In the entrepreneurship journey, each step forward is a daring leap into the unknown—a relentless pursuit of growth amidst life-or-death challenges. Yet, amidst the chaos lies the ultimate test: exporting your vision to new markets. Here, we unravel the story of our global expansion and the lessons learned along the way. We implemented the Hercules Trophy in 10 countries. Dare to export.

The Genesis of Exporting: Dare to Dream, Dare to Start

You dare to dream, dare to gather a team, dare to start, dare to craft a great product, dare to share your dream with people in your home market, dare to buy a ticket, dare to trust people in other countries, and you dare to start in a new market.

The Safmarine Trophy poignantly reminded us that the Herculean spirit knows no bounds. On the contrary, between 2002 and 2008, we brought people from all continents to Mechelen, Belgium. The atmosphere was magical.

Nelson Mandela was right: “Sports unites people in a way that little else does.” He used rugby to unite South Africans; we prefer to call it “games” because too many people still fear sports. It’s a universal language. People are social creatures who like to compete and connect while having fun.

Madrid and Rotterdam: Seeds of Expansion

Stefan approached me to organise the Hercules Trophy in Madrid. He connected me with Anna, Alvaro, and Jaime, who are still dear friends. Jaime had the connection with the market, Anna and Alvaro knew how to organise, and we had the concept and technology.

We organised unique events at Las Encinas in 2008 and 2009. Those were the years that Facebook started, so we were still using traditional marketing techniques, making reaching companies very difficult. Our platform wasn’t export ready yet and we adapted it on the fly.

Unfortunately, the financial crisis killed the Spanish economy, so we decided to wait for better times. I’m sure that one day we will be back.

Irene approached us from Rotterdam. She is a very entrepreneurial lady with a solid B2B network. We organised in 2010 and 2011, but the financial crisis made us pauze again.

On a mission to Johannesburg

In 2009, armed with curiosity and conviction, Inge and I embarked on an economic mission to Johannesburg—a pivotal moment in our export journey. The mission was powered by Flanders Investment and Trade. We did a market study and worked closely with Yves, the local Belgian representative at that time, and his team. They made sure we had a full agenda with back-to-back meetings.

It was our first experience with FIT, and it was unforgettable. Later, we would repeat the experience in New York, Dubai, Hong Kong, Poland, and Australia. We actually started in three of those five countries.

On the plane to Johannesburg, I asked Inge which country she wanted to explore next. In my mind, South Africa was already “achieved”. She opened the inflight magazine and showed a picture of the Burj Al Arab. I smiled and nodded and she took that for a yes.

A few hours later, we had our very first meeting with Gerry. He was the co-founder of Dream Team Catalyst and became our local partner. The human connection was powerful; we loved his humour, and it helped they were the market leader in team building in South Africa. A testament to the serendipitous encounters that define the Herculean journey.

At the end of the conversation, Gerry asked us which countries we would attack next. Without hesitation, Inge replied, “Dubai.” I was shocked, as it had been just a thought 12 hours before! Gerry replied, “Awesome, then I have to introduce you to Hazel from Biz Events in Dubai.”

It took three years, but the first Hercules Trophy in South Africa was unforgettable. We organized the event in a cricket stadium on Nelson Mandela Day in 2012. A large part of the South African Olympic Team was there just before they left for London. The company teams brought sports gear to distribute in the townships. The athletes wrote inspirational quotes to accompany the materials. It was just epic.

Dubai: A Visionary Oasis

Gerry introduced us to Hazel from Biz Events, and we met her in Dubai in 2010. Sparked by the global crisis, the country was suffering from a housing crisis. Dubai only had 1.7 million inhabitants and wasn’t where it is today. The Burj Khalifa opened in that year, and the Dubai Mall was still empty. The world was judging Dubai as “unrealistic.” Our kind of place!

From the first minute, we were inspired by the vision of the wise leadership who runs the country like a company. Since that first visit, Inge mentioned Dubai weekly until we moved here three years ago. When our youngest was asked in 4th grade what she wanted to study later in that school, she said, “Nothing, because by then I will live in Dubai.”

When Dubai won the Expo bid I promissed myself I would live there before the Expo.

In 2011 and 2012, we organised the Hercules Trophy at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai. Biz Events was our partner, and until today, they remain dear friends. From 2012, we partnered with Promo7. Jane was a key figure in making everything happen and became a dear friend. She is now retired in Australia.

The pandemic hit the world, we all suffered, we experienced a near death of our business in Belgium, and we decided it was the perfect time to move to Dubai and restart.

New York

Koen, a trusted friend I worked with at Telindus, had a dream. He wanted to move to NY and suggested he start the Hercules Trophy there. Koen is a true visionary and an amazing networker. We made a plan, looked for funding, and he moved. He was supported by the Belgian Business Council in NY, FIT, Brussels Airlines, and Delta Airlines. Did you know that Koen and Inge pulled it off to let our Queen Mathilde sign our contract with the city of NY? Epic.

Our adventure in NY tested our endurance. I love New York for many reasons, but it’s true what they say: the city eats you alive, and you need a lot of money to make it there.

• 2012: A massive thunderstorm 2 hours before the event completely “destroyed” our venue. The New Yorkers loved it; for them, it was just an extra challenge; they would have gone home in Belgium.
•  2013: our containers were stuck in the port until a few hours before the event. Our Belgian team pulled it off during an all-nighter.
•  2014-2017: Koen became a world traveller. We moved the event to Liberty State Park, and I sold and organised it myself from a small room of a dear friend in Manhattan. I survived on one-dollar pizza and Old Fashioned.

Poland, Lithuania and Germany: Echoes of Expansion

In 2014, we organized in the Olympic Park of Munich, in 2015 and 2016 in Lithuania, and in 2016 and 2017 in Poland. Meanwhile, we investigated Hong Kong, France, Australia, and several countries in Eastern Europe.

Export Pauze button

We hit the export pause button when Duval Union joined as a shareholder in Belgium. We decided to refocus our time and money on our home market for a few years as we developed new formats that also needed our attention. We rebranded to Herculean Alliance, employee engagement specialists. One year later, the pandemic hit, and all our partners had to scramble.

Herculean learnings that worked for me

• Export is a great way to understand your product and yourself’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Seeing people from other cultures embracing something you invented is magical.
• You must adapt your experience to other cultures but ensure it’s still the same experience. It’s nearly identical to bootstrapping all over again, but this time with less impact from yourself and your partners acting like your customers.
• Growing your home market while growing abroad is a big challenge. Time differences, training people, helping them sell, back to the basics vs market leadership. With the current state of technology, things are way more manageable.
• Technology, from content marketing to sales automation to operations, is crucial to scale internationally.
• When you run a business with your spouse, the pressure on your family is tough, especially if you want to be a dad who wants a strong connection with his 3 kids. We are talking about the days without Microsoft Teams and high phone rates. You need to put extra effort into avoiding a disconnect.
• Don’t underestimate the public opinion of people who think you are leading a lavish lifestyle abroad. It’s quite the opposite, but we decided not to show the struggles on socials.
• Remember to consider the financing needs for export. In our case, we couldn’t finance from our profits in the home market, and we don’t come from money, so we had to find investors. But that’s a story for another chapter.

Thank you Herculeans

All the people who were mentioned in this blog and the many others who helped us craft the communities in so many countries. A very special thank you to Inge. Without our Yin and Yang this would have been impossible to achieve.

Read the previous episode here.

Disclaimer

The Herculean Chronicles are my personal interpretation of 25 years of the Hercules Trophy. I’ve written 12 stories from a place of love and gratefulness, even for my adversaries. All the names are real, and it’s my way of thanking everyone and bringing the community together around untold stories. It’s also a way to explain the journey to my kids so they won’t make the same mistakes again and remember their roots. As it’s impossible to remember everything, please contact me and send me your stories to enrich the legacy.