Maxtec’s international strategy gives them a leg up in business growth
Maxtec exhibits at an international trade show.
Since their launch in 2000, Maxtec has undeniably become one of Utah’s premier international medical equipment firms.
With clients in over 135 countries, Maxtec has seen a recent surge of international growth and have expanded their product line to accommodate this new demand. To better handle this growth, Maxtec has utilized opportunities and resources available through World Trade Center Utah (WTC Utah) to help expand their business internationally.
Bruce Brierley, CEO of Maxtec, explained that many of their products have large potential internationally because many countries import medical devices from the US.
Brierley shared, “Maxtec has a great line up of good, better and best products that fit well with the most sophisticated markets, like Germany and Japan, to the most simple and affordable minded locations around the world.”
Site visit with the Singapore and Vietnam trade mission in August.
Building an international strategy
With recent product development and planned company expansion, Maxtec has begun tapping into the opportunities and resources available through WTC Utah, including education opportunities, grant and trade services.
Maxtec is currently on expanding to new Asian markets like China, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea. Recently, Maxtec applied for and received funds from the State Trade and Expansion Program (STEP) Grant. These funds allowed the company to attend a state-led trade mission coordinated by WTC Utah to Singapore and Vietnam in August. During the trade mission, they were able to conduct in-country market research and meet with potential distributors.
Maxtec also applied and received funding from the Export Acceleration Grant, which is also run by WTC Utah, to further fund their participation in additional international trade missions and shows.
Additionally, Maxtec worked with WTC Utah’s trade services team to receive in-depth market assessments for several regions and countries, providing insight into what markets would be good opportunities to sell their product.
Looking toward the future
Maxtec is working to increase their current international revenue from 15 percent to 50 percent in the upcoming years through further market expansion. Brierley is hopeful that the company will surpass its goals of a $5 million growth for 2018. They also expect to attend future trade missions and trade shows to acquire several new international customers and distributors.
Looking back on Maxtec’s success, Carl Luft, Director of Business Development, shared that they wish they had sources like WTC Utah—which evaluates ease of doing business in foreign countries—in their early business days.
“Exporting has really been the key to taking the company to the next level,” said Luft. “When we first started, we wish we knew about regulatory set-backs associated with medical devices and the difficulty of doing business in each country.”
Luft also encourages companies to take advantage of resources available to Utah companies such as the STEP Grant to help fund their international business expansion and strategy development.
WTC Utah is accepting applications for the STEP Grant, for all international trade activities (including trade missions and trade shows). Learn more and apply.
