to see the whole beach.
Secondly, there is no such thing as stability. New markets are helping to diversify risks.
How did we try to enter foreign markets?
About three years ago, we opened the position of Head of Global Business Development, hired an employee, and began looking for global clients from all over the world.
Calls /e-mails were a failure, foreign conferences were a failure, hiring a remote sales manager from another country was also a failure.
We realized that we can’t do without an offline office. To us, this seemed like the last chance to get foreign clients.
Why did we choose Indonesia?
- Economic growth rates. The fourth-biggest economy in the world by 2030;
- The first country in terms of the growth rate of mobile apps usage;
- Low level of competition;
- Small expenses to open an office.
Office opening | Version 1.0 | Q2 2018
We did research, created a go-to-market strategy and first client lists, hired a remote sales manager in Indonesia.
Then the head of the department went to “settle down” for a couple of months and recruit a team. CEO and Head of HR visited the office a couple of months apart and tried to bring the spirit and values of the Moscow team.
We set the minimum bar as reaching financial self-sufficiency by the end of 2018, and the maximum one was profit. As a result, all plans failed, and we made all possible mistakes.
What went wrong:
- Unmotivated team. The team was not focused on working in a startup and capturing a new market. Also, we decided to save money and hire people with no experience in digital and teach them on the spot.
- One employee. We sent just one person to do business in a foreign country. It soon became clear that loneliness does not help to build business processes.
- Control and communication. The Indonesian branch was directly controlled by the CEO and had a lot of credibility, although it could not handle the weekly tasks.
- Approach to mentality. The first team believed that, due to the local mentality, it was necessary to build a friendship, and only then get down to business.
“Personally, I made the maximum number of mistakes. It’s good that we have no tolerance for fuckups and everything worked out in the end. “
Alex Evseev
CEO Go Mobile
Relaunch | Version 2.0 | Q2 2019
During the unprofitable year, Russian and Indonesian teams have accumulated a lot of mutual negativity. The Moscow office was unhappy with the “subsidized region,” and Indonesia felt undervalued and misunderstood. The decision to relaunch was inevitable.
Control and audit
Communication and control of the sales process in Indonesia were temporarily taken over by the head of product development for Go NET. Almost immediately, the head of the business development department of Go Mobile joined him. They set up weekly calls, created a reporting standard, set deadlines for key tasks, and interviewed Indonesian colleagues.
Quite quickly, they realized that colleagues in Indonesia were not ready to learn and rebuild the processes.
“From this experience, I learned that in managing Russians attention is more important than control. And in managing Indonesians both control and attention are equally important! “
Eugen Lesiev-Les
Head of Go NET
New leader
We faced a choice: to look for a new head of the branch outside or within our team. We were lucky: the problem was solved within a week. There was a strong specialist at the development department who was ready for more responsibility and relocation — Max Romanovsky.
Our technical specialist
It was decided to strengthen business development. This is how the local head of media buying, Anna Kulaeva, appeared in the Indonesian office. This solved the problem of priorities, speeded up all communications, and significantly increased our expertise in media buying.
Experienced team
We have changed the approach to recruiting people and decided to hire more experienced professionals. We hire those who already have experience in agencies, digital expertise and a contact base. They come with financial motivation, they understand that they are ready to give their best to earn a lot of money and are gradually following our work rhythm.
Cut the costs
Even in a cheap country, you should not forget about the costs. The new head of the branch moved the office to a less boogie business center and changed accommodation.
We stopped believing in a different mentality
Maksim, despite the advice of his colleagues, decided to have a “not to be friends, but to do business” approach. And it worked! There are many differences in mentality and culture. But digital remains digital even in Indonesia.
Support from Moscow
Weekly calls, joint brainstorms, planning, and tracking of results. Before the Indonesian branch reported directly to the founder of the agency, now it is controlled by the Business Development department.
Results
Within the first three months, the Indonesian office significantly reduced costs, during the fourth month it became financially self-sufficient, and six months after the restart, it began to bring profits.
Three years have passed since the opening of the office in Jakarta. At the moment, there is a team of 8 people working there.
Team
- Head of the Indonesian Branch
- Head of Media Buying
- Accounting Mentor
- Account Manager
- Traffic Manager
- 2 Business Development Managers
- Communications Manager
+144 people from Russia available 24/7.
Main products for the Indonesian market
- Go Mobile — mobile marketing agency
- Go NET — independent advertising agency (DSP/SSP/DMP)
- Go Design — creative production and video creation
- Go Special — special project and complicated integrations
Money
We spent a lot of money. The costs are measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars. At least half of them we definitely burned in vain.
The main goal is achieved. We are profitable. If we compare the branch in Indonesia with the main company, at the moment it brings 3% of total revenue.
«Indonesia is a great place to scale up. There are a lot of free niches here. To occupy them, you need to understand the local market and mentality. This was our main focus during the first months of work. It is very difficult to find motivated and professional managers here. We were lucky, and now we are working at the same capacity (and even higher) as the Moscow team».
Max Romanovsky
Head of Go Mobile Indonesia
