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The long road

When clients ask Daniel Green how they can tap international markets, his first piece of advice is this:“Go get your passport.”

This might seem obvious, but many entrepreneurs eager for some cross-cultural business exchange don’t realize that they will eventually need to hop on a plane.

“You gotta show up,” Green said. “Business isn’t always about contracts. It’s about relationships.”

Green, who launched Cooper Wallace LLC in 2004, helps U.S. companies that want to sell their products abroad, as well as foreign companies that want to enter the U.S. market. But before they sign a big contract with a Chinese manufacturer, Green lays out the realities of international business.

Most of his clients employ 150 or fewer.Larger companies often have the resources in-house or can afford to hire a multinational consulting firm to do this work, Green explains.

Green, 43, describes what he does as “global facilitation.” In some cases, his Baltimore company might help a U.S. firm identify suppliers, distributors and other resources overseas. In other instances, he might warn a client that the widgets he wants to sell in Japan will be hit with high tariffs, effectively pricing them out of the market.

So what makes Green qualified to play the role of global facilitator?

His resume details extensive experience studying international business, and studying and working abroad. Green studied international relations as an undergraduate at the College of Wooster in Ohio. His law degree from the University of the Pacific included a focus on international law. He also received a master’s degree in law from the same school in transnational business practice.

While completing his studies, Green spent several years working and studying in London and Japan, which gave him a host of foreign contacts. In Tokyo, he worked for a Japanese medical electronics company offering cross-cultural training to its executives.

Right now, the bulk of Green’s business involves serving clients in the United States, Eastern Europe and the Far East, including Taiwan, China and Japan.

At present, Green is the only fulltime employee, but he employs five contractors who reside in Taiwan, China and Austin, Texas. His contractors overseas help him identify business partners and potential clients.

In many cases, Green’s job is to listen to different parties and identify any miscommunication—a common occurrence when executives from different cultures try to resolve business issues.

Take, for instance, a recent meeting in Zagreb, Croatia. Green met with officials from a Taiwanese manufacturer of all-terrain vehicles and their Croatian distributor. The meeting was precipitated by an e-mail sent by executives at the ATV firm telling their Croatian business partners that they are not properly servicing the vehicles, after noticing an unusual number of mechanical difficulties.

The Croatian executives took offense. Green, acting as a mediator of sorts, realized that there was a misunderstanding between executives at the two firms: The Croatian distributor was not, in fact, lax about servicing the vehicles, but were servicing them twice as often as required, due to local weather conditions. So the mechanical problems were not the result of any laxness on the part of the Croatians.

“I get to interact with people from all around the world who are sincerely committed to making a good product to people who want it” but need help overcoming practical barriers, such as cultural differences, Green said.

Andrew Palmer, a Baltimore client who runs Plants Nouveau, a startup business that sells exotic plants, tapped Green to help him find nurserymen in China.

If he were to go on his own, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack for someone who does not have contacts there and is not familiar with the culture or its business practices, Palmer said.

Clients pay anywhere between $1,500 to $5,000 a month in a retainer fee for Green’s assistance—not including his travel expenses. Green anticipates that his first year revenues will be between $350,000 and $500,000.

Because he is relying on intellectual capital, starting his company did not require a big upfront investment. He just needed a phone, computer and, of course, his passport.

Green’s job entails an exhausting travel schedule. Take a look at the itinerary of his first business trip in 2006:
Jan. 11 Baltimore via Newark to Dublin, Ireland
Jan. 13 Dublin, Ireland via Prague, Czech Republic to Zagreb, Croatia
Jan. 20 Zagreb, Croatia via Paris, France and Hong Kong to Kaoshuing, Taiwan
Jan. 24 Kaoshuing, Taiwan to Hong Kong
Jan. 25 Hong Kong via Narita, Japan and Minneapolis/St. Paul to Baltimore.

Though his clients’ travel schedule might not be that extensive, Green tells his clients that if they want to go global, they should be prepared for some serious jet lag.

“There are people who don’t like sitting on a plane for 15 hours and looking at strange-looking food. It’s physically straining.”