From 0 to 16 in 21 days
“When we set off, we wanted to make the most of our time in Florida. We decided to ask all our friends and business partners for contacts and get recommendations for meetings,” says Daniel. We knew about the trip to the US exactly 21 days before departure, and we made the most of every minute to arrange meetings.
The strategy paid off. We didn’t know anyone in Florida ourselves, but by the time we flew out, our diaries were already packed. Before departure, we’d arranged a total of 8 meetings; further meetings then arose from individual discussions whilst we were in the US. So, in total, we attended 16 meetings!
I must say that we were surprised ourselves that we were able to arrange so many meetings and that so many people were willing to help us. Our great advantage was that AITOM already has an American reference, and this, as was confirmed to us several times in America, is absolutely essential for success in the local market.
The first key insight in our assessment of potential expansion was gaining a clear understanding of pricing for web development services. We had expected to be able to compete with local developers primarily on price, but this is not entirely the case. It turned out that we can compete primarily through the quality of our development and our established processes for implementing online projects. We discovered that there are more than enough opportunities to make a name for ourselves in Miami and the surrounding area. This is mainly because there is currently significant investment in business and technology development here, aimed at raising the bar for potential investors in this sector. The Miami area would like to become the “Silicon Valley of the East Coast”. We have therefore brought back a wealth of experiences, inspiration and, hopefully, new projects.
Travel diary
Friday 16 September (day one)
We took off from Prague at 6:00 am and landed at 3:00 pm local time – 8,154 km and six time zones away. Although our visas were in order, immigration officials were still waiting for us. Daniel must come across as trustworthy, because they mainly questioned me. However, in the end, they successfully let us both into Florida.
Saturday 17 September (Day Two)
We needed to fortify ourselves properly for our first day in America, so we headed to the traditional Egg&You Diner. A local curiosity is that the owner has run the diner for an impressive 60 years and prepares eggs that put even Grandma’s cooking to shame. You won’t believe it, but the local ‘regulars’ respectfully told us that they couldn’t recall a single day when the owner was absent from the diner.
Our next stop was the car hire company, where we hired the only car available at the time, which we nicknamed the “Smurfmobile” due to its Smurf-blue colour.
We spent the rest of the day exploring the area and preparing for the coming days full of business meetings. In the evening, we had our first meeting with a Czech businessman based in the US, who, among other things, had been featured in Forbes. The meeting was more of an introductory get-together over dinner and then in a bar.
Sunday 18 September (day three)
What sort of trip to the States would it be if we didn’t try an American brunch? A typical brunch starts at 11 am and it’s not unusual for it to stretch into the late afternoon. We met a whole host of businesspeople here who were discussing business matters over their Sunday brunch. We used this time to meet with our American client and discuss the further development of his internet project.
In the evening, we had a barbecue with our friend/client. We tried bison steaks for the first time, for example. Yes, you’ve got it right – we put on quite a bit of weight on the Miami expedition.
Monday 19 September (day four)
The early bird catches the worm, and since we want to go far, we got up while it was still dark so we could catch the sunrise. On Monday, we went out to get an American SIM card and finalised the details of our planned meetings.
Who did we meet on Monday? Among others, a lawyer from the Czech Republic who has been living in Florida for 35 years. He gave us valuable advice on local legislation – doing business in America has its own rules, and we were glad to get first-hand insights.
Afterwards, we met again with our client, for whom we had actually originally come, and began planning the website’s further development with regard to internal workflow. Our clients know full well that we like to draw mind maps and diagrams on a whiteboard. We didn’t have one to hand, but fortunately there was a large mirror in the office, so we managed to improvise somewhat.
Tuesday 20 September (day five)
First thing in the morning, we set off for meetings in Miami and were immediately faced with a real challenge. It was our first time driving to Miami alone on a six-lane motorway. The journey left us a bit disoriented, but in the end we found our way with the help of satnav. The motorways may look half-empty, but the traffic jams are certainly nothing like those in the Czech Republic. In Miami, you can pay extra to use the fast lanes, which allow you to overtake all the traffic. However, if you don’t have the necessary paid authorisation to use these fast lanes, you’re in for an unpleasant surprise in the form of a fine of several thousand dollars if you accidentally end up in the fast lane. There are cameras practically everywhere, and it’s impossible to leave the fast lane.
The fast lanes are marked by orange lines. We paid for them and were glad we did; otherwise, we might still be crawling along in the traffic jam.
The first meeting took place in one of the tallest skyscrapers in Florida, specifically on the 47th floor. However, our heads didn’t go round from the height, because through this meeting at the law firm we arranged another meeting for Friday. This Friday meeting was to take place on the other side of Miami – instead of our potential client opening a map, he showed us the way from the 47th floor through the window, which quite amused us.
From the skyscraper, we drove straight to the marina in Fort Lauderdale; the meeting took place in the beautiful surroundings of an interior design studio and then directly on one of the luxury yachts, so we could soak up the atmosphere of this business. The value of the yacht made our heads spin a bit, so we decided to take our shoes off whilst we were on board. The owner of the yacht interior design studio was a classic example of the American dream. He had emigrated to the States from Israel 32 years ago and, together with his wife, had built the company from scratch 30 years ago.
For our final meeting, we headed to a bar with the CEO and marketing manager of a large local hosting centre.
Wednesday 21 September (day six)
The marathon of meetings continued on Wednesday. First, we attended a meeting at the government offices in Miami, then we took the elevated train to another meeting at the ‘Venture Hive’ accelerator. We managed to turn even something as simple as a journey on the local elevated train into a great adventure.
We’d arranged another meeting rather blindly through Dan’s friend. We were supposed to meet Matthew, but he happened to be in Budapest at the time, so he referred us to his colleague Phil. All we knew about Phil was that he did “something in IT”.
We met at Hooters, which gave us a textbook example of what a “customer-friendly” approach looks like. We got a bit carried away chatting with Phil, and Daniel’s meal had gone cold. So he asked the waitress if it would be possible to reheat it. Instead, without a moment’s hesitation, she brought a new plate with a freshly prepared meal, without charging us for the cold one. So a big thumbs up from us.
We then headed to the famous South Beach for a meeting; in one of the cafés, we chatted with a local organiser of VIP events for influential businesspeople. He knows all the owners of the local clubs and hotels, so he was a very interesting business contact for us. We were even invited to a night-time party, but as it didn’t start until 1 am, we decided to get some sleep instead.
In the evening, we finally found some time for ourselves and headed to the beach for a swim in the ocean. I particularly enjoyed splashing about, even though I was stung by a jellyfish whilst attempting a handstand in the water.
Thursday 22 September (day seven)
We took it easy on Thursday and set off with our client’s ‘host’ family on an excursion and boat trip through the Florida wetlands in Everglades National Park. It was our first time trying out a hovercraft, and it was quite a ride. Did you know that an alligator can launch itself so forcefully that it “lands” halfway up the boat? We didn’t, but after the local guide told us that, we decided to move further towards the centre of the hovercraft. You never know, do you?!
To finish off, we visited a mini zoo with snakes, turtles and small alligators. We even managed to tame them, so, feeling quite proud of ourselves, 
we then headed off for a spot of shopping at Florida’s largest outlet – Sawgrass Mills.
Afterwards, we were invited to our client’s birthday party, which took place in the garden by the pool. We were quite surprised by the local ‘tradition’ of conducting business discussions at private parties, namely that a so-called ‘business hour’ was set aside, during which we discussed project development and other work matters; once the 60 minutes were up, we automatically continued with informal entertainment and not a single word about business was allowed to be spoken.
Friday 23 September (day eight)
We began Friday with a visit to the data centre. It looked a bit like Mission Impossible in there – hand scanners, retinal scans and other technological gadgets that we haven’t seen in our part of the world yet. Who knows what data is under control here, but it is certainly very well protected.
Among other things, we discussed how to secure the best possible hosting services for our American clients who require their projects to be hosted directly in the USA. We’ve already written about how important quality hosting is. The meeting at Host.net went brilliantly; we’ll very likely have top-notch facilities with them for the future operation of individual projects.
We met for lunch with a Czech professional tennis player living in the US, who told us some really interesting stories about life in America – what we need to watch out for and all the things that can happen. We then went to a meeting at the Beacon Council Miami (this was a meeting arranged for us by the lawyer we met on Monday). Here, we discussed support options for start-ups in the Miami area.
In the afternoon, we visited the local co-working centre, HUBB. We presented our expertise to the owner, and he immediately offered to include AITOM on the list of web project developers that they provide to all companies using the co-working space. At HUBB, they also focus on innovation and cutting-edge technologies, which we were able to try out for ourselves. What Dan has on his head is a prototype ‘mind-reading’ device, which should make it possible to control technology and computers with just a thought. Wondering if it works? Ask Dan – you’ll be amazed!
Unfortunately, one of our meetings fell through on Friday, but in the end we were actually glad, as we made the most of the situation and went to watch a baseball match at the Miami Marlins stadium. Honestly? It was a bit of a bore; the most interesting part of the game happened in the first ten minutes, and nothing much happened for the next three hours. What really surprised me personally was the fact that, although it was around 40°C outside that day, the indoor stadium was air-conditioned to about 18°C – we were really cold!
Saturday 24 September (day nine)
The Miami expedition is drawing to a close. We had no choice but to return the car and, after a successful shopping trip to Sawgrass Mills, buy some larger suitcases. In the end, we managed to catch one American football match. American football is in a completely different ‘league’ to baseball, and we were completely captivated by the sport. Unfortunately, the Miami Dolphins weren’t playing a home game on Saturday, so we ‘only’ saw a university league match. Would you believe that nearly 20,000 people turned up to watch university football?
Sunday 25 September (day ten)
The very next morning, we said goodbye to the beach, headed to the airport and off we went home. We wanted to write down all our experiences on the plane, but we were so tired after those days that we slept through practically the whole flight. We even nearly overslept our connection in Frankfurt!
And what does the infographic say about our American mission?
What did we learn on our travels?
Our mission was definitely a success. We brought home lots of wonderful personal and professional experiences. We visited places we would hardly have seen as tourists.
Last but not least, I’d like to thank our friend and client Honza for showing us America as it really is and for giving us a glimpse into local life.
Perhaps some of our insights will be useful to you too:
- It was confirmed to us that for a company to make a name for itself in the US, it is essential to have a reference and a personal recommendation from someone local.
- Americans get excited about things quickly, but gradually lose their drive.
- The standard of customer care in the US is incomparably higher than in the Czech Republic.
- Americans are open to doing business; if you catch their interest, they will automatically recommend you to others.
- If you’re focusing on IT, try your luck on the East Coast. Technology isn’t as advanced there as it is on the West Coast. And that could be an opportunity for you.
- Americans like printed materials and brochures that they can take away from a meeting.
- Business can be conducted anywhere (even at an informal barbecue party), provided both parties agree. Americans actually welcome this.
- Americans place a lot of importance on status – where someone lives, what car they drive, what they wear, and so on.